pierced. And above him was a tabernacle compact of brass and marble exceedingly. Now when we were come in unto the tomb, we brake and made straightway an opening in it. And when we entered into it, we perceived a vehement savour. So we did worship forthwith to him with bended thighs and knees; and straightway Otto the Emperor clad him with white raiment, and pared his nails, and made good all that was lacking about him. But none of his members had corrupted and fallen away, except a little piece of the end of his nose, which he caused at once to be restored with gold; and he took from his mouth one tooth, and built the tabernacle again and departed[1]."
The Emperor's genuine aim was to unite the interests of Germany and Italy. The appointments of his cousin Bruno (Gregory V) in 996 and of Gerbert (Silvester II) in 999 to the papal chair were intended to advance this end. But this policy in reality amounted to a neglect of Germany. Since 996 he had spent only a few months on German soil. It is not surprising, therefore, that he was regarded with distrust. The older generation of German prelates had their grievance; they disliked his close connexion with the Papacy, they had been ousted from their former influential positions by foreigners and they resented it. Otto's premature death alone prevented an open outbreak in Germany. He himself realised that he had set his ambitions too high, that he had sacrificed Germany without gaining any material compensation. "Are you not my Romans?" he is reported to have said in bitter reproach. "For you I have left my country and my kindred. For love of you I have abandoned my Saxons, and all the Germans, my own blood ... I have adopted you as sons, I have preferred you to all. For your sake I have brought upon myself the envy and hatred of all. And now you have cast out your father. You have encompassed my servants with a cruel death, you have closed your gates against me." These are the words of a disappointed man. He died in his twenty-second year at Paterno on 24 January 1002 from an attack of the smallpox. It was his wish that he should be buried in the Carolingian capital. After fighting a way through the lines of the hostile Romans, his followers succeeded in bringing his body safely to Aix-la-Chapelle, where it was buried in the centre of the choir of the church of St Mary.
- ↑ Chronicon Novaliciense III. 32: the truth of this narrative has been much controverted. The smaller details may have been invented, but the central facts are probably historical and are in part supported by Thietmar [Chronicon IV. 46]. See an article by Professor Grauert, Historisches Jahrbuch, XIV. 302 f. At the same time it must be admitted that the chronicler of Novalesa, although truthful, had the inborn gift of romance.
