Rikdag

Rikdag II. († 985 or 986 ) was a Saxon nobleman. From 978 he was Margrave of Meissen , from 982 Margrave of Merseburg and Zeitz as well as Gaugraf in Schwabengau , Gau Chutizi and Gau Daleminzi . For a few years he was a powerful feudal lord in the Slavic areas on the Elbe between the Saale and Oder , which, secured by border marks , were part of the Roman-German kingdom .

Life

Rikdag possibly one of the noble family of the Wettiner and is possibly the son of 945 testified Count Volkmar in Harzgau .

His rise is related to the Slav uprising of 983 , which he fought as one of the German military leaders. He also supported King Otto III. in his war of the throne and in 984 temporarily lost the Meissen Castle to the Bohemian Duke Boleslav II.

In 985 he founded the nunnery in Gerbstedt together with his sister Elsuit , in which he was also buried. His grave was rediscovered in October 1972 after looking for it in vain when the school was built in 1870.

progeny

Rikdag had at least two legitimate daughters and one son. A daughter named Gerburga (* before 985; † December 30, 1022 ) was allegedly abbess of Quedlinburg , the other daughter of unknown name (* before 985; †?) Married the Polish Crown Prince Bolesław . This marriage was out of political interests of Boleslaw, but in response to his father Mieszko I , dissolved. Rikdag's loss of the Meissen marrow to the Bohemian Duke Boleslav II in 984, as well as his death around 985, made the marriage uninteresting for the Polish ruling house.

The son Karl (* before 985; † April 28, 1014 ) was count in Schwabengau from 992 to 1010.

literature

Karl Uhlirz : Rikdag (Rigdag, Rictag) . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 28, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1889, p. 614 f.
Hans-Jürgen Pohl: The Meissnian margraves before the Wettins. Verlags-, Werbe- und Philaservice Schmidt, Oschatz 2009, pp. 14-18.

Web links

Rikdag in the genealogy of the Middle Ages

Remarks

↑ Christoph Pötzsch : Strange things about vanished Wettiners (= short-term things. No. 47). Tauchaer Verlag, Taucha 2003, ISBN 3-89772-058-2 , p. 7 ff.

predecessor	Office	successor
Günther von Merseburg	Margrave of Meissen 978–985	Ekkehard I.

personal data
SURNAME	Rikdag
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Rikdag II .; Ricdag
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Margrave of Meissen
DATE OF BIRTH	10th century
DATE OF DEATH	985 or 986

[1] Christoph Pötzsch : Strange things about vanished Wettiners (= short-term things. No. 47). Tauchaer Verlag, Taucha 2003, ISBN 3-89772-058-2 , p. 7 ff.