He was a son of John IV and his wife, Irmengard of Cleves. Otto was born as his parents' second son, after his elder brother John, who died during a tournament in Dordrecht in 1352. During his reign, he further extended the family possessions: he acquired the Lordship of Haastrecht again, and in 1379, he acquired Liesveld.
Otto became an advisor to Count Albert of Holland. Albert claimed the County of Cleves, after John, the last count, died. However, the Emperor gave Cleves to Adolph II of the Marck. This caused a lasting animosity between the Houses of Arkel and La Marck.
In 1382, Otto granted town privileges to Gorinchem, Hagestein and Leerdam. In the following years, Otto tried to combine Hagestein Castle and the village of Gasperde and create a new town out of this combination. This was triggered by the Lords of Vianen, who were expanding their territory to the south-west, by annexing Noordeloos and Meerkerk. This isolated some manors Arkel owned in this area. Also, the Lords of Vianen sided with the Hooks.
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