Herman I (german: Hermann; – 1 November 1038) was

Margrave of Meissen This article lists the margraves of Meissen, a march and territorial state on the eastern border of the Holy Roman Empire. History King Henry the Fowler, on his 928-29 campaign against the Slavic Glomacze tribes, had a fortress erected on a hil ...

from 1009 until his death.

Life

He was the eldest son of Margrave

Eckard I of Meissen Eckard I (''Ekkehard'';Rarely ''Ekkard'' or ''Eckhard''. Contemporary Latin variants to his name include ''Ekkihardus'', ''Eggihardus'', ''Eggihartus'', ''Heckihardus'', ''Egihhartus'', and ''Ekgihardus''. – 30 April 1002) was Margrave of Meiss ...

and his wife Swanehilde, a daughter of Margrave

Hermann Billung Hermann Billung (900 or 912 – 27 March 973) was the margrave of the Billung March from 936 until his death. The first of the Saxon House of Billung, Hermann was a trusted lieutenant of Emperor Otto I. Though never Duke of Saxony himself, w ...

. On 30 April 1002 his father was murdered at the ''

Kaiserpfalz The term ''Kaiserpfalz'' (, "imperial palace") or ''Königspfalz'' (, "royal palace", from Middle High German ''phal ne'' to Old High German ''phalanza'' from Middle Latin ''palatia'' luralto Latin ''palatium'' "palace") refers to a number of ...

'' of

Pöhlde Pöhlde is a village in southern Lower Saxony in Germany. It is part of the town Herzberg am Harz. It has a population of 2207 (1 October 2006). Archaeological excavation has revealed traces of settlement dating to the 2nd through 4th centuries AD. ...

, after he had raised claims to the German throne in the

royal election Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...

. The new king Henry II passed the

Margraviate of Meissen The Margravate of Meissen (german: Markgrafschaft Meißen) was a medieval principality in the area of the modern German state of Saxony. It originally was a frontier march In medieval Europe, a march or mark was, in broad terms, any kind of bor ...

to Herman's uncle Gunzelin, while he and his brother had to retire to their

allod In the law of the Middle Ages and early Modern Period and especially within the Holy Roman Empire, an allod (Old Low Franconian ''allōd'' ‘fully owned estate’, from ''all'' ‘full, entire’ and ''ōd'' ‘estate’, Medieval Latin ''allodium ...

In the summer of 1002, Herman married

Regelinda Regelinda (german: Reg(e)lindis; - 21 March aft. 1014), a member of the Polish Piast dynasty, was Margravine of Meissen from 1009 until her death by her marriage with Margrave Herman I. Life She was the daughter of the Polish King Bolesław ...

, a daughter of the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

king

Bolesław I the Brave Bolesław I the Brave ; cs, Boleslav Chrabrý; la, Boleslaus I rex Poloniae (17 June 1025), less often known as Bolesław the Great, was Duke of Poland from 992 to 1025, and the first King of Poland in 1025. He was also Duke of Bohemia betw ...

. While Bolesław, who had supported the candidacy of Margrave Eckard I, occupied the eastern March of Lusatia and the adjacent Milceni lands (later Upper Lusatia) in the south, the matrimonial alliance with the Polish Piast dynasty added to Herman's gain in power. During the ongoing German–Polish War (1002–18), German–Polish War in 1007, he was created count of Bautzen (Budusin). He and his younger brother Eckard II, Margrave of Meissen, Eckard II feuded with their uncle Gunzelin in what was one of 11th-century Germany's ugliest civil wars. The feud concerned "the insult and humiliation entailed in taking and destroying a fortified residence." The tide turned when Margrave Gunzelin began to deal with the Polish forces and at the instigation of King Henry II was deposed and arrested at a princely council in Merseburg in August 1009. His nephew Herman was selected to replace him; he was on better terms with the king than Gunzelin was, though even his brother, Eckard II, was too friendly towards the Poles for Henry's liking (1013).Reuter, 204. Herman himself did not participate in the 1015 campaign of King Henry against Bolesław, whereby his stepbrother, the Lusatian margrave Gero II, Margrave of the Saxon Ostmark, Gero II was killed. In 1018 he witnessed the conclusion of the Peace of Bautzen. Margrave Herman became a loyal supporter of King Henry's Salian dynasty, Salian successor Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor, Conrad II. In 1029, he was appointed count in the Saxon Hassegau and the adjacent Gau (country subdivision), Gau Chutizi in the March of Merseburg. He sent his forces against the Polish king Mieszko II Lambert to reconquer the Polish-occupied territories, sealed by the 1033 Treaty of Merseburg. Herman also fought against the Duchy of Thuringia, Thuringian count William III of Weimar, and quarrelled with Bishop Thietmar of Merseburg. In his later years, he left the rule to his younger brother Eckard II, who succeeded Herman upon his death in 1038. File:Wappen Meißen.JPG, Coat of arms of the Margraves of Meissen, ''Ingeram Codex'' (1459) File:Wappen Landkreis Meissen.svg, Coat of arms of the former Meißen district

Sources

*Timothy Reuter, Reuter, Timothy. ''Germany in the Early Middle Ages 800–1056''. New York: Longman, 1991.

Notes

{{Authority control Margraves of Meissen 1038 deaths Year of birth unknown House of Ekkehardiner