Bernhard (legacy)

Bernhard († December 14, 935 or January 15, 936) was probably Count von Borghorst and legate (commander) of the Saxon contingent in the Battle of Lenzen in 929.

Bernhard came from by far the most influential and distinguished group of relatives in northern Saxony and was probably an ancestor of the Billungers , possibly the uncle, if not the father of Hermann Billung , Wichmann I and Amelung . He was married to Berta, the founder of the Borghorst canonical monastery , a noblewoman from Burgundy or Alemannia. Or maybe she was the only one who was related to the ancestors of the Billunger and the descendants of Widukind . The couple had at least one daughter, Hadwig, who later became the abbess of the Borghorst monastery. It is unclear whether the other children Bertheida ( Peretheid ) and Luitgard come from the connection with Bernhard or from a previous marriage of Berta with the older Luitgard.

Widukind von Corvey reports from Bernhard in his history of Saxony that in 929, as one of two military leaders of King Henry I, he defeated a huge contingent of the Elbe Slavonic Redarians in the battle of Lenzen . After Bernhard's death around the turn of the year 935/936, the post of military leader initially remained vacant due to the stroke of King Henry I. Only his son and successor Otto I appointed a new military leader. However, he did not choose Wichmann I, but rather his younger brother Hermann Billung as "princeps militae", which led to a serious crisis for Otto I's young reign.

Bernhard's is thought of in the necrologists of Borghorst, Lüneburg and Merseburg .

swell

Paul Hirsch , Hans-Eberhard Lohmann (ed.): Widukindi monachi Corbeiensis rerum gestarum Saxonicarum libri tres. Hahn, Hanover 1935 ( MGH Scriptores rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum separatim editi, volume 60). Digitized

literature

Gerd Althoff : Noble and royal families in the mirror of their memorial tradition. Studies on the commemoration of the dead of the Billunger and Ottonians. (= Münster medieval writings. Volume 47). Fink, Munich 1984, ISBN 3-7705-2267-2 , pp. 388 and 426.

Remarks

↑ Gerd Althoff: The Billunger in the Salierzeit. In: Stefan Weinfurter (Ed.): Salier, Adel und Reichsverfassungs (= The Salier and the Reich. Vol. 1). Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1991, pp. 309-329, here p. 311.
↑ Christian Hanewinkel: The political importance of the Elbe Slavs with regard to the changes in rule in the East Franconian Empire and in Saxony from 887–936. Political sketches of the eastern neighbors in the 9th and 10th centuries. Münster 2004, p. 217 .
↑ Nathalie Kruppa: The Billunger and their monasteries. Examples of the extensive connections in early medieval Saxony. in: Concilium medii aevi vol. 12 (2009) pp. 1–41, here p. 18.

personal data
SURNAME	Bernhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Count von Borghorst, legate of Heinrich I.
DATE OF BIRTH	9th century or 10th century
DATE OF DEATH	December 14, 935 or January 15, 936

[1] Gerd Althoff: The Billunger in the Salierzeit. In: Stefan Weinfurter (Ed.): Salier, Adel und Reichsverfassungs (= The Salier and the Reich. Vol. 1). Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1991, pp. 309-329, here p. 311.

[2] Christian Hanewinkel: The political importance of the Elbe Slavs with regard to the changes in rule in the East Franconian Empire and in Saxony from 887–936. Political sketches of the eastern neighbors in the 9th and 10th centuries. Münster 2004, p. 217 .

[3] Nathalie Kruppa: The Billunger and their monasteries. Examples of the extensive connections in early medieval Saxony. in: Concilium medii aevi vol. 12 (2009) pp. 1–41, here p. 18.