, father =

Wichmann the Elder Wichmann I the Elder (also spelled ''Wigmann'' or ''Wichman'') (died 23 April 944) was a member of the Saxon House of Billung. He was a brother of Amelung, Bishop of Verden, and Herman, Duke of Saxony. Biography In 938, Wichmann rebelled becau ...

, mother = Frederuna of Ringelheim Dietrich (Theoderich, Theodoric) of Haldensleben (died 25 August 985) was a count in the Schwabengau, later also in the

Nordthüringgau The Nordthüringgau was a medieval county (german: Gau) in the Eastphalian region of the German stem duchy of Saxony. Geography The county was located on both sides of the upper Aller river in present-day Saxony-Anhalt. It was bounded by the Lap ...

and the

Derlingau The Derlingau was an early medieval county ('' Gau'') of the Duchy of Saxony. Geography The Derlingau approximately consisted of the area between the river Oker in the west and the Lappwald forest in the east. It was bordered by (from the north, ...

, who was the first

Margrave Margrave was originally the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or of a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the Emp ...

of the

Northern March The Northern March or North March (german: Nordmark) was created out of the division of the vast ''Marca Geronis'' in 965. It initially comprised the northern third of the ''Marca'' (roughly corresponding to the modern state of Brandenburg) and ...

from 965 until the Great Slav Rising of 983. He also bore the title of a ''

dux ''Dux'' (; plural: ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, ''dux' ...

'' (duke) in contemporary sources.

Life

Dietrich was the ancestor of a comital branch named after the residence of Haldensleben in Eastphalia. He may have been a son of Count

and Frederuna, sister of Queen

Matilda Matilda or Mathilda may refer to: Animals * Matilda (chicken) (1990–2006), World's Oldest Living Chicken record holder * Matilda (horse) (1824–1846), British Thoroughbred racehorse * Matilda, a dog of the professional wrestling tag-team The ...

, and held large estates along the

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...

and

Saale The Saale (), also known as the Saxon Saale (german: Sächsische Saale) and Thuringian Saale (german: Thüringische Saale), is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Fränkische Saale, ...

rivers. A henchman of the royal

Ottonian dynasty The Ottonian dynasty (german: Ottonen) was a Saxon dynasty of German monarchs (919–1024), named after three of its kings and Holy Roman Emperors named Otto, especially its first Emperor Otto I. It is also known as the Saxon dynasty after the ...

, Dietrich in 953 supported King

Otto I of Germany Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the oldest son of Henr ...

against his revolting son Duke Liudolf of Swabia. He also fought - without success - against the

Polabian Slavs Polabian Slavs ( dsb, Połobske słowjany, pl, Słowianie połabscy, cz, Polabští slované) is a collective term applied to a number of Lechitic ( West Slavic) tribes who lived scattered along the Elbe river in what is today eastern German ...

settling on the Elbe river at the eastern rim of his Eastphalian home territory. In return Otto,

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

since 962, appointed him margrave in the Northern March beyond the Elbe, the largest part of the former '' Marca Geronis'' after its dissolution upon the death of Margrave

Gero Gero I ( – 20 May 965), sometimes called the Great ( la, magnus),Thompson, 486. Also se was a German nobleman who ruled an initially modest march centred on Merseburg in the south of the present German state of Saxony-Anhalt, which he expande ...

in 965. Dietrich was a harsh overlord. Together with Archbishop Adalbert of Magdeburg he enforced the Christianization of the local Slavic population and was instrumental in the execution of his rival

, Count of

Alsleben Alsleben () is a town in the district of Salzlandkreis, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river Saale, south of Bernburg. It is part of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") Saale-Wipper. Personality Sons and dau ...

. Owing to his pride as stated by the chronicler Thietmar of Merseburg (he allegedly once refused the marriage of one of his kinswoman to a Slav "dog"), in 983 the Slavic Lutici and

Hevelli The Hevelli or Hevellians/ Navellasîni (sometimes ''Havolane''; german: Heveller or ''Stodoranen''; pl, Hawelanie or ''Stodoranie''; cs, Havolané or ''Stodorané'') were a tribe of the Polabian Slavs, who settled around the middle Havel river ...

tribes sacked the lands of the eastern bishoprics of Havelberg and

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

and reverted to paganism. According to the medieval chroniclers

Adam of Bremen Adam of Bremen ( la, Adamus Bremensis; german: Adam von Bremen) (before 1050 – 12 October 1081/1085) was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. Adam is most famous for his chronicle ''Gesta ...

and ''

Annalista Saxo The Annalista Saxo ("Saxon annalist") is the anonymous author of an important imperial chronicle, believed to have originated in the mid-12th century at Nienburg Abbey in the Duchy of Saxony. General The chronicle of the "Annalista Saxo" is a c ...

'', Dietrich was deprived of his march in the same year, though he later again appeared as a Saxon general and supported the minor king King Otto III of Germany against the claims to the throne raised by the Bavarian duke

Henry the Wrangler Henry II (951 – 28 August 995), called the Wrangler or the Quarrelsome (german: Heinrich der Zänker), a member of the German royal Ottonian dynasty, was Duke of Bavaria from 955 to 976 and again from 985 to 995, as well as Duke of Carinthia ...

. According to the

Annals of Quedlinburg The ''Annals of Quedlinburg'' ( lat, Annales Quedlinburgenses; german: Quedlinburger Annalen) were written between 1008 and 1030 in the convent of Quedlinburg Abbey. In recent years a consensus has emerged that it is likely that the annalist was ...

, Dietrich died on 25 August 985.

Issue

Dietrich married a woman of unknown name and they had the following children: *Bernard I (1009-1018), father of Bernard II, Margrave of the Nordmark * Oda of Haldensleben, married

Mieszko I, Duke of Poland Mieszko I (; – 25 May 992) was the first ruler of Poland and the founder of the first independent Polish state, the Duchy of Poland. His reign stretched from 960 to his death and he was a member of the Piast dynasty, a son of Siemomysł and a ...

*Mathilda von Haldensleben, married the Hevelli chieftain Pribislaw (killed in battle 28 December 994), son of Tugimir, Prince of the Hevelli, who was in turn son of Baçlabić (Václav), Prince of the Stodorini *Thietberga, married

Dedo I, Count of Wettin Dedo I, Count of Wettin (c. 950 – 13 November 1009), also known as Dedo I of Wettin, was a son of Theodoric I of Wettin and Jutta of Merseburg. As a young man, Dedo spent his childhood with his relative Rikdag, Margrave of Meissen, Zeitz and Me ...

. Dietrich was succeeded as Margrave of the Nordmark by Lothar I in 983. His son Bernard I became margrave in 1009.

References

* Reuter, Timothy. ''Germany in the Early Middle Ages 800–1056''. New York: Longman, 1991. * Thompson, James Westfall. ''Feudal Germany, Volume II''. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1928. *Bernhardt, John W. ''Itinerant Kingship and Royal Monasteries in Early Medieval Germany, c. 936–1075''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Medieval Lands Project, Dietrich, Margrave of the Nordmark
Margraves of the Nordmark 985 deaths Year of birth unknown 10th-century Saxon people