OTHELLO 



4425 



OTHO 



covering more than four acres. Knit goods, 

 glucose, shades, matches, boxes and a variety 

 of heavy and light foundry and machine-shop 

 products are also made here. Interesting fea- 

 tures are the state arsenal, the government 

 building, city hall, courthouse, Fort Ontario and 

 old Fort Oswego. The city has a state normal 

 school and the Gerritt Smith Library. 



In 1724 Oswego was an English military sta- 

 tion and trading post, and it was conspicuous 

 in King George's and the French and Indian 

 ra Two forts were built here in 1755, but 

 in the following year the place was taken by 

 General Montealm, who demolished the works. 

 It was an important military center in 1759, 

 ;m<l here Pontiac surrendered to the English in 

 1766. Oswego was incorporated as a village in 

 1828, and in 1848 it received a city charter. 



OTHELLO, othcl'o, THE MOOR OF VEN- 

 ICE, a tragedy by Shakespeare, played in 1604 

 or 1605, but not printed until 1622. Shake- 

 speare drew his plot from an Italian novel, and 

 simpler than that of any of his other great 

 tragedies. As a study in jealousy it has never 

 been equaled, and the character of Othello 

 - wonderful opportunities to an actor ca- 

 pable of expressing the heights and depths of 

 passion. Many of the greatest of English and 

 American actors, among them Edmund Kean 

 and Edwin Thomas Booth, have taken the role 

 very successfully. Familiar quotations from 

 the play include the following: 



Green-eyed monster. 



Th;it men should put an enemy In their mouths 

 to steal away their brains ! 

 Who steals my purse steals trash ; 'tis something, 



nothing : 



'Twa.s mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thou- 

 sands ; 



But he that filches from me my good name 

 Robs me of that which not enriches him 

 And makes me poor indeed. 



O'THO, the name of three successive rulers 

 of the Holy Roman Empire, father, son and 

 grandson. Their supremacy continued from A. D. 

 936 to 1002. Otho I, called also OTI> mi 

 GREAT, found* 1 th. Holy Roman Y.\\\\ 



Otho I, the Great (912-973), was the successor 



of his father, Henry I, as king of Germany, in 



036. He was at once forced to resort to arms 



to defend his rights at home and abroad. The 



great nobles, putting forward Otho's brother 



.:> as tii* ir candidate for M. began a 



I war, but before Otho could turn hi* :r 



to them he was forced to contend against 



Slavs and Hungarians to the east and south, 



who were attempting to assert their independ- 



ence. Successful in this, he defeated the turbu- 

 lent vassals, taking from many of them their 

 fiefs, which he bestowed upon friends and rela- 

 tives whom he could depend upon to be faith- 

 ful. 



In 951 Otho was summoned into Italy by 

 Adelaide, queen of Lombardy, who sought his 

 aid against Berengar, a claimant to the throne 

 and to her hand. By defeating Berengar and 

 marrying Adelaide, he gained strong control in 

 Northern Italy. On his return to Germany 

 had to meet an invasion of the Magyars, whom 

 he decisively defeated in 955. Again, in 961, he 

 went to Italy to settle disturbances caused by 

 Berengar, and in the next year was crowned at 

 Rome as Holy Roman Emperor. 



The connection between Germany and Italy 

 thus formed had a most unfortunate effect upon 

 the history of the former nation in the cen- 

 turies which followed. Later, Otho deposed 

 the Pope who had crowned him (John XII), 

 and had his candidate placed in the Papal chair 

 as Leo VIII, thus asserting the superiority of 

 the emperor over affairs of the Church. Otho 

 ranks as one of the very strongest of early 

 German rulers, but his more feeble successors 

 were unable to maintain the empire which he 

 had built up. Otho II, his son, succeeded to 

 the throne. 



Otho II (955-983), the second Holy Roman 

 Emperor, was the son and successor of Otho I. 

 He was crowned during his father's lifetime, 

 and came to the imperial throne in 973 without 

 resistance. Within a few years, however, the 

 young emperor was called upon to meet several 

 formidable enemies, and defeated successively 

 Henry, Duke of Bavaria; the king of Bohemia; 

 and Lothair, king of France, who had taken 

 possession of Lorraine. Later, insurrections at 

 Rome and at Milan led him to cross into Italy, 

 and he was successful in establishing his power 

 in Apulia and Calabria. The Greek emperor, 

 however, summoned to his aid the Saracens, 

 and at Cotrone, in 982, Otho was severely de- 

 feated. While he was making plans for a cam- 

 paign against the Saracens he died at Rome, 

 leaving the empire in a disturbed state at home 

 and abroad. His successor was his son, Otho 

 III. 



Otho III (980-1002), third Holy Roman Em- 

 peror, was the sou of Otho II and grandson of 

 Otho I. At the death of his father he was 

 MI-.! king of the G< i ugh but three 



n old at the tune His mother and grand- 

 mother acted as regents until 996, when Otho 

 received the imperial crown and began to rule 



