The Ottonians and Italy

Abstract

The history of the Italian realm between its conquest by Otto I in 961–962 and the death of Otto III in 1002 has been surprisingly neglected. On one hand, Germanophone historians frequently discuss the activities of northern rulers within the region, but do so from the perspective of politics north of the Alps, with little interest in how these experiences shaped Ottonian rule more generally. Italian scholars, on the other, are little interested in royal authority in these years, focusing instead on the growth and development of the local power structures which were to be so characteristic of Italy’s politics in future years. The present article presents an alternative perspective, arguing that Italy was of great importance to the Ottonian rulers, who spent much time on the peninsula and whose efforts at rule there cannot be dismissed as anachronistic and ineffectual.