Theodoric II (german: Dietrich; – 19 November 1034) was Margrave of Lusatia from 1032 to 1034, the first of the

Wettin dynasty The House of Wettin () is a dynasty of German kings, prince-electors, dukes, and counts that once ruled territories in the present-day German states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynasty is one of the oldest in Europe, and its orig ...

Life

He was the only son of Count

Dedo I, Count of Wettin Dedo I, Count of Wettin (c. 950 – 13 November 1009), also known as Dedo I of Wettin, was a son of Theodoric I of Wettin and Jutta of Merseburg. As a young man, Dedo spent his childhood with his relative Rikdag, Margrave of Meissen, Zeitz and M ...

( – 1009) and his wife Thietburga, a daughter of Count

Dietrich of Haldensleben , father = Wichmann the Elder , mother = Frederuna of Ringelheim Dietrich (Theoderich, Theodoric) of Haldensleben (died 25 August 985) was a count in the Schwabengau, later also in the Nordthüringgau and the Derlingau, who was the first Margra ...

, 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 Emp ...

of the Northern March. Theodoric thereby was a grandson of the Wettin progenitor

Theodoric I Theodoric I ( got, Þiudarīks; la, Theodericus; 390 or 393 – 20 or 24 June 451) was the King of the Visigoths from 418 to 451. Theodoric is famous for his part in stopping Attila (the Hun) at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains in 451, where ...

. At Christmas 1009, after his father was killed in a fierce struggle with Margrave Werner of the Northern March, Theodoric was vested with the County of Wettin in the Saxon

Hassegau The Hassegau was a medieval shire ('' Gau'') in the Eastphalia region of the Duchy of Saxony. It was located in the duchy's southeastern corner; confined by the Saale The Saale (), also known as the Saxon Saale (german: Sächsische Saale) and ...

(ruling as Theodoric II) by King

Henry II of Germany Henry II (german: Heinrich II; it, Enrico II; 6 May 973 – 13 July 1024), also known as Saint Henry the Exuberant, Obl. S. B., was Holy Roman Emperor ("Romanorum Imperator") from 1014. He died without an heir in 1024, and was the last ruler o ...

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. ...

. From 1015, he also appeared as a and count in the neighbouring

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 Princip ...

. Upon the death of his uncle Frederick I, who had died without male issue in 1017, he inherited

Eilenburg Eilenburg (; hsb, Jiłow) is a town in Germany. It lies in the district of Nordsachsen in Saxony, approximately 20 km northeast of the city of Leipzig. Geography Eilenburg lies at the banks of the river Mulde at the southwestern edge o ...

and

Brehna Brehna is a town and a former municipality in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 July 2009, it is part of the town Sandersdorf-Brehna. It is situated southwest of Bitterfeld. Important in this city is the chur ...

. In 1018, Theodoric and his brother-in-law, Margrave Herman I of Meissen acted as witnesses when the

Peace of Bautzen The Peace of Bautzen (; ; ) was a treaty concluded on 30 January 1018, between Holy Roman Emperor Henry II and Bolesław I of Poland which ended a series of Polish-German wars over the control of Lusatia and Upper Lusatia (''Milzenerland'' or ...

was concluded between Emperor Henry II and the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

ruler

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 ...

, ending a lengthy German–Polish War. From 1029, Emperor

Conrad II Conrad II ( – 4 June 1039), also known as and , was the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 until his death in 1039. The first of a succession of four Salian emperors, who reigned for one century until 1125, Conrad ruled the kingdoms ...

again waged war against Poland. Bolesław's son and successor

Mieszko II Mieszko II Lambert (; c. 990 – 10/11 May 1034) was King of Poland from 1025 to 1031, and Duke from 1032 until his death. He was the second son of Bolesław I the Brave, but the eldest born from his third wife Emnilda of Lusatia. He was proba ...

lost Lusatia and finally had to renounce his claims in the 1033

Treaty of Merseburg The Treaty of Merseburg of 1033 was an agreement between the Salian Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II and the Piast king of Poland Mieszko II, settling the question of Polish succession which had been contested between Mieszko and his half-brothers B ...

. According to the

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 c ...

chronicles, Theodoric played a key role in the emperor's campaign and in turn could succeed the Lusatian margrave Odo II in 1032. However, he earned the hatred of his brother-in-law Eckard II of Meissen and was killed by his henchmen, whereafter Eckard became his successor in

Lusatia Lusatia (german: Lausitz, pl, Łużyce, hsb, Łužica, dsb, Łužyca, cs, Lužice, la, Lusatia, rarely also referred to as Sorbia) is a historical region in Central Europe, split between Germany and Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr ...

. Theodoric's possessions were divided among his sons. As Count of Eilenburg, he was succeeded by his eldest son

Dedi Djedi (also Dedi or Djedi of Djed-Sneferu) is the name of a fictional ancient Egyptian magician (paranormal), magician appearing in the fourth chapter of a story told in the legendary Westcar Papyrus. He is said to have worked miracle, wonders d ...

,Dedi II.
genealogie-mittelalter who also became Margrave of Lusatia upon the death of Margrave Eckard II of Meissen in 1046.

Marriage and issue

Dietrich II of Wettin married Mathilda, daughter 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 ...

. They had seven children: *

(ca. 1010–1075) the eldest son, who eventually became his successor as Margrave of Lusatia. * Frederick (ca. 1020–1084), elected Bishop of Münster in 1063. * Thimo (ca. 1034– ca. 1101), count of Wettin. *

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 expande ...

(ca. 1020–1089), count of

. * Konrad (died 1040), count of Camburg. * Rikdag *

Ida Ida or IDA may refer to: Astronomy * Ida Facula, a mountain on Amalthea, a moon of Jupiter *243 Ida, an asteroid *International Docking Adapter, a docking adapter for the International Space Station Computing *Intel Dynamic Acceleration, a techn ...

(Hidda), married to Duke Spytihněv II of Bohemia.

Literature

*Detlev Schwennicke. ''Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge'' ("European Family Trees: Family Trees for the History of European States, New Series"), Marburg, Germany: J. A. Stargardt *Stefan Pätzold. ''Die frühen Wettiner - Adelsfamilie und Hausüberlieferung bis 1221''. Köln, Weimar, Wien, 1997.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Theodoric 02, Margrave of Lower Lusatia 990s births 1034 deaths Year of birth uncertain House of Wettin