Thietmar (II) ( – 3 August 979) 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 about 976 until his death.

Life

Thietmar was the eldest of three brothers, all sons of Margrave

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, count in the

Saxon Eastern March The Saxon Eastern March (german: Sächsische Ostmark) was a march of the Holy Roman Empire from the 10th until the 12th century. The term "eastern march" stems from the Latin term ''marchia Orientalis'' and originally could refer to either a march ...

, and his wife Hidda, sister of Margrave

Gero the Great 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 ...

. His brothers were Archbishop Gero of Cologne and Margrave Odo of the Saxon Ostmark. Thietmar strengthened the ties with the mighty

Billung The House of Billung was a dynasty of Saxon noblemen in the 9th through 12th centuries. The first known member of the house was Count Wichmann, mentioned as a Billung in 811. Oda, the wife of Count Liudolf, oldest known member of the Liudolf ...

dynasty by marrying Swanehilde (d. 1014), 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 ...

, acting

Duke of Saxony This article lists dukes, electors, and kings ruling over different territories named Saxony from the beginning of the Saxon Duchy in the 6th century to the end of the German monarchies in 1918. The electors of Saxony from John the Steadfast on ...

from 961. The couple had one son: Gero II, who in 993 would succeed Thietmar's brother, Odo, as Margrave of the Saxon Eastern March. In 951, he was first recorded when he succeeded his father as margrave in the '' Gau'' Serimunt. Between 951 and 978, he was also count in the Saxon

Schwabengau The Schwabengau (modernized name; originally: Suavia, Suevon, Nordosquavi) was an early medieval shire (''Gau (country subdivision), Gau'') in the Eastphalia region of the medieval Duchy of Saxony. Ruled by the House of Ascania, it became the nu ...

. After the death of his uncle Gero the Great in 965, Thietmar inherited large parts of whose vast ''

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 divide ...

'' and upon the death of Margrave Wigbert (before 976) received 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 ...

from the hands of Emperor

Otto II Otto II (955 – 7 December 983), called the Red (''der Rote''), was Holy Roman Emperor from 973 until his death in 983. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto II was the youngest and sole surviving son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Italy. ...

. On 29 August 970, Margrave Thietmar and his brother Gero of Cologne founded the abbey of Thankmarsfelde, which between 971 and 975 became a royal monastery. It was moved to Nienburg at the confluence of the

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, ...

and Bode rivers in 975. In the years which followed, Thietmar and Gero made further donations of land to the monastery, where Thietmar is also buried. Thietmar was succeeded by the Schwabengau count

Rikdag Rikdag, also called Ricdag, Riddag, or Rihdag (died 985), was Margrave of Meissen from 979 until his death. In 982, he also acquired the marches of Merseburg and Zeitz. After the Great Slav Rising in 983, he temporarily reunited all of the souther ...

. His widow Swanehilde married Rikdag's successor 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 ...

Notes

Sources

* *Medieval Lands Project
Nobility of Meissen.
920s births 979 deaths Year of birth uncertain Margraves of Meissen {{Germany-margrave-stub