Family Otto was born about 1020, the son of Count Bernard of
Nordheim (d. about 1040) and his wife Eilika. The rich and influential
Saxon comital dynasty of Nordheim was first mentioned about 950, its descendance has not been conclusively established: there is possibly a relationship with the
Immedinger family of legendary Duke
Widukind, while according to the
Magdeburg archbishop
Eric of Brandenburg, Otto's grandfather Siegfried I of Nordheim was a son of Count
Siegfried of Luxembourg. The Nordheim counts held large Saxon estates on the upper
Leine and
Werra rivers as well as on the
Weser and its
Diemel and
Nethe tributaries and on the lower
Elbe river. They also acted as
Vogts (reeves) of the
Corvey,
Gandersheim,
Helmarshausen,
Bursfelde, and
Amelungsborn. Otto succeeded his father as count of Northeim about 1049, then one of the most influential Saxon nobles along with the
Billung duke
Bernard II and the Udonid counts of
Stade.
Role during the regency of Henry IV After the death of the
Salian emperor
Henry III in 1056, his widow, Dowager Empress
Agnes, appointed Otto duke of
Bavaria in 1061 in order to gain his support as the mother of, and regent for, the young king Henry IV. The following year (1062), however, when Agnes handed power to her confidant Bishop
Henry II of Augsburg, Duke Otto was among those
princes who assisted Archbishop
Anno II of Cologne in seizing control of Henry IV and the regency, in the so-called
Coup of Kaiserswerth. Otto took a prominent part in the government of the kingdom during Henry's minority. He led a
successful expedition into
Hungary in 1063 to reinstall King
Solomon (betrothed to Henry's sister,
Judith of Swabia), who had been driven out by his uncle
Béla I. The next year Otto went to
Italy to settle a papal
schism caused by the appointment of
Antipope Honorius II. Otto was also instrumental in securing the banishment from court of the overly powerful Archbishop
Adalbert of Hamburg-Bremen. He crossed the
Alps in the royal interests on two other occasions and in 1069 shared in two expeditions into the lands of the
Polabian Slavs (
Wends) east of Germany.
Conflict with Henry IV So far, Otto was on good terms with the young king. However, he neglected his Bavarian duchy and instead added to his Saxon
allodial possessions in the southern
Harz range, which ultimately led into conflict with Henry IV, who aimed at the consolidation of his royal
domains in this region. In 1070 dubious accusations were brought against him by one
Egeno I of Konradsburg of being privy to a plot to murder the king, and it was decided Otto should submit to
trial by combat with his accuser at
Goslar. Fearing for his safety, Otto asked for a safe-conduct to and from the place of meeting. When this was refused he declined to appear and was consequently placed under the
imperial ban and deprived of Bavaria, while his Saxon estates were plundered. He obtained no support in Bavaria, but raised an army among the Saxons and carried out a campaign of plunder against Henry until at Pentecost 1071, when he submitted. In the following year he was released from custody and received back his private estates, though not the Bavarian ducal title, which had been granted to his former son-in-law
Welf I, the divorced husband of Otto's daughter
Ethelinde.
Rebellion According to
Bruno, author of
De bello Saxonico (
On the Saxon War), when the Saxon rebellion broke out in summer 1073, Otto delivered an inspiring speech to the assembled nobles at
Wormsleben, after which he took command of the insurgents. By the
Peace of Gerstungen on 2 February 1074, the Duchy of Bavaria was formally restored to him, which however met strong opposition by the local nobility, with the result that Otto's former son-in-law Welf I remained
de facto Duke of Bavaria. He also participated in the second rising of 1075 following the demolition of
Harzburg Castle. Defeated in the
Battle of Langensalza on June 9, he surrendered and was again pardoned by King Henry who made him administrator of the Saxon duchy. When the
Investiture Controversy between Henry IV and
Pope Gregory VII culminated in the
excommunication of the king in 1076, Otto attempted to mediate between Henry and the Saxon nobles convened at
Trebur, but when these efforts failed he again joined the insurgents. Otto was not the leader of the Saxon revolt, however. Once he was assured that the duchy of Bavaria would be returned to him, Otto accepted the election of
Rudolf of Rheinfelden as
antiking of
Germany. Through his skill and bravery, Otto still inflicted defeats on Henry's forces at the battles of
Mellrichstadt,
Flarchheim and
Hohenmölsen.
Death Otto remained in arms against the king until his death on 11 January 1083. He is buried in the Nicolai Chapel in
Northeim. His personal estates in Saxony later passed to
Lothair of Supplinburg, who about 1100 married Otto's granddaughter
Richenza of Northeim. After Richenza,
German queen from 1125 and
Holy Roman Empress from 1133, died in 1141, the allodial lands were inherited by her daughter
Gertrude and her husband, the
Welf duke
Henry the Proud. ==Character==