Mark the Billunger

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Expansion of the Billunger mark before 983 according to Gustav Droysen's ideas from 1886

Modern history refers to a margraviate northeast of the Elbe as the Mark der Billunger , which the Saxon nobleman Hermann († 973) from the Billunger dynasty administered on a royal commission. The medieval written sources do not mention the Billunger Mark. The existence and location of the mark are still controversial today.

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The various sources provide no more information about the margraviate of Hermann Billung than the exercise of the margrave office itself. This margrave office is evidenced by a number of Latin official designations, the contemporary meaning of which, however, cannot always be determined with certainty: “ marchio ”, “ princeps militiae "," Procurator regis "," dux "," comes ".

Initially, Hermann is referred to as " marchio " in a deed of donation for the St. Michaelis monastery in Lüneburg from the year 956 issued by the royal chancellery . This title, which in the literal sense of the word is best understood as a border guards , is usually translated as margrave .

Around 965, the Saxon historiographer Widukind von Corvey reports that the German King Otto I appointed Hermann Billung " princeps militiae " in connection with a campaign against the Redarians in 936 . This could have been either the post of military leader or the post of captain of the border guards. When King Otto I then went to fight his rebellious son Liudolf in 953 , Hermann Widukind is said to have temporarily received the task of a “ procurator regis ” from the king . As such, in the absence of the king, he had to exercise his judicial and sovereign powers in Saxony. In 967, Hermann finally met Widukind as “ dux ”. This can be understood to mean both a duke and a military commander. The princes of the Wagrians and Abodrites are said to have been subordinate to this “ dux ” . Together with the Abodritic Prince Mistiwoj , Hermann Billung took the castle of the Vagrian Prince Selibur and deposed him.

The designation as " dux " can also be found in other medieval written sources. Hermann himself, for example, signed a Liège bishopric in 965 as " dux ". In contrast, the royal chancellery does not use this title. In the documents issued by her, Hermann is usually referred to as " comes ". This was originally the entrusted representative of the king in an administrative district, later a hereditary count .

History

The designation of Hermann's district as "Mark der Billunger" is a word created in modern history. In 1817 Anton Christian Wedekind understood it to be "the over-Elbian Saxony" ( northern Albingia ) and the Bardengau bordering on the Wendland . The ideas of the size of the marrow developed rapidly. In the opinion of Gottlob Dittmar from 1890, the margravate Hermann Billungs already extended across Mecklenburg and Western Pomerania.

Remarks

  1. ^ Daniel Rentschler: Brands and Margraves in the Early and High Medieval Empire. A comparative study mainly on the basis of royal documents and other "official sources". Stuttgart 2013, p. 397; Erich Hoffmann : Contributions to the history of the Obotrites at the time of the Naconids. In: Eckhard Hübner, Ekkerhard Klug, Jan Kusber (eds.): Between Christianization and Europeanization. Contributions to the history of Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages and early modern times. Festschrift for Peter Nitsche on his 65th birthday (= sources and studies on the history of Eastern Europe. Vol. 51). Steiner, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-515-07266-7 , pp. 23–51, here p. 28.
  2. ↑ See the list in Gerd Althoff : Saxony and the Elbe Slavs in the Tenth Century. In: The New Cambridge Medieval History . Volume 3: Timothy Reuter (Ed.): C. 900 - c.1024 Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 1999, ISBN 0-521-36447-7 , pp. 267-292, here p. 282.
  3. ↑ MGH DD OI 183: Otto gives the St. Michael monastery to Lüneburg on the intercession of Margrave Hermann ( by interventum Herimanni marchionis ) the salt tariff there.
  4. ^ Daniel Rentschler: Brands and Margraves in the Early and High Medieval Empire. A comparative study mainly on the basis of royal documents and other "official sources". Stuttgart 2013, p. 64.
  5. ↑ Widukind II, 4.
  6. ↑ Widukind III, 23.
  7. ^ Daniel Rentschler: Brands and Margraves in the Early and High Medieval Empire. A comparative study mainly on the basis of royal documents and other "official sources". Stuttgart 2013, p. 668 note 2074. A repetition of absenteeism during Otto's Italian campaigns I 961 and 966 is not documented.
  8. ↑ Gerd Althoff: The Billunger in the Salierzeit. in: Stefan Weinfurter (Ed.): The Salians and the Empire. Vol. 1 (publications on the exhibition “The Salians and Your Empire”). Sigmaringen 1991, pp. 309-330, here p. 311 f.
  9. ↑ Widukind III, 68.
  10. ↑ MGH D Loth 23, p. 52.
  11. ↑ MGH DD OI 308 [965] and 309 [965]
  12. ^ Anton Christian Wedekind : Hermann Duke of Saxony. First preparatory work on the history of the Kingdom of Hanover. Herold and Wahlstab, Lüneburg 1817, p. 18.
  13. ↑ Gottlob Dittmar : History of the German People. Volume 3. Winters, Heidelberg 1890, p. 15.