Otto III, after summoning his army in late 1001, had headed south to Rome to ensure his rule over the city.
During the travel south, however, the emperor suffers a sudden and severe fever.
Shortly before the Bavarian troops arrive at Otto’s headquarters near Viterbo, the emperor dies in a castle near Civita Castellana on January 24, 1002.
He is twenty-one years old and had reigned as an independent ruler for just under six years, having nominally reigned for nearly nineteen years.
The princess Zoe, second daughter of Emperor Constantine VIII, had just disembarked in Puglia on her way to marry him.
Otto III's death has been attributed to various causes.
Medieval sources speak of malaria, which he had caught in the unhealthy marshes that surrounded Ravenna.
Following his death, the Roman people suggest that Stefania, the widow of Crescentius II, had made Otto III fall in love with her and then poisoned him.
The Emperor's body is carried back to Germany by his soldiers, as his route is lined with Italians who hurled abuses at his remains.
He will be buried in Aachen Cathedral alongside the body of Charlemagne.
