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Wichmann The Elder
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, and Herman, Duke of Saxony. Biography In 938, Wichmann rebelled because his younger brother Herman had been given military command of the northern reaches of the Duchy of Saxony. 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, 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 was condoning of Wichmann's behaviour. He reconciled to Otto in 941. Personal life Wichmann married Frederuna (or Fridarun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
House Of 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 Liudolfing House, was also a Billung as was Matilda of Ringelheim. In the 10th century, the property of the family was centered in the Bardengau around Lüneburg and they controlled the march named after them. In the middle of the 10th century, when the Saxon dukes of the House of Liudolfing had also become German kings, King Otto the Great entrusted more and more of his ducal authority to Hermann Billung. For five generations, the House of Billung ruled the Duchy of Saxony. The house submerged into the Welf and Ascania dynasties when Duke Magnus died in 1106 without sons; the family's property was divided between his two daughters. His daughter Wulfhilde married Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria, a member of the House of Welf; his daughter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bruno, Bishop Of Verden
Bruno (920 – 26 January 976), son of Wichmann the Elder and his wife Frederuna, niece of Queen Matilda, wife of Henry the Fowler, served as a Bishop of Verden. Bruno was appointed to succeed Bishop Amelung, brother of Hermann Billung, in 962. Bruno is best known for his refusal to allow the burial in church of Hermann due to his excommunication. Bruno received immunity for the diocese by Emperor Otto I. According to Thietmar of Merseburg, Hermann's son Bernard, while transporting his father's body to Lüneburg, encountered Bruno and tearfully asked that his father be granted absolution and permitted burial at the church. Bruno refused. Bruno was held in high regard by the emperor who had designated him successor to Amelung. Because stone was not available, Amelung had erected and consecrated a magnificent wooden church, surpassing all others in size and quality. Archaeological evidence confirms the description of this church. As Bruno grew old, Emperor Otto II asked that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Year Of Birth Unknown
A year or annus is the orbital period of a planetary body, for example, the Earth, moving in its orbit around the Sun. Due to the Earth's axial tilt, the course of a year sees the passing of the seasons, marked by change in weather, the hours of daylight, and, consequently, vegetation and soil fertility. In temperate and subpolar regions around the planet, four seasons are generally recognized: spring, summer, autumn and winter. In tropical and subtropical regions, several geographical sectors do not present defined seasons; but in the seasonal tropics, the annual wet and dry seasons are recognized and tracked. A calendar year is an approximation of the number of days of the Earth's orbital period, as counted in a given calendar. The Gregorian calendar, or modern calendar, presents its calendar year to be either a common year of 365 days or a leap year of 366 days, as do the Julian calendars. For the Gregorian calendar, the average length of the calend ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dukes 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 Carolingian Empire (Francia) by 804. Upon the 843 Treaty of Verdun, Saxony was one of the five German stem duchies of East Francia; Duke Henry the Fowler was elected German king in 919. Upon the deposition of the Welf duke Henry the Lion in 1180, the ducal title fell to the House of Ascania, while numerous territories split from Saxony, such as the Principality of Anhalt in 1218 and the Welf Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg in 1235. In 1296 the remaining lands were divided between the Ascanian dukes of Saxe-Lauenburg and Saxe-Wittenberg, the latter obtaining the title of Electors of Saxony by the Golden Bull of 1356. Geography The Saxon stem duchy covered the greater part of present-day Northern Germany, including the modern German state ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
944 Deaths
Year 944 ( CMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Arab–Byzantine War: Byzantine forces are defeated by Sayf al-Dawla. He captures the city of Aleppo, and extends his control over the Al-Jazira–Upper Mesopotamia region. Al-Dawla's rule is recognized by the Ikhshidids.. With the recovery of Edessa, the Greeks also obtain the fabled Image of Edessa. * August 15 – The "Holy '' Mandylion''" (a cloth with the face of Jesus) is conveyed to Constantinople, where it arrives on the feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos. A triumphal entry is staged for the relic in the capital. * December 16 – Emperor Romanos I is arrested and deposed after a 14-year reign by his own sons, the co-emperors Stephen and Constantine. He is carried off to the Prince Islands and forced to become a monk. Europe * King Hugh of Provence dispatches an embassy to King Otto I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Westfall Thompson
James Westfall Thompson (1869–1941) was an American historian specializing in the history of medieval and early modern Europe, particularly of the Holy Roman Empire and France. He also made noteworthy contributions to the history of literacy, libraries and the book trade in the Middle Ages. Biography Born to a Dutch Reformed minister's family in Pella, Iowa, Thompson received an undergraduate degree from Rutgers University in 1892 and a PhD in history from the newly founded University of Chicago in 1895. Thompson remained at Chicago as a professor of history until 1933, when he left for the University of California, Berkeley. He remained at Berkeley until his death in 1941. Thompson was one of the most prolific academics of his generation and wrote on a wide range of subjects, from the French Revolution to the economic structures of the Carolingian Empire to the history of espionage in early modern Europe. Some of his most important scholarly contributions came from his resear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dietrich Of Haldensleben, Margrave Of The Nordmark
, 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 Margrave of the Northern March from 965 until the Great Slav Rising of 983. He also bore the title of a '' dux'' (duke) in contemporary sources. Life Dietrich was the ancestor of a comital branch named after the residence of Haldensleben in Eastphalia. He may have been a son of Count Wichmann the Elder and Frederuna, sister of Queen Matilda, and held large estates along the Elbe and Saale rivers. A henchman of the royal Ottonian dynasty, Dietrich in 953 supported King Otto I of Germany against his revolting son Duke Liudolf of Swabia. He also fought - without success - against the Polabian Slavs settling on the Elbe river at the eastern rim of his Eastphalian home territory. In return Otto, Holy Roman Emperor since 962, appointed him margra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gero, Count Of Alsleben
Gero (died 11 August 979), Count of Alsleben, conjectured to be the son of Siegfried and therefore grandson of Gero the Great. If so, his mother was Hedwig, daughter of Wichmann the Elder. Gero was the brother of Tetta, who established a monastery at Alsleben in his name. Thietmar of Merseburg, whose Chronicon is the major source of information here, refers to Gero as a Count in Northern Thuringia and Morzani. Gero was married to Adela of an unknown family. Gero and Adela had one daughter, Adela of Alsleben, who married Siegfried II, Count of Stade. No other counts of Alsleben are recorded until the 12th century. Gero was accused before Emperor Otto II by the Saxon warrior Waldo of a crime. Neither the identity of Waldo nor the crime are known. At the instigation of Adalbert, Archbishop of Magdeburg, and Dietrich, Margrave of the Northern March, Gero was captured at Sömmering and placed in the custody of Thietmar's father and uncle, Siegfried I, Count of Walbeck, and Lothair I, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 expanded into a vast territory named after him: the ''marca Geronis''.Thompson, 639–640. During the mid-10th century, he was the leader of the Saxon ''Ostsiedlung''. Succession and early conflicts Gero was the son of Count Thietmar, tutor of Henry I. He was appointed by King Otto I to succeed his brother, Siegfried, as count and margrave in the district fronting the Wends on the lower Saale in 937. His appointment frustrated Thankmar, the king's half-brother and Siegfried's cousin, and together with Eberhard of Franconia and Wichmann the Elder, he revolted against the king (938). Thankmar was dead within a year and his accomplices came to terms with Otto. Gero was kept in his march. During the insurrection of his opponents, Gero had been ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hathui, Abbess Of Gernrode
Hathui (also Hadwig and Hedwig) (born c. 939; died 4 July 1014) was a member of the Saxon House of Billung, who was the first abbess of Gernrode (r.959-1014). Family Hathui was the daughter of Wichmann the Elder, of the House of Billung, and an unknown woman. Because Thietmar of Merseburg called Hauthi the niece (''neptis'') of Queen Matilda, Hathui's mother has sometimes been identified as one of Matilda's sisters, Bia or Frederuna. Hathui had at least two brothers: Wichmann the Younger and Eckbert. Bruno, Bishop of Verden may also have been Hathui's brother. Hathui was a cousin of Emperor Otto I. Marriage In 952, when she was about thirteen years old, Hathui married Siegfried, son of Margrave Gero of the Saxon Eastern March, who stood high in Otto I's favour. Siegfried died only a few years later, on 24 June 959. The couple had no surviving children. Abbess of Gernrode and Vreden After Siegfried's death, Hathui became a nun and, at the request of her father-in-law, Gero, she ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Egbert The One-Eyed
Egbert the One-Eyed (german: Ekbert der Einäugige) (died 4 April 994) was the second son of Wichmann the Elder and the younger brother of Wichmann the Younger. He was thus of the elder line of the Billung family. His nickname derives from the fact that he lost an eye in battle, an injury for which he blamed Otto I and which partly explains his involvement in many insurrections. He was the count of Hastfalagau. He sided with Liudolf, Duke of Swabia, in his rebellion in 953–954. He and his brother instigated the Obodrites to war in 955 while Otto was waging war on the Magyars. They escaped judgement in the German campaign that followed. In 978, he was put on trial as an accomplice to the revolt of Henry II, Duke of Bavaria, in the War of the Three Henries and exiled. Egbert assisted Henry in the kidnapping of Otto III Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was Holy Roman Emperor from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wichmann The Younger
Wichmann II the Younger (also spelled ''Wigmann'' or ''Wichman'') (about 930 – 22 September 967) was a member of the Saxon House of Billung. He was a son of Count Wichmann the Elder and his wife Frederuna, a niece of Queen Matilda. The cousin of Emperor Otto I became known as a fierce enemy of the ruling Ottonian dynasty. Wichmann was perhaps born at present-day ''Wichmannsburg'', part of Bienenbüttel, at the residence of his father. Wichmann I the Elder, though the first-born of three Billung brothers and by his marriage related to King Otto I, was ignored at the enfeoffment with the Saxon Billung March, which in 936 fell to his younger brother Hermann. Wichmann the Elder at first rebelled against the king, joining the uprising of Duke Eberhard of Franconia, but gave up soon afterwards. Upon his father's death in 944, Wichmann the Younger remained under the tutelage of his uncle Hermann. When he came of age, he was only able to succeed to the rank of a count in Angria, though ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
