Otto III of Bergau
Ota III the Elder of Bergau (Bergov in Czech) held important positions in high politics. In 1388-1393 he held the office of the supreme purgraviate of Prague (supremus burgravius Pragensis), from 1394 he was a member of the League of Lords, from 1396 a member of the royal council of Wenceslas IV, and later a member of the government established by King Sigismund. In 1388-1400 he was a presiding officer of the provincial court and later also a sub-chamberlain (1402-1403). He inherited his ancestral estate with the settlements of Bílina and Žeberk, selling Žeberk as early as 1383 and residing until the end of the same century in Bílina, which he also included in his predicate (1388 Otto Bergow de Bielina, 1400 Otta dictus Bergow de Byelyna).
Coat of arms of the Lords of Berg, second half of the 14th century, Lauf Castle in Bavaria
The castle of Kyšperk (Giesberg, North Bohemia) was probably sold out of his ownership by his father (Albert/Albrecht 1339-1371). The question is whether in the case of the possession of the fortress of Lužice in the Most region, the defunct village of Nové Sedlo nad Bílinou (1372) and the fortress of Bolebor in the Chomutov region (1375) it is the same Otto of Bergau or his ancestral namesake?
Before he sold his North Bohemian hinterland in Bílina, he was territorially secured in East Bohemia, where in 1392 he was in some connection with Rychmburk, one of the largest estates of the pre-Hussite period. However, from 1397 onwards his next seat became the fortress in Cidlina with six settlements. He and his son then acquired Trosky Castle before 1399 and probably simultaneously with this castle another estate with the castles of Hrubý Rohozec and Zbirohy to which belonged, besides some villages, also an important town part of Turnov. In the 90s it also held a part of Jirkov.
The 90s represent the peak of his career for Otto of Bergau. As a member of the court and the supreme Prague purgrave, he took part in all important meetings. In 1389, he appeared as a member of the Crown Council during the amicable negotiations regarding the Bohemian-Miesen border disputes. A year later, he is listed as a witness in the document of the amicable agreement between the Margrave Jodok (Jobst, Jošt) and Prokop.
Ota of Bergau was a great asset to the League of Lords as a member of it, as he had the power of the land military contingent from his position as the supreme burgrave. He misused it for a pretended punitive expedition regarding the assault on the castle of Toužim (1394). On the way, however, they headed towards the king, where Bergov probably provoked him with his speech and thus easily completed the course of events leading to the king’s subsequent arrest and imprisonment.
He continues to be all the more intensely present at all important events in the presence of the Crown Council. He played an important role especially around 1399. It was in 1399 that the tense political climate culminated in several armed sieges of castles throughout Bohemia. In the truce, four members of the conciliatory council were chosen from each side (royal and lordly), in which Ota represented the League of Lords.
At the end of the same year he accompanied the Bishop of Olomouc and the Margrave Jodok on a trip to Buda, with whom he participated in joint negotiations with King Sigismund on a joint action against Margrave Prokop and his targeted liquidation. The following year (1400), perhaps because of his indebtedness from active involvement in political events, he was forced to sell Nový Chlumec and a year later the mill called the Austrian Mill. Shortly thereafter, he pawned the rest of the Chlumec estate for a time. In 1401, Bergov was present at a joint treaty between the Bohemian and Meissen estates, in which it was agreed not to make peace with King Wenceslas until he agreed to their terms. The king, however, had little left and so agreed to the terms. Thus a four-member council was formed to rule in the king’s place, which again included Otto of Bergau.
Castle Trosky, Otto’s residence
The following year (1402) he attended the February provincial assembly in Prague, which was presided over by King Sigismund. After the recapture of King Wenceslas, Bergov, as the most devoted partisan of King Sigismund, was appointed by his authority to the office of sub-chamberlain. There he at once imposed heavy taxes on the towns and monasteries and organized a pogrom against the Jews, which contributed to Sigismund’s enrichment. A contemporary chronicler commented that*"...King Sigismund of Hungary did much evil with the help of some Bohemian lords such as ...Berg, etc.*"
In the following year (1403) King Sigismund appointed, during his absence, a group of five executors of his power in the country (including Berg). This, however, along with Sigismund’s deteriorating political influence, became the target of attacks by King Wenceslaus’ supporters. The very next year (1404), Wenceslaus IV himself appointed new provincial officials and Berg was temporarily replaced in his office by the scribe Nicholas of Prague.
The aforementioned Otto III of Bergov is generally referred to in literature as Otto the Elder of Bergau, as opposed to his son Otto the Younger, whom he had with his second wife Margaret of Žlunice. Ota (IV) the Younger of Bergau (1399-+1452), also known as “young Bergow of Trosk”, was especially famous for his sharply anti-Hussite attitude and for his sacking of the Abbey of Opatovice. He is said to have sometimes represented his father in the League of Lords. Of his descendants, he had only one son, John II, apart from his daughters, by whom the family died out in Bohemia in 1455.
A strictly Catholic lord and long-time opponent of King Wenceslaus IV - Otto III the Elder of Bergau, died sometime shortly before 1415.