Cristo e gli Ottoni. Una indagine sulle ‘immagini di autorità e di preghiera', le altre fonti iconografiche, le insegne e le fonti scritte

Sixty years after Ernst H. Kantorowicz’s masterpiece 'The King’s Two Bodies', this essay aims to rethink the thesis on the Ottonian Christ-centred kingship. This thesis has to be confirmed, but also nuanced. According to this study, the Ottonians were perceived as deeply linked to Christ, but this relationship differed in terms of intensity and meanings, depending on the sources, settings and specific rulers that are taken into account. At the very beginning, the kingship of Henry I (919-936) was neither sacral nor Christ-centred. Otto I (936-973) marked a turning point, since the anointed king was surrounded by a sacred aura. A relationship with Christ was surely admitted, but, excluding some settings (Mainz, perhaps Cologne), this was not broadly considered as the distinguishing feature of the Ottonian kingship. Partly thanks to Byzantine influences, the relationship with Christ began to deeply characterize the Ottonian kingship from Otto II onwards (973-983). This trend gained momentum with Otto III (983-1002), since his kingship was not only Christocentric, but even Christomimetical, allowing an identification between Otto III and Christ. This possibility was not grounded on an unaccettable ontological identity, but it depended on the docile heart of the emperor willing to accept the teachings of Christ. A change of emphasis occurred at the time of Henry II (1002-1024). The relationship between the king and Christ remained important, but also other models – in particular that of Moses – shaped Henry II’s ideas and politics, combining the traditional royal duty to be merciful and mild with the harshness of the law.