Bernhard II (Saxony)

Bernhard II after Johann Agricola 1562

Family table

Bernhard II. (* After 990; † June 29, 1059 ) from the Billunger family had been duke in Saxony since 1011 . He was the son of Duke Bernhard I and Hildegard, a daughter of Count Heinrich I "The Bald" von Stade , and a grandson of Hermann Billung . His siblings were: Imma, Godesti , Othelendis, Mathilde and Thietmar .

Life

He was Vogt of Lüneburg, Verden, Möllenbeck, Minden, Herford, Kemnade (Holzminden) and Fischbeck and owned count rights as far as Friesland.

He only handed over the Holy Lance in his care to Heinrich II , when he promised to respect the old Saxon law in the by-election (for king) in Merseburg in July 1002.

As later emperor (from 1014) he only supported him weakly against Poland and in 1018 brokered the peace of Bautzen .

In 1019/20 he rebelled and forced the recognition of all tribal rights.

With the help of Prince Gottschalk , he tied the Slavs closer to the empire again. In 1024 he recognized Konrad II .

He stood against the Counts of Stade and von Werl. Also against the archbishops of Bremen and the Saxon bishops, from 1043 especially against the archbishop Adalbert of Bremen , whom he blamed for the death of his brother. Thietmar is said to have committed an assassination attempt on Heinrich III in 1048 . have planned.

Between 1024 and 1025 he had the New Castle built in Hamburg . He was buried in the Church of St. Michaelis in Lüneburg .

progeny

Bernhard II was married to Eilika († December 10 after 1055/1056), a daughter of Heinrich von Schweinfurt , Margrave of the Nordgau . He had five children with her:

• Ordulf (Otto) († March 28, 1072 ) Duke of Saxony, buried in St. Michaelis in Lüneburg ∞ November I 1042 Wulfhild of Norway († May 24, 1071 ) daughter of King Olav II. Haraldsson
• Hermann († May 31, 1086) Count 1059/80
• Gertrud († August 4, 1089 (or 1093)), ∞ I Floris I, Count of Holland (murdered June 28, 1061 near Hemert ) ( Gerulfinger ), ∞ II 1063 Robert I the Friesian († October 12 or 13 1093 ), 1062/71 Count of Holland , 1071 Count of Flanders
• Ida († July 31, 1101 ) heiress of Laroche ( Ardennes ) ∞ I Friedrich († August 28, 1065 ) 1046 Duke of Lorraine ( Wigeriche ), ∞ II 1065/66 Albert III. († June 22, 1102 ) Count of Namur , attested in 1035 ( House of Namur )
• Hadwig / Hedwig (* around 1030/35, † July 17 around 1112), ∞ Engelbert I († April 1, 1096), Count of Spanheim , Margrave of Istria

literature

• Hans-Joachim Freytag:  Bernhard II. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 2, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1955, ISBN 3-428-00183-4 , p. 112 ( digitized version ).
• Ernst Steindorff :  Bernhard II, Duke of Saxony . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 2, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1875, pp. 435-437.

Web links

Commons : Bernhard II. (Saxony)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

predecessor	Office	successor
Bernhard I.	Duke of Saxony 1011–1059	Ordulf