Otto of Freising

Otto of Freising
Bishop of Freising
Otto of Freising, as depicted on a 13th-century stained glass window in the Cistercian Abbey of Heiligenkreuz, Austria
Diocese	Freising
In office	1138 – 1158
Predecessor	Heinrich of Freising
Successor	Albert of Harthausen
Personal details
Born	c. 1111 Klosterneuburg
Died	22 September 1158 Morimond
Denomination	Roman Catholic

Otto of Freising (Latin: Otto Frisingensis; c. 1111 – 22 September 1158) was a German churchman of the Cistercian order and chronicled at least two texts which carry valuable information on the political history of his own time. He was the bishop of Freising from 1138. Otto participated in the Second Crusade; he lived through the journey and reached Jerusalem, and later returned to Bavaria in the late 1140s, living for another decade back in Europe.

Life

Otto was born in Klosterneuburg as the fifth son of Leopold III, margrave of Austria, by his wife Agnes of Waiblingen, daughter of Emperor Henry IV. By her first husband, Frederick I of Hohenstaufen, duke of Swabia, Agnes was the mother of the German king Conrad III and grandmother of the emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Otto's sister, Judith of Babenberg, was married to William V, Marquis of Montferrat. Otto was thus related to the most powerful families in Germany and northern Italy.

The records of his life are scanty and the dates somewhat uncertain. He studied in Paris, where he took an especial interest in philosophy. He is said to have been one of the first to introduce the philosophy of Aristotle into Germany and served as provost of a new foundation in Austria.

Having entered the Cistercian order, Otto convinced his father to found Heiligenkreuz Abbey in 1133, thus bringing literacy and sophisticated agriculture (including wine making) to the region that would become Vienna. He became abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Morimond in Burgundy about 1136, and soon afterwards was elected bishop of Freising. This diocese, and indeed the whole of Bavaria, was then disturbed by the feud between the Welfs and the Hohenstaufen, and the church was in a deplorable condition; but a great improvement was brought about by the new bishop in both ecclesiastical and secular matters.

In 1147 Otto took part in the disastrous Second Crusade. The section of the crusading army led by the bishop was decimated, but Otto reached Jerusalem and returned to Bavaria in 1148 or 1149. He enjoyed the favour of Conrad's successor Frederick I, was probably instrumental in settling the dispute over the duchy of Bavaria in 1156, and was present at the famous diet of Besançon in 1157. Otto mentions that Frederick I ushered in a new age of peace following years of instability and civil war.

Still retaining the habit of a Cistercian monk, he died at Morimond on 22 September 1158. In 1857 a statue of the bishop was erected at Freising, Bavaria.

Works

Otto is best known for two major historical works:

Chronica de duabus civitatibus

The first is his work Chronica sive Historia de duabus civitatibus (Chronicle or History of the Two Cities), an eight-book historical and philosophical treatise that to some extent follows the intellectual framework laid down by Augustine of Hippo and Paul Orosius. Written during the German Civil War (1143–1145), it draws a parallel between Jerusalem and Babel, the Heavenly City and the Earthly City, while also containing a wealth of valuable information about the history of his era. Esteemed highly by his contemporaries, this chronicle covers events up to the year 1146; from that point onward to 1209, it was continued by Saint Blasius of Blaubeuren Abbey in the Black Forest (d. 1223). In the Chronica, Otto recounts his meeting with Bishop Hugh of Jabala, who told him of a Nestorian Christian king in the East called Prester John. It was hoped that this monarch would bring relief to the Crusader states, and this marks the first documented reference to Prester John.

The text elaborates on an era of harmony between imperial and ecclesiastical authority, tracing its origins to the Christianization of Rome. Rome is portrayed as the fourth and final world empire, after which power passed to the Greeks (the Byzantines), then to the Franks (Francia), and later to the Germans (East Francia). He also notes that Conrad III of Germany was the 93rd emperor since Augustus, and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor the 94th. However, this unity was shattered by Pope Gregory VII’s unexpected excommunication of Emperor Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor amid the Investiture Controversy of 1075. Thus, this event would usher in the seventh and final age of human history—a period characterized by constant crises, preceding the arrival of the Antichrist. This forms the central theme of the eighth and final book of the Chronica.

Gesta Friderici Imperatoris

More famously, there is Otto’s work Gesta Friderici imperatoris (Deeds of Emperor Frederick). Commissioned by Frederick I, the book opens with a letter from the emperor to the author.

Composed of four books, Gesta has its first two volumes written by Otto himself, while the remaining two (or parts thereof) are attributed to his pupil Ragewin (or Rahewin). Some scholars argue that Otto was also the author of the earlier sections of the third and fourth books.

Opening with the conflict between Pope Gregory VII and Emperor Henry IV, the first book traces history up to the death of Conrad III in 1152. Its scope extends beyond German affairs, as the author digresses to recount the preaching of Bernard of Clairvaux, his zeal against heresy, and the condemnation of Pierre Abélard; he also delves into discussions of philosophy and theology.

The second book begins with Frederick I’s election in 1152, detailing the first five years of his reign, with a particular focus on his campaigns in Italy. From this point onward (1156), Ragewin took over the writing.

Otto’s command of Latin was exceptional, and despite a slight bias toward the Hohenstaufens and minor inaccuracies, Gesta has been described as a model of historical composition.

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Otto of Freising — Bishop and historian, b. between 1111 and 1114, d. at Morimond, Champagne, France, 22 September, 1158. He was the son of St. Leopold of Austria, and Agnes, daughter of Henry IV. Through his mother's first marriage with the Hohenstaufen Frederick I, Duke of Swabia, he was half-brother of Conrad III and uncle of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Like his younger brothers, he was early destined for the priesthood, and when scarcely more than a child he was made provost of the chapter of canons at Klosterneuberg, near Vienna, founded in 1114. For his education he was sent to the University of Paris, the centre of learning, philosophical, theological, and classical. On his journey home he and fifteen other noblemen entered the Cistercian Order at Morimond. It is not known what led him to take this sudden step. Within three years he was elected abbot of the monastery, but shortly afterwards, probably in the same year (1137 or 1138), was called to Freising as bishop, though he did not lay aside the habit of his order. As bishop he displayed a highly beneficent activity by founding and reforming monasteries, and zealously furthering scientific studies by introducing Aristotelian philosophy and scholastic disputations on the model of the University of Paris. As a result the school at Freising flourished anew. He removed many of the abuses that had crept in, in consequence of the investiture strife, and demanded back the properties of which the Church had been robbed. In every way he raised the prestige of the Church in Freising as against the nobility, and after bitter struggles freed it from the burdensome bailiwick of the Wittelsbach counts palatine. As prince of the German Empire and closely connected with the Hohenstaufen family, he possessed great influence, and used his high standing to adjust differences within the empire. He was especially active in bringing about a reconciliation between Frederick and Henry the Lion, and in restoring peace between the emperor and the pope. In 1147 he accompanied Conrad III on his unsuccessful crusade to the Holy Land. The part of the army entrusted to Otto was completely annihilated, and he himself returned home after undergoing the severest privations and facing the greatest dangers. Otto was to have accompanied Emperor Frederick on his march into Italy in 1158, but remained behind on account of ill-health. He went to France to attend the general chapter of his order, and died while revisiting the monastery of Morimond.

In addition to a short fragment of a history of Hildebrand (edited by Goldast, "Apologia pro Henrico IV", Hanover, 1611, 18 sqq.), two historical works by Otto of Freising are extant, the so-called "Chronicle" (Chronicon seu rerum ab initio mundi ad sua usque tempora 1146 libri VIII) and the "History of Emperor Frederick" (Gesta Friderici I imperatoris usque 1156 libri II). The "Chronicle", dedicated to the cleric Isingrim (perhaps Abbot of Ottobeuren), is a universal history in eight books based in the main on the great medieval chronicles, especially on Ekkehard, but also on the church histories of Rufinus and Orosius. Otto's work, however, is by no means a chronicle in the sense of its predecessors. He himself did not call it a chronicle, but gave it the title "De duabus civitatibus", since, as he asserted, he did not wish merely to enumerate the different events but to combine, as in a tragedy, a picture of the evil which abounded in his time. For this purpose he adheres closely to St. Augustine's teaching of two states, especially as elaborated in the "De Civitate Dei", though he also used the ideas of Orosius concerning the misery of the world. Although the doctrine of the two states as it appears in Otto's historical work can be variously interpreted, he undoubtedly wished to represent the conflict between the civitas Dei (City of God) and the civitas diaboli (City of the Devil), between the children of God and the cives Babyloniæ mundique amatores (citizens of Babylon and lovers of the world). Evidently his belief is, that after Christ the conflict between the mundane state of Babel and the Divine state of Israel changed into a conflict between Christianity and paganism or heresy. After the complete victory of Christianity, however, he treats almost exclusively of the civitas Dei, which then merges into the Church. Nevertheless, he is compelled to represent it in its earthly admixture as a corpus admixtum, in which the chosen ones must live and act side by side with the outcasts. Guided by these views, he gives a narrative in the first seven books extending from the creation of the world to the year 1146, while the eighth book depicts the Antichrist, the Second Coming, the Resurrection of the Dead, the Last Judgment, the end of the mundane state, and the beginning of the Divine state. Thus, through a unifying conception, he succeeded in representing the entire range of history as a connected whole, by which he became, if not the first, certainly the most important representative of the medieval philosophy of history. The work, which was spread in manuscripts, was first published in 1515 in Strasburg (ex oedibus M. Schureri). Wilmans issued a critical edition of it in "Monumenta Germ. Scriptores", XX (Hanover, 1868), pp. 115-301, and a German translation of the sixth and seventh books was published in Leipzig (1881, 1894).

Otto began his second historical work, "Gesta Friderici", almost ten years after the completion of his "Chronicle". But he could not finish it, and at his death entrusted the continuation of it to his chaplain Rahewin. Of course he had command of excellent, reliable sources, and therefore could reproduce verbatim a number of extremely important documents. Although a unifying thought is not so apparent in this work, it is not difficult to perceive that Otto here desired to prove that happiness in this world depends upon the harmonious co-operation of Church and State. Throughout the "Gesta" he endeavours to show that a happy state of peace followed the termination of the conflicts between the emperor and the pope at Frederick's accession to the throne. And even though the feeling of the world's misery (the so-called pessimism of Otto, or rather of the Middle Ages - cf. Hauck, "Kirchengeschichte", IV, 479 sqq.), which dominates his "Chronicle", crops up repeatedly, a spirit of "cheerful buoyancy" pervades the entire work, and the dramatis personæ are depicted more freely and with greater self-confidence. In the first book he describes the events from the beginning of the disputes between the empire and the papacy under Henry IV to the death of Conrad III. In the second he relates the history of the years of peace (1152-6). The "Gesta Friderici", therefore, is an extremely important work, despite the fact that the author himself could not give it the final polish. It is notable both as to form and content, though it cannot be expected to fulfil all the requirements of modern standards. The first edition was published at Strasburg in 1515; Wilmans published a critical edition of it in "Monumenta Germ. Scriptores", XX (Hanover, 1868), pp. 347-415, and a German translation of it appeared in Leipzig (1883, 1894).

POTTHAST, Bibl. hist. med. ævi, II (Berlin, 1896), 885-7, contains many bibliographical references; WATTENBACH, Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen im Mittelalter, II (Berlin, 1894), 271-9; BERNHEIM, Der Charakter Ottos und seiner Werke in Mitteil. des Instituts für österr. Geschichtsforschung, VI, (1885), 1-51; HASHAGEN, Otto von Freising als Geschichtsphilosoph und Kirchenpolitiker (Leipzig, 1900); HAUCK, Kirchengesch. Deutschlands, IV (Leipzig, 1903), 476-85; SCHMIDLIN, Die geschichtsphilos. und kirchenpolit. Weltanschauung Ottos von Freising (Freiburg, 1906).

Further reading

• Charles Christopher Mierow, "Bishop Otto of Freising - Historian and Man", Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 80, (1949), pp. 393–402.
• Otto, Bishop of Freising, The Two Cities - A chronicle of universal history to the year 1146 A.D., Translated with an introduction and notes by Charles Christopher Mierow, with a foreword and updated bibliography by Karl F. Morrison; edited by Austin P. Evans and Charles Knapp, Columbia University Press, 1928.

External links

• Article on his life (in German), with complete works (in Latin)
• Otto of Freising at The Latin Library