RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Otto of Bamberg Otto
rerum Germanicarum, Hanover, 1884) was given for continuation to his chaplain, the Freising Canon Rahewin; and the last two books of this history, therefore, received from Otto, at most, only preliminary collections of material. Otto was of an amiable character and his position on all questions was one of mediation. It was fortunate for him that he was never called upon to choose between Frederick I. and Alexander III., as would have been the case had he lived until the schism of 1159. Strict Cistercian though he was, he established in his diocese one Premonstratensian and two Benedictine monasteries; and to him is also due the honor of having introduced the study of philosophy into Freising. (O. Holdee-Egger.)
Bibliography: A rich list of MSS., editions, and literature is given in Potthast, Wegweiser, pp. 885-887. The best source for a life is MGH, Script., ix (1851), 610-611. Consult: R. Wilman's introduction to the edition in MGH, ut sup.; idem, in Archiv fur altere deutsche Litteratur, x. 131-173, xi. 18-76; B. Huber, Otto von Freising; sein Character, sein Verhdltniss zu seiner Zeit und seinen Zeitgenossen als ihr Geschichtschreiber, Munich, 1847; L. Lang, Psychologische Charakteristik Ottos von Freising, Augsburg, 1852; H. Grotefend, Der Werth der Gesta Friderici des Bischofs Otto von Freising filr die Geschichte des Reichs unter Friedrich I., Hanover, 1870; T. Sorgenfrey, Zur Charakteristik des Otto von Freising als Geschichtschreiber, Greiz, 1873; W. v. Giesebrecht, Geschichte der deutschen Kaiserzeit, iv. 394-399, Brunswick, 1877; W. Liideeke, Der historische Wert des ersten Buches von Ottos von Freising Gesta Friderici, Halle, 1884; E. Vacandard, in Revue des questions historiques, xxxv (1884), 52-114; E. Bemheim, Mittheilungen des Instituts fur bsterreichische Geschichtsforschung, vi (1885), 1-51; J. Schmidlin, Die geschichtsphilosophische und kirchenpolitische Weltanschauung Ottos von Freising, Freiburg, 1906; Hauck, KD, iv. 476 sqq.
OTTO OF PASSAU: Franciscan; d. not before 1386. He is noteworthy for his book entitled Die vierundzwanzig Abldsse, one of the popular devotional anthologies of the last centuries of the Middle Ages (cf. W. Wackernagel, Deutsche Litteraturgeschichte, pp. 334, 353, Basel, 1848). Of Otto himself is known only what he tells in his preface, where he styles himself a humble brother, Otto of Passau, of the order of St. Francis, sometime lector at Basel, who completed his book on the Purification of the Virgin Mary, 1386. He was probably a teacher in the Franciscan school at Basel and wrote his work at Passau. He calls the readers for whom he wrote " friends of God," and it may be remembered that Basel was then the headquarters of the pious who were wont so to name themselves. In the preface he takes credit for his diligence, not without reason, for, as concerns richness of contents, his book takes the first place among the anthologies of his time. He mentions 104 authors whom he had used, and his list is not complete— including, of the Greeks, Origen, Eusebius, Basil, Gregory of Nazianzus, Chrysostom, Epiphanius, the Pseudo-Dionysius, and others; the latest is John of Damascus. Much larger, of course, is the number of Western teachers from Cyprian to Nicholas of Lyra (1340). The writings of the so-called German mystics, however, are not used, probably because they were not considered as belonging to theology. To make the reading of the passages quoted pleasant, the author has used the device of putting them into the mouths of the twenty-four elders of the Apocalypse in such VIIL— 19
a way that they quote them with the name of the author. This was in accord with the prevailing taste of the time, and in the following century the Dominican Johann Nider, in his book on the twentyfour harps, imitated Otto. The different sections treat of God and how to find him, of repentance, confession and penitence, of the conscience, graced faith, Holy Scripture, of the active and contemplative life, of prayer, etc. Very full are the sections on the Virgin Mary and the sacrament of the altar, where transubstantiation is fully treated. Where the author speaks of the contemplative life, he touches upon mysticism, but the book belongs rather to devotional than to mystical literature. It met a general need, as may be seen from the many manuscripts (twenty-eight) still extant. It was often printed in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and as late as 1836 Johann Manz published at Regensburg, under the title Die Krone der Aeltesten, a new edition in High German with changes answering to the prevailing taste. The book has historical interest, as it shows how at that time the older literature was used and read for its devotional merit and how Christian life was presented and brought home to larger circles. Books of its class mediated between theology, whose learned works were unintelligible to the laity, and the Christian life of the people; for the knowledge of the religious life in the Middle Ages they are more important than all dogmatical works of the schoolmen.
S. M. DEUTSCHf. Bibliography: W. Wackernagel, Kleinere Schriften, ii. 189 sqq., Leipsic, 1873; ADB, xxiv. 741 sqq.; KL, ix. 1185 sqq.
OTTO, JOHANN KARL THEODOR VON: German Protestant; b. at Jena Oct. 4, 1816; d. at Dresden Jan. 11, 1897. Educated at the university of his native city, his prize essay De Justini Martyris scriptis et doctrina (Jena, 1841) prepared the way for his life-work, the Corpus apologetarum Christianorum sceculi secundi (9 vols., Jena, 1847- 1872), a critical and exegetical edition of Justin Martyr, Tatian, Athanagoras, Theophilus, Hermias, Quadratus, Aristides, Aristo, Miltiades, Melito, and Apollinaris. From 1848 to 1851, Otto, as extraordinary professor, lectured at Jena on church history and New-Testament exegesis; but in the latter year he was called to the Protestant faculty of Vienna as professor of church history. There he remained until his retirement from active life in 1887, being a member of the educational council in 1863- 67 as well as royal councilor, and receiving knighthood with the conferring of the order of the Iron Crown. Besides the publication of the Jahrbuch der Gesellschaft filr die Geschichte des Protestantismus in Oesterreich (Vienna and Leipsic, 1880 to 1893), to which he contributed Die Anfange der Reformation im Erzherzogtum Oesterreich (vol. L, 1522-64) and Geschichte der Reformation im Erzherzogtum Oesterreich unter Maximilian II. (vol. x., 1564-76); he wrote De Victorino Strigelio, liberioris mentis in ecclesia Lutheria vindice (Jena, 1843), and Die Konfession des Patriarchen Gennadios von Konstantinopel (Vienna, 1864); and edited Baumgarten- Crusius' commentaries on Matthew (Jena, 1844), and Mark and Luke (1845). (G. FRANKfO
Otto Overbore