Imperial coronation of Otto I
Pope John XII crowned the German king Otto I emperor in St Peter’s; the union of the German and Italian kingdoms under an emperor crowned in Rome became the Holy Roman Empire.
- Date
- 2 February 962exact dateDate in the Julian calendar
- Place
- Old St. Peter’s Basilicatoday: St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City · Western and Central Europe
- Participants
- Otto I the Great, Pope John XII, Holy Roman Empire, East Francia, Papal States
- Threads
- Early medieval Europe (500–1000)
- Also known as
- Founding of the Holy Roman Empire; Основание Священной Римской империи; Diploma Ottonianum; Привилегия Оттона
After Lechfeld, Otto was the most powerful ruler in Latin Europe. In 951 he had married Adelaide, the widowed queen of Italy, and when King Berengar II attacked the Papal States, John XII called him to Rome. Otto crossed the Alps in August 961, was accepted as King of Italy at Pavia and reached Rome on 31 January 962; on 2 February he and Adelaide were crowned emperor and empress. On 13 February the Diploma Ottonianum confirmed the papal possessions dating back to Pepin’s donation, but also required every newly elected pope to swear loyalty to the emperor.
The alliance soon broke down: John XII intrigued with Berengar’s son, and in 963 a synod convened by Otto deposed him. From then on the German king elected by the princes was also the candidate for the imperial crown in Rome — a link between Germany and Italy that lasted through the Middle Ages.
Connections
Causes and preconditions
- Battle of Lechfeld10–12 August 955 · Western and Central EuropeThe victory over the pagan Magyars made Otto the saviour of Latin Christendom
Related events
- Coronation of Charlemagne25 December 800 · Western and Central EuropeOtto consciously followed the example of Charlemagne’s coronation
- Olga’s visit to Constantinople and her baptism9 September – 18 October 957 · Balkans and Anatoliaat Olga’s request Otto I sent Bishop Adalbert to Rus’ in 961; the mission failed in 962, the year of Otto’s imperial coronation
Same participants
- Battle of Bouvines27 July 1214 · Western and Central Europevia Holy Roman Empire
- Fourth Council of the Lateran11–30 November 1215 · Western and Central Europevia Papal States
Same place
- Great Fire of Rome19 July 64 – c. 27 July 64 · Western and Central Europe
- Inauguration of the Colosseum80 · Western and Central Europe
- Antonine Plague165–180 · Western and Central Europe
- Constitutio Antoniniana212 · Western and Central Europe
- Crisis of the Third CenturyMarch 235 – 20 November 284 · Western and Central Europe
- Aurelian Walls271–275 · Western and Central Europe
- Battle of the Milvian Bridge28 October 312 · Western and Central Europe
- Sack of Rome by the Visigoths24–27 August 410 · Western and Central Europe
- Vandal sack of Rome2–16 June 455 · Western and Central Europe
- Gothic War (535–554)535–554 · Western and Central Europe
- “Summa Theologica” by Thomas Aquinas1265–1274 · Western and Central Europe
- Sack of Rome (1527)6 May 1527 · Western and Central Europe
Adjacent events in the thread
- Baptism of Poland14 April 966 · Western and Central Europe
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within 25 years of this event
Eastern Europe
- Sviatoslav’s campaign against the Khazars964 – between 968 and 969
- Pecheneg siege of Kyiv968
- Death of Sviatoslav at the Dnieper rapids972
- Constantine VII describes the Rus’ route to Constantinoplebetween 948 and 952
- Olga’s revenge on the Drevlians945–946
+ 5 events
Balkans and Anatolia
- Olga’s visit to Constantinople and her baptism9 September – 18 October 957
- Sviatoslav’s invasion of Bulgariabetween 967 and 968 – July 971
- Siege of Dorostolon23 April 971 – July 971
- Rus’–Byzantine Treaty of 944between 944 and 945
- Igor’s campaigns against Byzantium11 June 941 – 944
+ 1 event
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Otto the Great
- Wikipedia (English): Holy Roman Empire
- Wikipedia (Russian): Оттон I Великий
- Wikipedia (Russian): Священная Римская империя
- Wilson P. H. Heart of Europe: A History of the Holy Roman Empire. — Cambridge (Mass.): Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2016.