Otto the Merry -- and no, he's not a character from Lord of the Rings.

Otto IV, the Merry (July 23, 1301 – February 17, 1339) was a Duke of Austria and the youngest son of Albert I of Germany and Elisabeth of Tirol.

Otto was born in Vienna. He had two brothers, namely Frederick the Handsome and Albert the Wise. From 1330 onwards, he ruled jointly with Albert.

After the death of Henry of Carinthia, Emperor Louis the Bavarian gave him Carinthia (southernmost state in Austria) and the southern part of the Tyrol as an imperial fief on May 2, 1335, in Linz. Otto was enthroned as duke in accordance with the old Carinthian rite on the Zollfeld, and, from that time onwards, took care of Carinthia rather than of the Duchy of Austria. He founded the Neuberg Abbey at Neuberg an der Mürz in Styria and the Chapel of Saint George in the Augustine Church in Vienna. In February 1335, he married Anna, the sister of Emperor Charles IV in Znojmo. In 1337 he founded the knightly order Societas Templois for the crusade against the pagan Prussians and Lithuanians.

His nickname the Merry refers to the festive life at his court. Funny, he doesn't sound all that festive, what with founding all those churches and running crusades against the pagans, even if they were Prussians and Lithuanians.

Since one brother was "the handsome" and the other was "the wise", I guess "the merry" was the best they could come up with for Otto. The portrait of Frederick the Handsome (or the Fair) on the right is an idealized (???) one done in the nineteenth century. I am not sure he is all that handsome, but the stunned look on his face may explain why he was not the wise.

Otto died at Neuberg an der Mürz in 1339. His son and titular successor was Leopold II, Duke of Austria; however, Leopold died before coming of age, and the line became extinct.

Why does he grace our page today? May 2 is the anniversary of his reception of his imperial fief.