ABSTRACT
About the election of King Otto. ‘For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still’. 1 When the princes had at last returned from their pilgrimage, because of the weight of our sins Sion indeed remained captive, while the Church in the west suffered no less through internal conflicts. With the death of the glorious Emperor Henry, through whom, as has been said, God had greatly extended the borders of the empire, the [previous] pledge, that is the election that had been made of his son, was forgotten. Two suns, that is two kings, arose, who caused no little disturbance within the borders of the Roman Empire through the quarrels they fostered against each other. Thus a conference was held at the famous city of Cologne [Colonia Agrippina], where the great men of the kingdom discussed the election of a new king. Presiding at this conference was Archbishop Adolf of Cologne, for Conrad of Mainz was at this time still absent, occupied with overseas business, as has been described above – the archbishop of Cologne acted in his place in conducting all these negotiations, although the lord archbishop of Trier did not absent himself from these discussions. 2 Also present was Henry, Count Palatine of the Rhine, 3 along with many other nobles, who all unanimously elected Otto, the son of the most noble prince Duke Henry, as king and prince of the Roman Empire, even though he was then living in Poitou – they sent envoys to him, who brought him with great ceremony to Cologne. Once his election as king had been confirmed, 4 Otto gathered a strong force of troops and summoning his electors laid close siege 228to Aachen, which town, preserving its loyalty to the dead emperor, or rather to his brother Philip, manfully resisted him. However, he succeeded in taking it, not without difficulty and at great expense, namely 70,000 marks, and after being anointed as king by the archbishop of Cologne he was raised to the imperial throne and acclaimed as Augustus of the Romans. 5 The lord Pope Innocent, supreme pontiff of the Roman see, was informed of this election and ordination as king by distinguished envoys sent by the lord archbishop of Cologne and by the other archbishops, princes and leading men, all of them earnestly entreating him to approve this election or appointment of King Otto through his authority. 6 He was overjoyed, and not only approved the election, but judged that Otto was a most worthy man for the empire, calling him his most beloved son, and sending letters in which he ordered all the prelates holding regalia, archbishops, bishops and abbots, to obey him in supporting the election of the king. 7
