Otto of Bamberg or β 30 June was a German missionary and papal legate who converted much of medieval Pomerania to Christianity. He was the bishop of Bamberg from until his death. He was canonized in Three biographies of Otto were written in the decades after his death. According to contemporary sources, Otto was born into a noble edelfrei family which held estates in the Swabian Jura. He was related to the Staufers through his mother. As his elder brother inherited their father's property, Otto prepared for an ecclesiastical career and was sent to school, [ 3 ] probably in Hirsau Abbey or one of its filial monasteries.
In he entered the service of the Henry IV; he was appointed the emperor's chancellor in [ 4 ] and supervised the construction of Speyer Cathedral.
In , the emperor appointed and invested him as Bishop of Bamberg [ 5 ] in Franconia now in the state of Bavaria , and Otto became one of the leading princes of medieval Germany. He consolidated his widely scattered territories and during his tenure as bishop, Bamberg rose to great prominence. Otto established more than 30 monasteries and hospitals between Carinthia and Saxony and had castles built. He helped the population out of his own pocket when they were in need. It was Bishop Otto, substituting for the imprisoned archbishop Adalbert of Mainz , who clothed Hildegard of Bingen as a Benedictine nun at Disibodenberg Abbey about He achieved fame as diplomat and politician, notably during the Investiture Controversy between the emperor and the papacy.
In the s, he continued to arbitrate between Emperor Lothair of Supplinburg and the rising Hohenstaufens. As bishop, Otto led a simple and frugal life, but did much to improve his ecclesiastical and temporal realms. He restored and completed Bamberg Cathedral after it had been damaged by fire in , improved the cathedral school, established numerous monasteries [ 4 ] and built a number of churches throughout his territory.
He greatly expanded the town of Bamberg , rebuilding the Monastery of St. Michael, which had been destroyed by an earthquake around Among his great accomplishments was his peaceful and successful missionary work among the Pomeranians , after several previous forcible attempts by the Polish rulers and the Spanish bishop Bernard to convert Pomerania to Christianity had failed.
