Wichmann I the Elder (also spelled ''Wigmann'' or ''Wichman'') (died 23 April 944) was a member of the Saxon
House of Billung. He was a brother of
Amelung,
Bishop of Verden
This is a list of bishops, prince-bishops, and administrators of Verden. The Catholic Diocese of Verden (german: link=no, Bistum Verden), was a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Mainz. From the 12th century, the Bishop of Verden was also, ''ex offi ...
, and
Herman, Duke of Saxony
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 ...
.
Biography
In 938, Wichmann rebelled because his younger brother Herman had been given military command of the northern reaches 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 ...
. He believed that he had a better claim to the office by virtue of his seniority and his ''Königsnähe'' (closeness to the king), because he was related by marriage to the queen dowager
Matilda. He was joined by
Eberhard of Franconia, and
Thankmar Thankmar (or Tammo) (c. 908 – 28 July 938) was the eldest (and only) son of Henry I of Germany by his first wife, Hatheburg of Merseburg. His mother had been previously married and widowed, after which she entered a convent. Because she left the ...
, the half-brother of
King Otto I. The revolt was soon suppressed. Thankmar died the same year he and Eberhard came to terms. Wichmann allied with some
Slavs and made war against his former compatriots.
[Thompson, 599–600, records that ]Widukind of Corvey
Widukind of Corvey (c. 925after 973) was a medieval Saxon chronicler. His three-volume '' Res gestae Saxonicae sive annalium libri tres'' is an important chronicle of 10th-century Germany during the rule of the Ottonian dynasty.
Life
In view of ...
was condoning of Wichmann's behaviour. He reconciled to Otto in 941.
Personal life
Wichmann married Frederuna (or Fridaruna), niece of
Queen Matilda. She became a nun after her husband's death and died on 18 January 971. She left him at least three sons and a daughter:
*
Wichmann II
*
Bruno, Bishop of Verden
*
Egbert the One-Eyed
*
Hathui, married Siegfried, son of
Gero the Great, possibly mother of
Gero, Count of Alsleben.
Wichmann and Frederuna may have been the parents of
Dietrich, Margrave of the Nordmark.
Sources
*
*
Thompson, James Westfall. ''Feudal Germany, Volume II''. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1928.
*Bernhardt, John W. ''Itinerant Kingship and Royal Monasteries in Early Medieval Germany, c. 936–1075''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Notes
944 deaths
Dukes of Saxony
House of Billung
Year of birth unknown
Counts of Stade
10th-century Saxon people
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