Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor from 973 to 983 and King of Italy from 980 to 983
Otto II (955 – 7 December 983), called the Red (German: der Rote), was Holy Roman Emperor from 973 until his death in 983. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, he was the youngest and sole surviving son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Italy.
Otto II was made joint-ruler of Germany in 961, at an early age, and his father named him co-Emperor in 967 to secure his succession to the throne. His father also arranged for Otto II to marry the Byzantine Princess Theophanu, who would be his wife until his death. When his father died after a 37-year reign, the 18-year-old Otto II became absolute ruler of the Holy Roman Empire in a peaceful succession. He spent his reign continuing his father's policy of strengthening Imperial rule in Germany and extending the borders of the Empire deeper into Southern Italy. Otto II also continued the work of Otto I in subordinating the Catholic Church to Imperial control.
Early in his reign, Otto II defeated a major revolt against his rule from other members of the Ottonian dynasty who claimed the throne for themselves. His victory allowed him to exclude the Bavarian line of the Ottonians from the line of Imperial succession. This strengthened his authority as Emperor and secured the succession of his own son to the Imperial throne.
The public source identifies “Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor” as holy Roman Emperor from 973 to 983 and King of Italy from 980 to 983. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Otto, Holy and Roman.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q150512. VIAF identifies the subject as 72189222. The Library of Congress control number is n82093946. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.