"Most illustrious king of kings". Evidence for Ottonian kingship in the Otto III prayerbook (Munich, Bayerische-Staatsbibliothek, Clm-30111)

The young emperor Otto III (983-1002) has a reputation for great piety, rec orded in various accounts written soon after his death. Recent scholarship has shown how much these descriptions of the devout young king owe to liter ary convention and clerical expectation. It is argued here that the evidenc e of the prayerbook (Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 30111) made f or the young ruler suggests that attempts were made to educate him in the p ractice of daily personal devotions. Further, it is suggested that the pray erbook is much more in line with contemporary practice than has previously been thought, as revealed in other prayerbooks of the period. The Munich pr ayerbook, it is suggested, provides evidence that a reality underlies the d escriptions of the young ruler's anxious piety.