Magnus ( – 23 August 1106) was the duke of Saxony from 1072 to 1106. Eldest son and successor of Ordulf and Wulfhild of Norway, he was the last member of the House of Billung.

Rebellion

In 1070, before he was duke, he joined

Otto of Nordheim Otto of Nordheim (c. 1020 – 11 January 1083) was Duke of Bavaria from 1061 until 1070. He was one of the leaders of the Saxon Rebellion in 1073-75 and the Great Saxon Revolt of 1077-88 against King Henry IV of Germany. Life Family Otto was born ...

duke of Bavaria The following is a list of rulers during the history of Bavaria. Bavaria was ruled by several dukes and Monarch, kings, partitioned and reunited, under several dynasties. Since 1949, Bavaria has been a democratic States of Germany, state in th ...

, in rebellion against the

Salian The Salian dynasty or Salic dynasty (german: Salier) was a dynasty in the High Middle Ages. The dynasty provided four kings of Germany (1024–1125), all of whom went on to be crowned Holy Roman emperors (1027–1125). After the death of the l ...

Emperor Henry IV Henry IV (german: Heinrich IV; 11 November 1050 – 7 August 1106) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 to 1105, King of Germany from 1054 to 1105, King of Italy and Burgundy from 1056 to 1105, and Duke of Bavaria from 1052 to 1054. He was the son ...

. Otto was accused of being privy to a plot to murder the king, and it was decided he should submit to the ordeal of battle with his accuser. The duke asked for safe-conduct to and from the place of meeting. When this was refused he declined to appear, and was consequently deprived of Bavaria, while his Saxon estates were plundered. The rebellion was put down in 1071, and Magnus was captured. Magnus was imprisoned in the castle of Harzburg, the imposing imperial fortress which so inflamed the Saxon freemen. He was not released upon his accession to the Saxon duchy until seventy

Swabia Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...

ns captured in

Lüneburg Lüneburg (officially the ''Hanseatic City of Lüneburg'', German: ''Hansestadt Lüneburg'', , Low German ''Lümborg'', Latin ''Luneburgum'' or ''Lunaburgum'', Old High German ''Luneburc'', Old Saxon ''Hliuni'', Polabian ''Glain''), also calle ...

were released.

First battle of Langensalza

In 1073, Harzburg was destroyed and the anger of Henry aroused. He renewed the conflict with Saxony once more. At the

first battle of Langensalza The First Battle of Langensalza was fought on 9 June 1075 between forces of King Henry IV of Germany and several rebellious Saxon noblemen on the River Unstrut near Langensalza in Thuringia. The battle was a complete success for Henry, resultin ...

in 1075, Magnus was captured again. After being released again, he joined

Rudolf von Rheinfeld Rudolf of Rheinfelden ( – 15 October 1080) was Duke of Swabia from 1057 to 1079. Initially a follower of his brother-in-law, the Salian emperor Henry IV, his election as German anti-king in 1077 marked the outbreak of the Great Saxon Revolt an ...

duke of Swabia The Dukes of Swabia were the rulers of the Duchy of Swabia during the Middle Ages. Swabia was one of the five stem duchies of the medieval German kingdom, and its dukes were thus among the most powerful magnates of Germany. The most notable family ...

and

anti-king An anti-king, anti king or antiking (german: Gegenkönig; french: antiroi; cs, protikrál) is a would-be king who, due to succession disputes or simple political opposition, declares himself king in opposition to a reigning monarch.OED "Anti-, 2 ...

, and was present at the

Battle of Mellrichstadt Battle of Mellrichstadt was fought between Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV and the German anti-king Rudolf of Swabia on 7 August 1078 near Mellrichstadt. Henry's army met the army of Rudolf's Saxon allies before they could meet up with the Swabians ...

(7 August 1078), where he saved Rudolf's life. However, he and the Saxons never fully supported the Swabian Rudolf and he reconciled with Henry, even fighting the

Slavs Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...

with the royal forces.

Legacy

Magnus was an embittered enemy of the

archbishop of Bremen This list records the bishops of the Archdiocese of Bremen, Roman Catholic diocese of Bremen (german: link=no, Bistum Bremen), supposedly a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Cologne, Archbishopric of Cologne, then of the bishops of Bremen, who were ...

Adalbert Adalbert is a German given name which means "noble bright" or "noble shining", derived from the words ''adal'' (meaning noble) and ''berht'' (shining or bright). Alternative spellings include Adelbart, Adelbert and Adalberto. Derivative names inclu ...

, whose see he afflicted with repeated plundering raids. In 1106, the same year as Henry IV, he died. His duchy was given to Lothair of Supplinburg and his lands were split between his daughters by Sophia (married 1071), the daughter of

Béla I of Hungary Béla I the Boxer or the Wisent ( hu, I. Bajnok or Bölény Béla, sk, Belo I.; – 11 September 1063) was King of Hungary from 1060 until his death. He descended from a younger branch of the Árpád dynasty. Béla's baptismal name was A ...

, going thus to the

house of Welf The House of Welf (also Guelf or Guelph) is a European dynasty that has included many German and British monarchs from the 11th to 20th century and Emperor Ivan VI of Russia in the 18th century. The originally Franconia, Franconian family from ...

, via Wulfhilde (1075–1126), who married Duke

Henry IX of Bavaria Henry IX (107513 December 1126), called the Black, a member of the House of Welf, was Duke of Bavaria from 1120 to 1126. Life and reign Henry was the second son of Duke Welf I of Bavaria (died 1101) from his marriage with Judith, daughter of Co ...

and to the house of Ascania via Eilika (1080 – 16 January 1142), who married Count

Otto of Ballenstedt Otto, Count of Ballenstedt, called Otto the Rich ( – 9 February 1123), was the first Ascanian prince to call himself count of Anhalt, and was also briefly named duke of Saxony. He was the father of Albert the Bear, who later conquered Brand ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Magnus, Duke Of Saxony 1040s births 1106 deaths Dukes of Saxony House of Billung