Why did Otto I march into Italy for a third time in 966?

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Stone sculptures of Otto I and his wife Edith, both crowned and seated, displayed side by side in the cathedral at Magdeburg, Germany. — Otto I Otto I and his wife Edith, sculptures in the cathedral at Magdeburg, Germany.

Otto I marched into Italy for a third time in 966 because the pope he had installed, John XIII, had been expelled by the Romans following the death of his predecessor, Leo VIII, in 965.1

Otto’s intervention was part of his ongoing effort to maintain control over the papacy and stabilize the region. During this third campaign, which lasted until 972, he successfully subdued Rome and extended his influence into southern Italy, eventually securing recognition from the Byzantine Empire and arranging the marriage of his son, Otto II, to the Byzantine princess Theophano.1