Burchard III (c. 91512 November 973), a member of the Hunfriding dynasty, was the count of

Thurgau Thurgau (; ; ; ), anglicized as Thurgovia, and formally as the Canton of Thurgau, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts. Its capital is Frauenfeld. Thurgau is part of Eastern Switzerland. I ...

and

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

gau, perhaps of

Rhaetia Raetia or Rhaetia ( , ) was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire named after the Rhaetian people. It bordered on the west with the country of the Helvetii, on the east with Noricum, on the north with Vindelicia, on the south-west wit ...

, and then

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 duchy, stem duchies of the medieval German kingdom, and its dukes were thus among the most powerful magnates of Germany. The most no ...

from 954 to his death.

Life

Burchard was the son of

Burchard II, Duke of Swabia Burchard II (883/88429 April 926) was the Hunfriding Duke of Swabia (from 917) and Count of Raetia. He was the son of Burchard I of Swabia . Burchard took part in the early wars over Swabia. His family being from Franconia, he founded the c ...

and Regilinda. At a young age on the murder of his father in 926, he was sent to

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

for his safety after the accession of the duke Herman I. After the rebellion of Duke Liudolf, son of King

Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), known as Otto the Great ( ) or Otto of Saxony ( ), was East Francia, East Frankish (Kingdom of Germany, German) king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the eldest son o ...

, in 954, the king bestowed the ducal title on his nephew-in-law Burchard at a general council at

Arnstadt Arnstadt () is a town in Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany, on the river Gera (river), Gera about south of Erfurt, the capital of Thuringia. Arnstadt is one of the oldest towns in Thuringia, and has a well-preserved historic centre with a partially ...

. Burchard was an intimate of Otto and his queen,

Adelaide of Italy Adelaide of Italy (; 931 – 16 December 999 AD), also called Adelaide of Burgundy, was Holy Roman Empress by marriage to Emperor Otto the Great. She was crowned with him by Pope John XII in Rome on 2 February 962. She was the first empress des ...

. He was often at the royal court and he accompanied Otto on his campaign against the

Magyars Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common culture, language and history. They also have a notable presence in former parts of the Kingdom of Hungary. The Hungarian language belongs to the ...

and was present at the great Battle of the Lechfeld on 10 August 955. In 965, Burchard led a third campaign against

Berengar II Berengar II ( 900 – 4 August 966) was the king of Italy from 950 until his deposition in 961. He was a scion of the Anscarid and Unruoching dynasties, and was named after his maternal grandfather, Berengar I. He succeeded his father as ma ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. At the Battle of the Po on 25 June, he defeated Berengar's son,

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 incl ...

, and restored Italy to Ottonian control, even the south Italian principalities were brought to heel by 972. In 973, he died and was buried in the chapel of Saint Erasmus in the monastery on

Reichenau Island Reichenau Island () is an island in Lake Constance in Southern Germany. It lies almost due west of the city of Konstanz, between the Gnadensee and the Untersee, two parts of Lake Constance. With a total land surface of and a circumference o ...

Lake Constance Lake Constance (, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein (). These ...

. He was succeeded by

Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants '' Audo'', '' Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fr ...

, son of Liudolf.

Marriage & issue

In Saxony, he married a member of the

Immedinger The Immedingians (German: ''Immedinger'') were a noble family of medieval Saxony, descended from the Saxon leader Widukind. The most notable member was Saint Matilda (d. 968), queen consort of King Henry I of Germany. History They were importa ...

family. They had one or two sons: * possibly

Theodoric Theodoric is a Germanic given name. First attested as a Gothic name in the 5th century, it became widespread in the Germanic-speaking world, not least due to its most famous bearer, Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. Overview The name w ...

, count of Wettin; alternatively presented as his brother or completely unrelated (see his own article) * Burchard, count of Liesgau. His second marriage was to Hedwig, daughter of

Henry I, Duke of Bavaria Henry I (919/921 – 1 November 955), a member of the German royal Ottonian dynasty, was Duke of Bavaria from 948 until his death. Life He was the second son of the German king Henry the Fowler and his wife Matilda of Ringelheim. After the dea ...

. Burchard built the great fortress atop the

Hohentwiel Hohentwiel () is a mountain of volcanic origin in the Hegau region of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is the '' Hausberg'' of the industrial city of Singen, located west of it and ca west of '' Zeller See'' (Lake Constance). The ...

, and Hedwig was the foundress of the monastery of St. George there, but their marriage remained childless.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * {{Authority control Dukes of Swabia 910s births 973 deaths 10th-century dukes in Europe Year of birth uncertain Burials at the Imperial Abbey of Reichenau Hunfridings People from the Holy Roman Empire