Otto Orseolo | |
|---|---|
.JPG) 16th-century depiction of Otto Orseolo byDomenico Tintoretto | |
| 27th Doge of Venice | |
| In office 1008–1026 | |
| Preceded by | Pietro II Orseolo |
| Succeeded by | Pietro Barbolano |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 992 |
| Died | 1032 Constantinople |
| Spouse | Grimelda of Hungary |
| Relations | House of Orseolo |
| Children | Peter, King of Hungary Frozza, Margravine of Austria |
| Parent(s) | Pietro II Orseolo Maria Candiano |
Otto Orseolo (Italian:Ottone Orseolo, alsoUrseolo; c. 992−1032) was theDoge of Venice from 1008 to 1026. He was the third son of DogePietro II of theHouse of Orseolo, and Maria Candiano, whom he succeeded at the age of sixteen, becoming the youngest doge in Venetian history.[1]
When theEmperor Otto III sojourned inVerona and granted many privileges toVenice in theMarch of Verona, he requested Pietro to send his third son to Verona, where the Emperor acted as his sponsor at his confirmation.[2] In the Emperor's honour, he was given the name Otto. In 1004, Pietro Otto, in the company of his eldest son and co-dogeGiovanni, traveled toConstantinople, where Giovanni married the niece ofBasil II, Maria Argyra, and Otto received severalhonorific titles.[3]
After Giovanni's sudden death (1006), Pietro raised Otto to the dogeship with him. He then made a testament, giving the majority of his wealth to the poor and the Church, and retired to a monastery, leaving Otto the government. When Pietro finally died in 1008, he left Otto sole doge at the meager age of sixteen.[4] Soon after the death of his father, in 1009, Otto marriedGrimelda, a daughter of the newly ChristianGéza of Hungary and Adelaide.[5] Because theChronicon Venetum ofJohn the Deacon ends in Otto's reign, it is necessary to rely on later chronicles.[4] According to the chronicler (and doge)Andrea Dandolo, writing from a vantage point three centuries ahead, Otto was:
Catholic in faith, calm in purity, strong in justice, eminent in religion, decorous in his manner of life, well-endowed with wealth and possessions, and so filled with all forms of virtue that he was universally considered to be the most fitting successor of his father and grandfather.[4]
Scandal marked much of Otto's reign, as he showed a clear inclination towardnepotism with the elevation of several relatives to positions of power. In 1017, his grandfatherVitale Candiano, Doge of Venice andPatriarch of Grado, died. Otto appointed his elder brother (Pietro's second son),Orso Orseolo, already Bishop ofTorcello, to the vacant patriarchate.[6] Otto then filled the vacant Torcello with his younger brotherVitale Orseolo. These actions lost him the support of the people, though they did not yet clamour for his removal from office. The denunciations ofPoppo of Treffen, thePatriarch of Aquileia, incited the Venetians to expel Otto and the patriarch of Grado from Venice, whence they took refuge inIstria from 1022 to 1023. But in that latter year, Poppo sacked the patriarchal palace and church in Grado and the Venetians recalled Otto and Orso.[6]
In 1024,Pope John XIX confirmed Orso's right to hold Grado and confirmed the patriarchal rights of his seevis-à-vis Aquileia. However, Otto continued to use church appointments to his own personal and familial advantage and the enemies of the Orseoli in Venice, with popular support, moved to depose him in 1026. They arrested him, shaved his beard, and banished him to Constantinople.[7] There he was well received byConstantine VIII, the uncle of his sister-in-law, who repealed trade privileges previously granted to the Republic under Pietro II. Not for nothing had Otto built up a good rapport with the emperors of Europe: theHoly Roman EmperorConrad II likewise revoked Venetian trade privileges in response to his deposition.Stephen I of Croatia, at the instigation of Otto's sonPietro, attacked the coastal cities ofDalmatia, capturing several from Venice.[7]
Meanwhile, the Venetians had grown sick of Otto's successor,Pietro Barbolano, and they deposed him in turn (1032). Vitale of Torcello went to Constantinople to seek out his brother to reassume the ducal throne, while Orso of Grado took the government in his own hands in the interim.[7] Vitale arrived in theByzantine capital to find Otto on the verge of death and he died before he could return to Venice. Orso resigned the temporal power as soon as news reached Venice, while a relative,Domenico [it],[8] tried to usurp the throne. He failed and the Venetians turned to oneDomenico Flabanico to be their doge.
Otto's sonPietro later succeeded Stephen asKing of Hungary. Otto had two daughters,Frozza Orseolo and Felicia Orseolo. Felicia married to Nicolo Bembo, a member of theHouse of Bembo. Their daughter Elena Bembo married to Zuane Michiel, son ofVitale Michiel of theHouse of Michiel, and Felicia Elena Cornaro, member of theHouse of Cornaro. Their sonDomenico Michiel became the 35th Doge of Venice.
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| Preceded by | Doge of Venice 1008–1026 | Succeeded by |
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