The Diploma Ottonianum was a document confirming the Donation of Pippin, co-signed during the darkest days of the Papacy by Pope John XII and Otto I, King of the Germans. The forces of John XII, not yet 26 years of age, had been defeated in the war against Duke Pandulf of Capua, and at the same time many strongholds in the Papal States were occupied by Berengar of Ivrea, effectively if not completely legally King of Italy, and his son Adalbert. In this dilemma the pope had recourse to Otto who reappeared in Italy at the head of a powerful army, as he had in the previous decade, now ostensibly as a papal champion. Berengar, however, did not risk an encounter, but retired to his fortified castles. The Donation of Pippin in 756 provided a legal basis for the erection of the Papal States, which extended papal temporal rule beyond the traditional diocese of Rome. ... The Pope is the Catholic Bishop and patriarch of Rome, and head of the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches. ... John XII (born in Rome circa 937, died May 14, 964), was Pope from 955 to 963, was the son of Alberic II, whom he succeeded as patrician of Rome in 954, being then only eighteen years of age. ... Emperor Otto I Otto I the Great (November 23, 912 - May 7, 973), son of Henry I the Fowler, king of the Germans, and Matilda of Ringelheim, was Duke of Saxony, King of the Germans and arguably the first Holy Roman Emperor. ... Capua (modern Santa Maria Capua Vetere) was the chief ancient city of Campania, and one of the most important towns of ancient Italy, situated 25 km (16 mi) north of Neapolis, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. ... The Papal States (Gli Stati della Chiesa or Stati Pontificii, States of the Church) was one of the major historical states of Italy before the boot-shaped peninsula was unified under the Piedmontese crown of Savoy (later a republic). ... Berengar of Ivrea (?-966), sometimes also referred to as Berengar II of Italy was marquess of Ivrea, and later King of Italy. ... Josh is a great example of a champion, he is also excellent in bed, he is what some may call a sex god. ...

Thus, without conclusive military encounters, on January 31, 962, Otto reached Rome. He took an oath to recognize John as pope and ruler of Rome; to issue no decrees without the pope's consent; and, in case he should deliver the command in Italy to any one else, to exact from such person an oath to defend to the utmost of his ability the pope and the Patrimony of Peter. The pope for his part swore to keep faith with Otto and to conclude no alliance with Berengar and Adalbert. January 31 is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events February 2 - Pope John XII crowns Otto I the Great Holy Roman Emperor. ...

Consequently, on February 2 Otto was solemnly crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the pope. Ten days later at a Roman synod, John, at Otto's desire, founded the Archbishopric of Magdeburg and the Bishopric of Morseburg, bestowed the pallium on the Archbishops of Salzburg and Trier, and confirmed the appointment of Rother as Bishop of Verona. The next day, the emperor issued a decree, the famous Diploma Ottonianum, in which he confirmed the Roman Church in its possessions, particularly those granted by Pepin and Charlemagne, and provided at the same time that in future the popes should be elected in canonical form, though their consecration was to take place only after the necessary pledges had been given to the emperor or his ambassadors. In essence, the Emperor was to be the guarantor of papal independence, but to retain the right to confirm papal elections. Historians debate, in terms of power and prestige, whether the Diploma Ottonianum was a prestigious advantage for the papacy or a political triumph for the emperor. The Holy Roman Emperor was, with some variation, the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, the predecessor of modern Germany, during its existence from the 10th century until its collapse in 1806. ...

On 14 February the emperor marched out of Rome with his army to resume the war against Berengar and Adalbert. The pope now quickly changed his mind, while Otto on his part pressed his imperial authority to excessive limits, and the brief alliance dissolved in wrangling. John sent envoys to the Magyars and the Byzantine Empire to form a league against Otto, who returned to Rome in November 963, and convened a synod of bishops that deposed John and crowned Pope Leo VIII, a layman, as pope. Magyars are an ethnic group primarily associated with Hungary. ... The Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. ... Leo VIII (died 965), Pope from 963 to 964, a Roman by birth, held the lay office of protoserinus when he was elected to the papal chair at the instance of Otto the Great, by the Roman synod which deposed John XII in December 963. ...

The authenticity of the contents of this much-discussed document seems certain, even though, like other 10th century documents, the extant document seems to be only a duplicate of the original (Sickel, Das Privilegium Ottos I, für die römische Kirche, Innsbruck, 1883).

The Diploma Ottonianum was reconfirmed in the Diploma Heinricianum co-signed at Easter, 1020, by Pope Benedict VIII (1012–1024) and Emperor Henry II (1002–1024), meeting at Bamberg on the occasion of a papal journey. Benedict VIII, né Theophylactus (born in Rome, died April 9, 1024), pope (1012-1024), of the noble family of the counts of Tusculum (son of Gregory, Count of Tusculum, and Maria, and brother of John XIX), descended from Theophylact, Count of Tusculum like his predecessor Benedict VI, was opposed by... Henry II of Germany (972 - 13 July 1024), was the fifth and last Holy Roman Emperor of the Saxon or Ottonian dynasty. ... Bamberg is a town in Bavaria, Germany. ...

Hanns Leo Mikoletzky calls it a "frequently overrated document", and says that Henry would have not been overly concerned with the problem of its many binding stipulations. "For the content of these privileges had taken on a rigid form, whose confirmation was perhaps a question of prestige for the papacy but no longer an exalted obligation for the German king. The recognition of the Church's property and rights which found expression there would surely have been advanced by the Curia in case of emergency on the ground of earlier confirmations without this gesture of Henry's...' (Mikoletzky, Heinrich II. und die Kirche, 1946, pp. 68-69, quoted by Miranda).

The Papacy's strategies to free itself from the restrictions of the Diploma Ottonianum in the later 11th century form the background to the Gregorian Reform and the Investiture Controversy. Gregorian Reform is generally considered named after Pope Gregory VII(1073-1085), who personally denied this, and claimed it was named after Gregory the Great. ... The Investiture Controversy was the most significant conflict between secular and religious powers in medieval Europe. ...

External links

• Catholic Encyclopedia "Pope John XII"
• Salvador Miranda, "The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church": 11th century and later confirmations and reconfirmations of the Diploma Ottonianum

Further reading

• Louis Duchesne, The Beginnings of the Temporal Sovereignty of the Popes, A.D. 754–1073 (Les Premiers temps de l'État pontifical 1898, translated. 1908)