Ottawa Va-to-woV City (pop., 2001: 774,072), capital of Canada. It is located in southeastern Ontario, on the Ottawa, Gatineau, and Rideau rivers. The area was inhabited by American Indians when it was visited by Samuel de Champlain in 1613, and the nearby rivers served traders and explorers over the next two centuries. Its settlement developed after the construction of the Rideau Canal in 1826. Originally named Bytown, it was incorporated as the city of Ottawa in 1855. To resolve political dis¬ putes between Toronto and Quebec City and between Montreal and Kings¬ ton, it was selected as Canada’s capital by Queen Victoria in 1857. In 2001 the city’s population grew significantly after it was amalgamated with several local municipalities. The federal government is the major employer; many commercial and financial associations are also located there. It is the site of several educational and cultural institutions, includ¬ ing the National Arts Centre and the National Gallery of Canada.
Ottawa River River, eastern central Canada, the chief tributary of the St. Lawrence River. It rises in the Laurentian plateau of western Quebec and flows west to form the Quebec-Ontario border before joining the St. Lawrence west of Montreal. It is 790 mi (1,271 km) long and forms innu¬ merable lakes. Explored by Samuel de Champlain in 1613, it became a major route for explorers, fur traders, and missionaries to the Great Lakes. In the 19th century the Rideau Canal was completed, linking Ottawa to Lake Ontario, and lumbering became important. It is now a source of hydro¬ electric power.
otter Any of 13 species of semiaquatic, web-footed carnivores in the weasel family (Mustelidae), found throughout Africa, North and South America, Europe, and Asia. Otters have the same general proportions as weasels. Size varies among species, but total length is typically 3-7 ft
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1424 I Otto I ► Ouagadougou
(1-2 m), and weight is 6.5-60 lb (3-26 kg); the large sea otter is an exception. Otter fur—e.g., that of North American river otters—is highly valued. Most species live near rivers, some live near lakes or streams, and the sea otter is com¬ pletely marine. Otters eat small aquatic animals. They are inquisitive and playful; a favourite sport is slid¬ ing down mud or snow banks.
Otto I known as Otto the Great
(b. Nov. 23, 912—d. May 7, 973,
Memleben, Thuringia) Duke of Sax¬ ony (936-61), German king (936- 73), and emperor (962-73). He extended the frontiers of the German kingdom, winning territory from the Slavs in the east, forcing the Bohe¬ mians to pay tribute (950), and gaining influence in Denmark and Bur¬ gundy. In 951 Otto became king of the Lombards and married the queen of Italy. He quelled a rebellion by his son in 955 and defeated the Mag¬ yars in the Battle of Lechfeld. Crowned emperor by Pope John XII in 962, he deposed John in 963 and replaced him with Leo VIII. He returned to Italy (966-72) to subdue Rome, and he betrothed his son, Otto II, to a Byzantine princess (972). He also extended his authority over the church and promoted missionary activity in lands he had conquered. By his death, Otto had created the most powerful state in western Europe and laid the foundation for the later Holy Roman Empire.
Otto III (b. July 980—d. Jan. 23, 1002, near Viterbo, Italy) German king (983-1002) and emperor (996-1002). He was elected German king at age 3, and his mother and grandmother served as regents until he came of age in 994. He went to Rome to put down a rebellion (996) and installed his cousin as Gregory V, the first German pope. After returning in 997 to quell another revolt, he made Rome the centre of his empire. He saw himself as leader of world Christianity and hoped to revive the glory of ancient Rome in a universal Christian state. When Rome rebelled against him (1001), he requested help from Bavaria but died before it arrived.
Otto IV or Otto of Brunswick (b. 1175/1182—d. May 19, 1218, Harzburg Castle, Lower Saxony) German king and Holy Roman emperor. He was elected German king (1198) by the Guelph faction (see Guelphs and Ghibellines) but was opposed by the Hohenstaufens, who elected Philip of Swabia. The two factions were at war for several years, but after Phil¬ ip’s murder in 1208 a new election gave the throne to Otto. He was crowned emperor (1209) by Pope Innocent III after agreeing not to claim Sicily. When he violated this pact and conquered southern Italy (1210), the German princes invited Frederick II to replace him. With his uncle, John of England, Otto invaded France, Frederick’s ally; defeated at the Battle of Bouvines, he was deposed in 1215.
religion were influenced by his journeys to Africa and Asia to study non- Christian faiths and by the writings of Immanuel Kant and Friedrich Schleier- macher. In The Idea of the Holy (1917), Otto coined the term numinous to designate the nonrational element of religious experience—the awe, fascination, and blissful exultation inspired by the perception of the divine. He believed that religion provided an understanding of the world that was distinct from and beyond that of science. His other books include Mysticism East and West (1926), India's Religion of Grace and Chris¬ tianity (1930), and The Kingdom of God and Son of Man (1938).
Ottoman Empire Former empire centred in Anatolia. It was named for Osman I (1259-1326), a Turkish Muslim prince in Bithynia who con¬ quered neighbouring regions once held by the SeuOq dynasty and founded his own ruling line c. 1300. Ottoman troops first invaded Europe in 1345, sweeping through the Balkans. Though defeated by Timur in 1402, by 1453 the Ottomans, under Mehmed II (the Conquerer), had destroyed the Byzan¬ tine Empire and captured its capital, Constantinople (now Istanbul), which henceforth served as the Ottoman capital. Under Selim I (r. 1512-20) and his son SOleyman I (the Magnificent; 1520-66), the Ottoman Empire reached its greatest peak. Suleyman took control of parts of Persia, most of Arabia, and large sections of Hungary and the Balkans. By the early 16th century the Ottomans had also defeated the MamlOk dynasty in Syria and Egypt; and their navy under Barbarossa soon seized control of much of the Barbary Coast. Beginning with Selim, the Ottoman sultans also held the title of caliph, the spiritual head of Islam. Ottoman power began to decline in the late 16th century. Ottoman forces repeatedly besieged Vienna. After their final effort at taking the Austrian capital failed (1683), that and subsequent losses led them to relinquish Hungary in 1699. Cor¬ ruption and decadence gradually undermined the government. In the late 17th and 18th centuries the Russo-Turkish Wars and wars with Austria and Poland further weakened the empire, which in the 19th century came to be called the “sick man of Europe.” Most of its remaining European ter¬ ritory was lost in the Balkan Wars (1912-13). It sided with Germany in World War 1(1914-18); postwar treaties dissolved the empire, and in 1922 the sultanate was abolished by Mustafa Kemal AtatOrk, who proclaimed the Republic of Turkey the following year. See also Janissary; Turk; Young Turks.
Ottoman \a-'to-ne-3n\ art Painting, sculpture, and other visual arts produced during the reigns of the German Ottoman emperors and their first successors from the Salic house (950-1050). Though it drew on the heritage of Carolingian art, it developed a style of its own, particularly in painting and sculpture. Manuscript illuminators of the period were less concerned with naturalism than with expression through sober, dramatic gesture and a heightened use of colour. Ottoman large-scale wooden cru¬ cifixes and wooden reliquaries covered with gold leaf marked a return to sculpture in the round. Bronze casting, an antique art practiced by the Carolingians, flourished as well. Ottonian architecture was more regulated than Carolingian, with simple interior spaces and a more systematic lay¬ out. Ottonian architects provided impetus for the monumentality of Romanesque architecture.