THE RESTORATION OF THE EMPIRE 73 
Crusades, could be begun, the Emperor died, at the 
age of twenty-eight, leaving as his successor a child of 
four. 
The work of governing and defending the Empire OrTo III. 
had been too great for Otto II., and during the 983-1002 
minority of Otto III. the imperial power was still 
further weakened. He was only fifteen when he took 
the reins of government into his own hands, but he 
pursued a policy quite his own. Educated by Church- 
men and his Greek mother, he was filled with.religious 
enthusiasm and love for the past. Not content with 
his father’s policy of uniting more closely Italy and 
Germany, Otto III. dreamed of restoring the ancient 
greatness of Rome and making it once more the 
capital of the world. He put to death a second 
Crescentius who had made himself master of Rome, 
and built an imperial palace on the Aventine. By his 
appointments to the Papacy, first of his cousin Bruno, 
and then of his tutor Gerbert, the most learned man 
of the age, he did much to restore the dignity of. the 
office. By his love for Italy and his imitation of the 
court ceremonial of Constantinople, he did much to 
alienate his German subjects. But in the midst of his 
lofty ambitions and visionary schemes he was seized 
with a sudden illness, and died at the early age of 
twenty-two. With Otto I11., “the wonder of the world,” 
as he was called by the monkish historians, the dynasty 
came to an end. 
Henry II. (of Bavaria), who was elected as Otto’s HenryIL 
successor, pursued an entirely different policy. His 1003-1024 
interests were centred in Germany, and his time was 
largely taken up with wars against Poland, where a 
strong Slavic power had been established. He too left 
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