Poppo II or Boppo II (died after 906) was the

Duke of Thuringia This is a list of the rulers of Thuringia, a historical and political region of Central Germany. Kings of Thuringia *450–500 Bisinus *500–530 Baderich *500–530 Berthachar *500–531 Herminafried :''Conquered by the Franks. ...

from 880 until his deposition in 892. Poppo, a

Babenberg The House of Babenberg was a noble dynasty of Austrian Dukes and Margraves. Originally from Bamberg in the Duchy of Franconia (present-day Bavaria), the Babenbergs ruled the imperial Margraviate of Austria from its creation in 976 AD until its e ...

, was the younger brother of Henry of Franconia. They also had a younger brother named Egino. All three may have been the sons or grandsons of Poppo (I) of Grapfeld. Poppo replaced Radulf II in the Sorbian March no later than 880. In that year, the Daleminzi,

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

, and

Sorbs Sorbs ( hsb, Serbja, dsb, Serby, german: Sorben; also known as Lusatians, Lusatian Serbs and Wends) are a indigenous West Slavic ethnic group predominantly inhabiting the parts of Lusatia located in the German states of Saxony and Brandenbu ...

threatened to invade

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

and burn the German-allied Slav districts. Poppo's subsequent expedition against them is recorded in three different variations in the three different manuscript traditions of the ''

Annales Fuldenses The ''Annales Fuldenses'' or ''Annals of Fulda'' are East Frankish chronicles that cover independently the period from the last years of Louis the Pious (died 840) to shortly after the end of effective Carolingian rule in East Francia with the ac ...

''. He may or may not have led the

Thuringii The Thuringii, Toringi or Teuriochaimai, were an early Germanic people that appeared during the late Migration Period in the Harz Mountains of central Germania, a region still known today as Thuringia. It became a kingdom, which came into confl ...

in this campaign, but he was certainly victorious. The reasons behind Poppo's battles in 882, 883, and 884 are unknown. In the previous year, he and the Thuringii had been defeated under Egino in a war that they had instigated with

Saxons The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

In 883, he again fought his brother Egino, who was recorded as a co-duke of the Thuringii, and was defeated savagely and forced to retreat with only a few men. Poppo was deprived of his offices and titles in 892.AF(B), 892 (p. 124 and n9). According to

Regino of Prüm Regino of Prüm or of Prum ( la, Regino Prumiensis, german: Regino von Prüm; died 915 AD) was a Benedictine monk, who served as abbot of Prüm (892–99) and later of Saint Martin's at Trier, and chronicler, whose ''Chronicon'' is an important s ...

, Poppo had advised Arn, Bishop of Würzburg, to undertake the expedition against the Slavs on which he was killed earlier that year. Because Poppo was replaced in Thuringia by Conrad and Arn was replaced by Rudolf, both

Conradines The Conradines or Conradiner were a dynasty of Franconian counts and dukes in the 8th to 11th Century, named after Duke Conrad the Elder and his son King Conrad I of Germany. History The family is first mentioned in 832, with Count Gebhard in ...

, it has been supposed that King Arnulf was merely patronising one family over another: the Conradines and Babenbergers were feuding shortly afterwards. On the other hand, Poppo may have been punished for the ill-advised campaign of Arn. He was restored to his lands in 899 and made Count of the

Bavarian Nordgau The Margraviate of the Nordgau (german: Markgrafschaft Nordgau) or Bavarian Nordgau () was a medieval administrative unit ('' Gau'') on the frontier of the German Duchy of Bavaria. It comprised the region north of the Danube and Regensburg (Ratisb ...

in 903. He was Count of the Volkfeld in 906. He died sometime after.

Sources

Reuter, Timothy Timothy Alan Reuter (25 January 1947 – 14 October 2002), grandson of the former mayor of Berlin Ernst Reuter, was a German-British historian who specialized in the study of medieval Germany, particularly the social, military and ecclesiastical i ...

. ''Germany in the Early Middle Ages 800–1056''. New York: Longman, 1991. *Reuter, Timothy (trans.)
The Annals of Fulda
'. (Manchester Medieval series, Ninth-Century Histories, Volume II.) Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1992.

Notes

{{Authority control Dukes of Thuringia 9th-century rulers in Europe Babenberg