, 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 be ...
, mother = Frederuna of Ringelheim
Dietrich (Theoderich, Theodoric) of Haldensleben (died 25 August 985) was a count in the
Schwabengau
The Schwabengau (modernized name; originally: Suavia, Suevon, Nordosquavi) was an early medieval shire ('' Gau'') in the Eastphalia region of the medieval Duchy of Saxony. Ruled by the House of Ascania, it became the nucleus of the later Princi ...
, later also in the
Nordthüringgau and the
Derlingau, 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 Em ...
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
In the Slavic revolt of 983, Polabian Slavs, Wends, Lutici and Obotrite tribes, that lived east of the Elbe River in modern north-east Germany overthrew an assumed Ottonian rule over the Slavic lands and rejected Christianization under Emperor Ot ...
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
Haldensleben (; Eastphalian: ''Halslä'') is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Börde district.
Geography
It is situated on the Ohre river, near the confluence with its Beber tributary, and the parallel M ...
in
Eastphalia
Eastphalia (german: Ostfalen; Eastphalian: ''Oostfalen'') is a historical region in northern Germany, encompassing the eastern '' Gaue'' (shires) of the historic stem duchy of Saxony, roughly confined by the River Leine in the west and the Elbe ...
. He may have been a son of Count
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 be ...
and Frederuna, sister of Queen
Matilda, 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 Franconian 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 ...
, 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 Hen ...
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, Imperato ...
since 962, appointed him margrave in the Northern March beyond the Elbe, the largest part of the former ''
Marca Geronis
The ''Marca Geronis'' (march of Gero) was a vast super-march in the middle of the tenth century. It was created probably for Thietmar (in the 920s) and passed to his two sons consecutively: Siegfried and Gero. On Gero's death in 965 it was divid ...
'' 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 expand ...
in 965.
Dietrich was a harsh overlord. Together with Archbishop
Adalbert of Magdeburg
Adalbert of Magdeburg (c. 91020 June 981), sometimes incorrectly shortened to "Albert", known as the Apostle of the Slavs, was the first Archbishop of Magdeburg (from 968) and a successful missionary to the Polabian Slavs to the east of what is ...
he enforced the
Christianization
Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...
of the local Slavic population and was instrumental in the execution of his rival
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 expand ...
, Count of
Alsleben. Owing to his pride as stated by the chronicler
Thietmar of Merseburg
Thietmar (also Dietmar or Dithmar; 25 July 9751 December 1018), Prince-Bishop of Merseburg from 1009 until his death, was an important chronicler recording the reigns of German kings and Holy Roman Emperors of the Ottonian ( Saxon) dynasty. T ...
(he allegedly once refused the marriage of one of his kinswoman to a Slav "dog"), in 983 the Slavic
Lutici
The Lutici or Liutizi (known by various spelling variants) were a federation of West Slavic Polabian tribes, who between the 10th and 12th centuries lived in what is now northeastern Germany. Four tribes made up the core of the federation: t ...
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
Havelberg () is a town in the district of Stendal, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the Havel, and part of the town is built on an island in the centre of the river. The two parts were incorporated as a town in 1875. It has a populat ...
and
Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a 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 area of 29,480 square ...
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 ...
'', 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.
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 Oda of Haldensleben (c. 955/60 – 1023) was Duchess of the Polans by marriage to Mieszko I of Poland.
Life
Oda was the eldest child of Dietrich of Haldensleben, Margrave of the North March. She grew up in the monastery of Kalbe, near to Milde ...
, married
Mieszko I, Duke of Poland
*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.
Dietrich was succeeded as Margrave of the Nordmark by
Lothar I
Lothair I or Lothar I (Dutch and Medieval Latin: ''Lotharius''; German: ''Lothar''; French: ''Lothaire''; Italian: ''Lotario'') (795 – 29 September 855) was emperor (817–855, co-ruling with his father until 840), and the governor of Ba ...
in 983. His son Bernard I became margrave in 1009.
References
*
Reuter, Timothy
Timothy Alan Reuter (25 January 1947 – 14 October 2002), grandson of the former mayor of Berlin Ernst Reuter, was a German-British historian who specialized in the study of medieval Germany, particularly the social, military and ecclesiastical ...
. ''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