Coronation of Otto III, German king, c998. Otto (980-1002), wearing a crown and holding an orb and sceptre, is flanked on the left of picture by representatives of the church and on the right by secular advisors. The fourth ruler of the Saxon dynasty, Otto III (980-1002) was elected king in 983 when only 3 years old, after the death of his father, the Holy Roman Emperor Otto II. Otto reached his majority in 894, and was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 996, by Pope Gregory V, the first German Pope, whose appointment Otto had engineered. Bayerische Staatbibliothek, Munich Photo via Newscom