Otto von Botenlauben

Otto von BotenlaubenorBotenlouben(1177,Henneberg– before 1245, nearBad Kissingen), theCount of Hennebergfrom 1206, was a Germanminnesinger,Crusaderand monastic founder.

Otto in theCodex Manesse

Otto von Botenlauben was the fourth son of Count Poppo VI von Henneberg and his wife Sophia, countess ofAndechsand margravine ofIstria.In the oldest records (from 1196 and 1197), he still called himself Count vonHenneberg.In 1206, he pronounced himself Count von Botenlauben, afterBotenlauben Castlenear Bad Kissingen, the ruins of which remain to this day.

Otto’s existence is first recorded at the court ofEmperor Henry VIin 1197, when he took part in the Emperors' campaign to Italy. After that, Otto travelled to theHoly Landand made a career in thekingdom of Jerusalem,where he gained good standing, prosperity and marriedBeatrix de Courtenay,the daughter of the royalseneschalJoscelin III of Edessa,in 1205.In 1220, he sold his hereditary lands (iure uxoris), theseigneurie de Joscelin,to theTeutonic Knightsand returned to Germany, where he would attend the royal court often in the years that followed. His sons, Otto and Henry, as well as his grandson Albert, joined the clergy and so Otto’s line ended without an heir.

Otto and his wife founded theCisterciancloister ofFrauenrothin 1231, where both are buried. The cloister was destroyed in theThirty Years' War,but their headstone remains to this day.

Otto was one of the minnesingers collated in theCodex Manesse.His works are limited: twelve love songs have survived and oneLeich.A fewstrophesare collected in theWeingarten Manuscriptand theKleine Heidelberger Liederhandschrift,the latter under the name ofNiune.

Sources

• Pringle, Denys (1998).The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: A Corpus: L-Z (excluding Tyre).Vol. II. Cambridge University Press.ISBN0-521-39037-0.

External links

• Count Otto von Botenlauben in the Codex Manesse