Otto III was King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor for a time during the late 10th Century.

He was born in 980. His father was the reigning Holy Roman Emperor, Otto II, and his mother was Theophanu. Young Otto was his parents' fourth child and only son.

Otto II was campaigning in Italy for the first three years of his son's life. Wanting an orderly succession, he called an Imperial Diet in 983 and convinced the attendees to elect his son, then 3, as King of Germany. The Diet took place in Verona, and thus it was the first time that a German ruler had been elected on Italian soil. Thus named, Otto became the heir apparent to the throne of the Holy Roman Empire. He and his mother returned to Aix, to prepare for the traditional coronation. His father never returned, succumbing to malaria in November 983. Otto III was crowned on Christmas Day of that year.

Otto's mother, Theophanu, adopted the role of regent but found strong resistance from Henry II, whom Otto II had removed as Duke of Bavaria and then imprisoned for his part in fomenting rebellion. Henry's imprisonment ended with Otto II's death, and Henry challenged the regency.

Henry then pursued actions that served his own interests, with an eye toward seizing the throne for himself. Henry gained the backing of some important nobles, but enough people still supported the young emperor that he held onto his throne. His mother remained as regent until her death, in 991. Otto III was then still of minority age (11), so his grandmother, Adelaide of Italy, took over the regency. A mere three years later, Otto began to govern in his own right.

While he was still 11, though, a Slavic invasion consumed his focus. His father had suffered a strong defeat at the Battle of Stilo and had abandoned territories east of the Elbe River. A Slavic invasion force in 991 captured Brandenburg. Otto retook the city two years later.

Even though Otto III had been crowned as King of Germany, he had not taken the crown of the empire. He did this in 994, when he began ruling in his own right. After putting down yet another invasion from Slavic forces, he marched to Italy. One of his prime achievements was good relations with the Republic of Venice, something that his father was not able to achieve.

Otto III had himself crowned King of Italy and King of Lombards. He achieved the installation of the first German-born pope, Gregory V, who took over in 996. The emperor then returned to Germany to once again battle against the Slavs. While he was away, the enemies of Gregory V got the better of him, forcing him to flee and installing a new pontiff. Once Otto had pacified the Slavs in Germany, he returned to Rome and succeeded in reinstating Gregory V and defeating his enemies.

The emperor then made Rome his headquarters, ordering built an imperial palace on the Palatine Hill and otherwise entertaining plans to bring back some of the grandeur of Ancient Rome. He found general support for this among the populace.

However, he also angered the people with a magnanimous action in 1001. In that year, the people of Tibur revolted. Otto sent an army to besiege and capture the city; once they had surrendered, they found themselves spared by the good graces of the emperor. Rather than focus on the success, the people of Rome lamented that their emperor had not destroyed their rival city and, in an extreme turnabout, revolted against Otto, forcing him to flee the city. (He didn't have his normal army retinue with him.) He and the people eventually reconciled. Just to make sure, though, Otto waited until he had a contingent of soldiers to accompany him in returning to Rome. He went to Ravenna for a time and conducted business there. On the trip back to Rome, he contracted a sudden illness from which he never recovered. He died on Jan. 24, 1002. He was 21.

Otto had not married. He had arranged a marriage, to Zoë Porphyrogenita, whose father was the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VIII. She was on her way to Italy when Otto died. He had had no children, so an orderly succession was not guaranteed. What followed was a time of chaos.