Denier - Otto III and Adelaide temple, DI GRA REX

Otto III inherited the throne at age three following his father's sudden death in 983, with his mother Theophanu — a Byzantine princess — and later his grandmother Adelaide serving as regents. The coin issues of this regency period reflect that instability: attribution among the Pavia and Milan mints for specific dies remains contested, and the "DI GRA REX" titulature was carefully chosen to assert divine legitimacy for a child king whose authority depended entirely on the women governing in his name.