Otto was the only son of
Liutgarde, daughter of Emperor
Otto I, and
Conrad the Red,
duke of Lotharingia. Otto's mother died three years after he was born and Otto lived much of his early life in his grandfather's court until the emperor's death in 973. His maternal uncle,
Otto II, ascended the Imperial throne. Otto of Worms is first documented as a count in the
Nahegau about 956. He also held the
Speyergau and
Wormsgau, as well as several other counties in the area. In 978, Emperor Otto II appointed him
duke of Carinthia and
margrave of Verona, after his
Luitpolding predecessor,
Henry the Younger, had unsuccessfully rebelled against the Imperial authority during the
War of the Three Henries and was deposed. In 985, however, Emperor Otto's widow, Empress
Theophanu, in order to gain support for the succession of their minor son,
Otto III, restored Carinthia to the Luitpoldings, and Otto lost the duchy. He retained the ducal title as "duke of
Worms", received the
Kaiserpfalz of
Lautern and seized large estates of
Wissembourg (
Weißenburg) Abbey in compensation. Upon the death of Duke
Henry II of Bavaria in 995, Otto again received the
Duchy of Carinthia and the
March of Verona. When Emperor Otto III died in 1002, Otto of Worms and Duke
Henry IV of Bavaria were candidates for the new
king of Germany; Otto withdrew from the election and received the Duchy of Carinthia from Henry in return. Nevertheless, he was forced to cede his Rhenish possessions to his long-time rival Bishop
Burchard of Worms. Otto died two years later, he was succeeded as Carinthian duke by his son,
Conrad. ==Family==