The Ottonians turn their Gaze West to the court of al-Andalus

Abstract

The Ottonian dynasty, whose members ruled Germany and northern Italy in the tenth and early eleventh centuries, were not only concerned with their eastern borders and their relations with Byzantium, but also sought news from and alliances with the West. Inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula informed the ideas of the Ottonian court in a number of ways and contemporaries documented the interactions. Hrotsvitha, a canoness in the Ottonian royal monastery of Gandersheim, recorded the martyrdom of a young Spanish Christian, Pelagius, who met his death at Cordoba in 925. Hrotsvitha wrote that she had come by her account from an eyewitness. John of Gorze performed the office of ambassador for Otto I at the court of the caliph 'Abd al-Rahmān III at Cordoba for three years from 953. Otto sent John to negotiate access to the Alpine passes that were thought to be raided by Andalusians who were located at Fraxinetum and who were controlled by the caliph. Liudprand of Cremona (Ottonian court) and Recemund (court of al-Andalus) were on friendly terms. The Tumbo A at the cathedral of Santiago is a cartulary whose images of royal figures undoubtedly imitate Carolingian or Ottonian models. Little coordinated work has been done on the contacts between the Ottonians and their followers and the dwellers in the Iberian Peninsula. How friendly or hostile were they to each other? What were the physical and temporal barriers to successful contacts? Using texts and visual records, this paper brings to attention the reports of the cultural, economic, social, and political interactions between the Ottonian empire and the court of al-Andalus from their varied points of view.