The Liesgau was a shire ('' Gau'') of the

Duchy of Saxony The Duchy of Saxony ( nds, Hartogdom Sassen, german: Herzogtum Sachsen) was originally the area settled by the Saxons in the late Early Middle Ages, when they were subdued by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 772 and incorporated into the C ...

in the early medieval period, roughly corresponding to the former Osterode district of Lower Saxony. It was situated on the south-west side of the

Harz Mountains The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...

in what is now the German state of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

. Its southern bound was near the town of

Duderstadt Duderstadt () is a city in southern Lower Saxony, Germany, located in the district of Göttingen. It is the center and capital of the northern part of the Eichsfeld ("Untereichsfeld"). In earlier times it was the private wealth of the Roman Cat ...

and its northern bound near Osterode, and its western bound near the River

Leine The Leine (; Old Saxon ''Lagina'') is a river in Thuringia and Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Aller and the Weser and is long. The river's source is located close to the town of Leinefelde in Thuringia. About downriver, ...

. Its eastern boundary corresponds to the present-day eastern border of Lower Saxony. The Liesgau is mentioned under the name ''Hlisgo'' in several documents from the 9th to 11th centuries. It was bordered by the following counties (list may be incomplete): Salzgau,

Harzgau The Harzgau was a medieval shire ('' Gau'') in the northeastern foorhils of the Harz mountains, part of the Eastphalia region of Saxony. It included the towns of Halberstadt, Quedlinburg, and Osterwieck, and was bounded by the Oker in the west, ...

, Helmengau, Eichsfeld, Lochne, Suilberge. Its most important town was

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. ...

. In the 13th century, the Liesgau became part of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and later closely corresponded to the Grubenhagen subdivision of this duchy.

References

The documents of Arnolf (Arnolfi Diplomata)
King Arnulf of Carinthia, 6 July 889, Monumenta Germaniae Historica
The deeds of Otto II and Otto of the III. (Ottonis II. et Ottonis III. Diplomata)
King Otto III, 10 August 990, Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Hand-Atlas in the History of the Middle Ages and Modern Times
''Gaue'' of Saxony and Northern Thuringia Historical regions in Germany Former states and territories of Lower Saxony Carolingian counties {{Germany-hist-stub