- Otto, Duke of Austria
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Otto IV, the Merry (July 23, 1301 – February 17, 1339) was a Duke of Austria and the youngest son of Albert I of Germany and Elisabeth of Tirol.
Otto was born in Vienna. He had two brothers, namely Frederick the Handsome and Albert II. From 1330 onwards, he ruled jointly with Albert.
After the death of Henry of Carinthia, Emperor Louis the Bavarian gave Carinthia and the southern part of the Tyrol as an imperial fief on May 2, 1335, in Linz. Otto was enthroned as duke in accordance with the old Carinthian rite on the Zollfeld, and, from that time onwards, took care of Carinthia rather than of the Duchy of Austria. He founded the Neuberg Abbey at Neuberg an der Mürz in Styria and the Chapel of Saint George in the Augustine Church in Vienna. In February of 1335, he married Anna, the sister of Emperor Charles IV in Znojmo. In 1337 he founded the knightly order Societas Templois for the crusade against the pagan Prussians and Lithuanians. His nickname the Merry refers to the festive life at his court.
Otto died at Neuberg an der Mürz in 1339. His son and titular successor was Leopold II, Duke of Austria; however, Leopold died before coming of age, and the line became extinct.
Marriages and children
On 15 May 1325, Otto married his first wife Elizabeth of Bavaria. She was a daughter of Stephen I, Duke of Bavaria and Jutta of Schweidnitz. They had two children:
- Frederick II, Duke of Austria (Habsburg) (10 February 1327 – 11 December 1344). Co-ruler with his younger brother.
- Leopold II, Duke of Austria (1328 – 10 August 1344). Co-ruler with his older brother.
Elizabeth of Bavaria died on 25 March 1330. Otto remained a widower for almost five years. On 16 February 1335, Otto married his second wife Anna of Bohemia. She was a daughter of John I of Bohemia and his first wife Elisabeth of Bohemia (1292–1330). They would have no children. She died on 3 September 1338.
Otto had four illegitimate sons who appear in genealogies. The identities of their mother or mothers and their later fates are unknown:
- Otto.
- Leopold.
- Johann.
- Leopold.
Ancestry
Ancestors of Otto, Duke of Austria 16. Rudolph II, Count of Habsburg 8. Albert IV, Count of Habsburg 17. Agnes of Staufen 4. Rudolph I of Germany 18. Ulrich, Count of Kiburg and Dillingen 9. Heilwig of Kiburg 19. Anna von Zähringen 2. Albert I of Germany 20. Burckhard IV, Count of Hohenburg 10. Burckhard V, Count of Hohenburg Rudolph II, Count Palatine of Tübingen 5. Gertrude of Hohenburg 22. Rudolph II, Count Palatine of Tübingen 11. Mechtild of Tübingen 1. Otto, Duke of Austria 24. Engelbert III of Gorizia 12. Meinhard I of Gorizia-Tyrol 25. Mathilda of Andechs 6. Meinhard, Duke of Carinthia 26. Albert IV of Tyrol 13. Adelaide of Tyrol 27. Uta of Frontenhausen 3. Elisabeth of Tirol 28. Louis I, Duke of Bavaria 14. Otto II Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria 29. Ludmilla of Bohemia 7. Elisabeth of Bavaria 30. Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine 15. Agnes of the Palatinate 31. Agnes of Hohenstaufen
Preceded by
Frederick IDuke of Austria and Duke of Styria
co-ruler to Albert II
1330–1339Succeeded by
Albert IIPreceded by
Henry VDuke of Carinthia
jointly with Albert II
1335–1339External links
- His listing along with his siblings in "Medieval lands" by Charles Cawley. The project "involves extracting and analysing detailed information from primary sources, including contemporary chronicles, cartularies, necrologies and testaments."
- A listing of descendants of Rudolph I of Germany, including Otto and his children
Categories:- 1301 births
- 1339 deaths
- Dukes of Austria
- Dukes of Styria
- Dukes of Carinthia
- House of Habsburg
- People of the Northern Crusades
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