Gerd Althoff is Professor of History at the University of Münster. He has written numerous works on tenth-century Germany, including, most recently, the book Die Ottonen (2000), which examines kingship more generally in the Ottonian dynasty. This is his first book to be translated into English.Phyllis G. Jestice is Assistant Professor of Medieval History at the University of Southern Mississippi and the author of Wayward Monks and the Religious Revolution of the Eleventh Century (1997).

“Althoff's careful attention to the sources (quoted extensively in the translation with full Latin citations) and his insights regarding the ritualistic and demonstrative behavior of the early Middle Ages mark this as a book that demands the attention of scholars and students alike and one that should have an English translation.”—John W. Bernhardt Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies

• ContentsTranslator’s NotePreface to the German EditionPreface to the English EditionIntroductionThe Modern Assessment of Otto IIIRoyal Rule and the Idea of the State at the End of the Tenth CenturyCentral Questions and the Problem of Sources1.A Child on the ThroneHenry the Quarrelsome and the Disturbances over the SuccessionThe Regency of the Empresses2.The Beginning of Independent RuleThe First Independent DecisionsThe First Italian ExpeditionThe Encounters with Gerbert and Adalbert3.The "Revenge Expedition" to Rome and the Beginning of the "Roman Renewal"The Fight Against Crescentius and the AntipopeOtto III’s "Idea of Roman Renewal" in Older and Newer Scholarship4.The Journey to GnieznoPreconceptions and PreparationsThe JourneyFrom Gniezno to Aachen5.The Last Expedition to Rome"Government Business" on the WayThe Gandersheim ConflictThe "Ingratitude" of the RomansThe Death of Otto III6.Building Blocks for an Assessment of Otto III: Observations, Insights, Open QuestionsDemonstrative Ritual Behaviors"Friends" of Otto III and His Interaction with ThemDealing with the HeritageAbbreviationsNotesBibliographyIndex