March of the Holy Roman Empire (965?1367)
The
March
or
Margraviate of Lusatia
(
German
:
Mark(grafschaft) Lausitz
) was an eastern border
march
of the
Holy Roman Empire
in the lands settled by
Polabian Slavs
. It arose in 965 in the course of the partition of the vast
Marca Geronis
. Ruled by several
Saxon
margravial dynasties, among them the
House of Wettin
, the lordship was contested by the
Polish
kings as well as by the
Ascanian
margraves of
Brandenburg
. The remaining territory was finally incorporated into the
Lands of the Bohemian Crown
in 1367.
Geography
[
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]
The territory of the margraviate roughly corresponded with the present-day region of
Lower Lusatia
. It originally stretched from the border of the Saxon
stem duchy
along the
Saale
River in the west to the border with Poland on the
Bober
(Bobr) River in the east. From about 1138, the adjacent territory beyond the river was part of the
Duchy of Silesia
(
Lower Silesia
). In the north, the March of Lusatia bordered on the
Northern March
, which was following the
Great Slav Rising
of 983 established as the Margraviate of Brandenburg under the Ascanian margrave
Albert the Bear
in 1157, as well as on
Land Lebus
, nucleus of the Brandenburg
Neumark
territory from 1248 onwards. In the south, the
Margraviate of Meissen
likewise arose from the former
Marca Geronis
, its western part merged with the later
Electorate of Saxony
, while the eastern
Milceni
lands emerged as
Upper Lusatia
.
Over the centuries, the margravial territory diminished in favour of the Ascanian
County of Anhalt
and the
Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg
. Further territories in the west were split off by means of distribution, like the
Osterland
ruled by the
Margraves of Landsberg
or the County of
Brehna
.
History
[
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]
The area east of the former
limes Sorabicus
of East Francia, settled by the Slavic
Veleti
and
Milcenian
tribes, was gradually conquered until 963 by the
Saxon
count
Gero of Merseburg
. He added the territory between the Saale and Bober rivers to his
Marca Geronis
, which the Saxon duke and German King
Otto I
had established in 937. After Gero's death in 965 and the loss of the Northern March in the course of the 983 Slavic uprising, Lusatia became the heartland of the remaining
Saxon Eastern March
(
Ostmark
) under Margrave
Odo I
.
Margraviate
[
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]
While the term
Ostmark
stayed in use for centuries, the Lusatian March appeared as a separate administrative unit from at least as early as 965 with the concurrent establishments of the Marches of
Meissen
,
Merseburg
and
Zeitz
. The division between
Lower Lusatia
and the adjacent
Milceni
lands around
Bautzen
and
Gorlitz
(later
Upper Lusatia
), then part of Meissen, was also apparent even that early.
In 1002, the Marches of Lusatia and Meissen were conquered by
Polish ruler
Boleslaus the Brave
during King
Henry II
's campaign against revolting
Henry of Schweinfurt
.
[1]
This sparked a
German?Polish War
, which ended by the 1018
Peace of Bautzen
. Henry's successor
Conrad II
waged two campaigns, in 1031 and 1032, which reconquered both Lower and Upper Lusatia from
Mieszko II of Poland
.
By the reign of King
Henry IV
from 1056, Lusatia had been reincorporated into the Holy Roman Empire and it formed one of the four divisions of
Upper Saxony
along with Meissen, the
Ostmark
, and Zeitz. These regions were not always ruled by separate margraves, but were mainly administrative divisions. Lusatia and the
Ostmark
were ruled together and eventually the
Ostmark
was reduced to little more than Lower Lusatia. Under Henry IV, Upper Lusatia was detached from the Lusatian march and granted as a fief to
Bolesław II of Poland
.
Imperial state
[
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]
The first "Margrave of Lusatia" is only known from 1046. Under Emperor
Lothair III
, Upper and Lower Lusatia were once again reunited in 1136. The terms "Ostmark" and "Lusatia" were interchangeable into the 12th century, though in 1128 Count
Henry of Groitzsch
is recorded as Margrave of the Ostmark, but as not receiving the Lusatian march until 1131. While in 1156 Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa
invested Duke
Vladislaus II of Bohemia
with Upper Lusatia, the territory of the Margraviate of (Lower) Lusatia was further reduced by the establishment of the
Margraviate of Landsberg
(
Osterland
), the
Principality of Anhalt
and the
Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg
.
From 1210 on the remaining March of Lower Lusatia was held by the
Meissen
margraves from the Saxon
House of Wettin
. Upon the death of Margrave
Henry III of Meissen
in 1288, his lands were divided: while the Meissen territory passed to his eldest son
Albert II
, the Lusatian lands fell to his grandson
Frederick Tuta
, son of the late Margrave
Theodoric of Landsberg
. A fierce inheritance quarrel arose, whereupon Albert's son
Theodoric IV
(Diezmann) campaigned Lusatia and took it in possession after Frederick Tuta's death (presumably poisoned) in 1291.
In 1303 Theodoric IV sold the Lusatian march to the
Ascanian
margrave
Otto IV of Brandenburg
. The Brandenburg Ascanians had already acquired neighbouring the adjacent "
Upper Lusatian
" estates around
Bautzen
and
Gorlitz
, as well as the Margraviate of Landsberg in 1291; nevertheless, when the dynasty became extinct in 1319, the territorial complex again disintegrated. The Lower Lusatian lands were seized by the
Wittelsbach
king
Louis the Bavarian
and with Brandenburg ceded to his son
Louis V
. His brother
Otto
finally sold Lower Lusatia to the
Luxembourg
emperor
Charles IV
in 1367 whereafter it was incorporated into the
Lands of the Bohemian Crown
. Centuries later, both crown lands of Lower and Upper Lusatia passed to the Wettin
Electors of Saxony
by the 1635
Peace of Prague
.
Margraves of (Lower) Lusatia or (Saxon) Ostmark
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]
- Dedi I
, 1046–1075
- Dedi II
, fl. 1069
- Henry I
, 1075–1103
- Henry II
, 1103–1123
- Wiprecht
, 1123–1124
- Albert the Bear
, 1123–1128
- Henry III of Groitzsch
, 1124–1135
- Conrad of Wettin
, 1136–1156, also
Margrave of Meissen
since 1123
- Dietrich I
, 1156–1185, son of Conrad, titular
Margrave of Landsberg
- Dedi III
, 1185–1190, brother
- Conrad II
, 1190–1210, son
Margraves of Meissen
[
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]
Margraves of Landsberg
[
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]
- The Margraviate of Lusatia (Ostmark)
was purchased by the Ascanian margraves of
Brandenburg
in 1303
Margraves of Brandenburg
[
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]
- Lusatia became a
Bohemian crown land
in 1367.
Notes
[
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]
Sources
[
edit
]
- Bara?ski, Marek Kazimierz.
Dynastia Piastow w Polsce.
Warszawa; Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 2005.
- Reuter, Timothy
.
Germany in the Early Middle Ages 800–1056
. New York: Longman, 1991.
- Thompson, James Westfall
.
Feudal Germany, Volume II
. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1928.