Hello and welcome to the history of the Germans, Episode 13. Otto the Third, the wonder of the world.

I hope you all had a nice Easter break and you're now ready and eager for some more German history.

And this is going to be a bit of a weird one. Otter

III is one of the most contentious subjects in German medieval history. The problem is not

so much the facts, though some of it is in dispute. What people disagree most about is

why he did the things he did. Otto III took so many guises as he

experimented with the concepts of imperial power that following generations were able to

project almost whatever they wanted onto him. So we are now left with an emperor

who is more made up than any Love Island contestant.

I have read several books about him in preparation of this episode,

some very recent, some fairly old,

and I found myself at times very much befuddled.

As for Henry the Fowler and Otto the Great,

and even Otto the second,

the underlying perception and objectives are fairly clear.

But there is no general consensus, not even on the broad outlines of Otto the Third's political views and objectives.

Hence, what you will hear now is very much my best effort at interpreting his actions,

not an unassailable set of facts. Almost everything has been argued over ferociously, leaving a field of historical debris to sort through. For a narrative

podcast like this one, that means I have to put the pieces together in some form, a form that

likely ends up disagreeing with everybody. If you disagree with my

conclusions or find me having got my facts muddled up, let me know. I do not mind at all. The

purpose of this podcast is not to give you the be-all to end all in German history, but

...