View source for Margravate of Meissen

{{Short description|Medieval margravate (965–1423)}}
{{Infobox country
| native_name            = {{native name|de|Markgrafschaft Meißen}}
| conventional_long_name = Margravate of Meissen
| common_name            = Meissen
| era                    = [[Middle Ages]]
| status                 = Margravate
| empire                 = Holy Roman Empire
| government_type        = [[Feudal monarchy]]
| year_start             = 965
| year_end               = 1423
| event_start            = Partitioned from ''[[Marca Geronis]]''
| event1                 = Captured by Poland
| date_event1            = 1002
| event2                 = [[Investiture Controversy]]¹
| date_event2            = 1067
| event3                 = War of [[Duchy of Thuringia|Thuringian]] Succession
| date_event3            = &nbsp;<br>1247–64
| event4                 = Acquired most of [[Duchy of Thuringia|Thuringia]]
| date_event4            = &nbsp;<br>1298
| event5                 = [[Battle of Lucka]]
| date_event5            = 1307
| event_end              = [[Frederick I, Elector of Saxony|Frederick IV]] assigned [[Saxe-Wittenberg]]
| event_post             = Acquired [[burggraf|Burggravate]]
| date_post              = 1426
| title_leader           = [[Margrave of Meissen]]
| leader1                = [[Wigbert, Margrave of Meissen|Wigbert]] (first)
| year_leader1           = 965–976
| leader2                = [[Frederick I, Elector of Saxony|Frederick IV]]
| year_leader2           = 1381–1423
| p1                     = Marca Geronis
| image_p1               = [[File:F1-Bandera a cuadros.png|20px|]]
| s1                     = Electorate of Saxony
| image_s1               = [[File:Flag of Electoral Saxony.svg|border|20px|Electoral Saxony]]
| image_flag             = Generieke vlag van Vlaanderen.svg
| image_flag2            = State flag of Saxony before 1815.svg
| flag_type              = Top: [[Banner of arms]]<br />Bottom: State colors flag {{nowrap|(10th cent.–until 1423)}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://flaggenlexikon.de/fdtmeis1.htm|title=flaggenlexikon.de: ''Flaggen für Markgrafschaft Meißen''|language=de|access-date=2021-06-14|archive-date=2021-06-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614123422/https://flaggenlexikon.de/fdtmeis1.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
| image_coat             = Arms of Flanders.svg
| image_map              = March of Meissen locator map (1004).svg
| image_map_caption      = March of Meissen (red) in the year 1004
| capital                = [[Meissen]]
| common_languages       = [[Upper Saxon German|Upper Saxon]]
| footnotes              = 1: As a result of the [[Investiture Controversy]] in 1067, the territory was lost from the [[Brunonen]] to the [[Wettin (dynasty)|Wettin]] dynasty.
| today                  = [[Germany]]<br>[[Poland]]
}}
The '''Margravate''' or '''Margraviate of Meissen''' ({{langx|de|Markgrafschaft Meißen}}) was a medieval principality in the area of the modern German state of [[Saxony]]. It originally was a [[March (territory)|frontier march]] of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], created out of the vast ''[[Marca Geronis]]'' ([[Saxon Eastern March]]) in 965. Under the rule of the [[House of Wettin|Wettin dynasty]], the margravate finally merged with the former [[Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg]] into the [[Electorate of Saxony|Saxon Electorate]] by 1423.

==Predecessors==
In the mid 9th century, the area of the later margravate was part of an eastern frontier zone of the [[Carolingian Empire]] called [[Sorbian March]] (''Limes Sorabicus''), after [[Sorbs|Sorbian]] tribes of [[Polabian Slavs]] settling beyond the [[Saale]] river. In 849, a margrave named [[Thachulf, Duke of Thuringia|Thachulf]] was documented in the ''[[Annales Fuldenses]]''. His title is rendered as ''dux Sorabici limitis'', "duke of the Sorbian frontier", but he and his [[East Francia|East Frankish]] successors were commonly known as ''duces Thuringorum'', "dukes of the Thuringians", as they set about establishing their power over the older [[Duchy of Thuringia]] in the west.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first=Timothy |editor-last=Reuter |title=The Annals of Fulda |series=Manchester Medieval Series, Ninth-Century Histories, vol. II |location=Manchester |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=1992 |isbn=0719034574 }}</ref>

The Sorbian march had already lost its importance around 900 AD; the last known margrave [[Poppo, Duke of Thuringia|Poppo]] was deposed by King [[Arnulf of Carinthia|Arnulf]] in 892 and replaced with [[Conrad, Duke of Thuringia|Conrad]] who continued to appear as a "Duke of Thuringia". Conrad himself was replaced by [[Burchard, Duke of Thuringia|Burchard]], whose title in 903 was ''marchio Thuringionum'', "margrave of the Thuringians".

Due to scarce sources, the geographical extent of the Frankish march east of the Saale is a matter of ongoing debate among historians; it may have reached up to the settlement area of the Slavic [[Glomacze]] (''Talaminzi'') tribes beyond the [[Mulde]] river, identified as eastern neighbours of the Sorbs by the [[Bavarian Geographer]] about 850. These territories were under constant attacks by the East Frankish rulers; in 908 they were first campaigned by the [[Duchy of Saxony|Saxon]] prince [[Henry the Fowler]], son of Duke [[Otto I, Duke of Saxony|Otto the Illustrious]]. By 928/29, the main Glomacze fortress on the [[Jahna]] river was destroyed and their lands up to the [[Dresden Basin]] incorporated into the ''Marca Geronis''.

==Founding==
[[File:Albrechtsburg01.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Meissen, with Albrechtsburg and Cathedral]] 
In 928 and 929, during the final campaign against the Glomacze tribes, Henry the Fowler, [[List of German monarchs|East Frankish king]] since 919, chose a rock above the confluence of the [[Elbe]] and [[Triebisch]] rivers to erect a new fortress, called Misni ([[Meissen]]) Castle after the nearby Meisa stream. The fortifications were renamed [[Albrechtsburg]] in the 15th century.

A town soon developed around the castle. King Henry, however, made no attempts to [[Germanisation|Germanise]] the Slavs or to create a chain of [[burgward]]s around his fortress. Sat alone, like [[Brandenburg an der Havel|Brandenburg]], with few defenses or towns around it;<ref>Thompson, p. 481.</ref> Meissen probably was temporarily occupied by [[Duchy of Bohemia|Bohemian]] forces from 936 onwards. The town beneath the fortress grew, however, eventually becoming one of the most important cities in the vast ''Marca Geronis'', covering the Slavic lands east of the Saxon [[stem duchy]]. King Henry, and later on his son and successor [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto I]], continued the Slavic campaigns into the lands of the Polabian [[Milceni]] tribes around [[Bautzen]] (''Budissin''), with their gained territory being gradually incorporated into the Saxon Eastern March.

When the ''Marca Geronis'' was divided in 965 upon the death of Margrave [[Gero]], Meissen became the center of a new march with the goal of controlling the local Slavic population. The first Meissen margrave, [[Wigbert of Meissen|Wigbert]], is mentioned in a 968 charter of the [[Archbishopric of Magdeburg|Archdiocese of Magdeburg]]. That same year, the Meissen fortress also became the [[Episcopal see|see]] of the newly created [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Dresden-Meissen|Bishopric of Meissen]]. In 978, the Saxon count [[Rikdag]] became the [[List of margraves of Meissen|Margrave of Meissen]], and incorporated the marches of [[Merseburg]] and [[March of Zeitz|Zeitz]] into Meissen. By 982, the territory of the march had extended as far as the [[Kwisa]] river to the east and as far as the slopes of the [[Ore Mountains]] to the south, where it shared a border with the [[Přemyslid dynasty|Přemyslid]] duchy of Bohemia.
[[File:Marchia Wschodnia ok. 1000.svg|thumb|upright|left|Saxon Eastern March(es) after the Great Slav Rising of 983]]
In 983, following the defeat of Emperor [[Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto II]] at the [[Battle of Stilo]], the Slavic [[Lutici]] tribes bordering eastern Saxony rebelled in the [[Great Slav Rising]]. The newly established bishoprics of [[Bishopric of Havelberg|Havelberg]] and [[Diocese of Brandenburg|Brandenburg]] as well as the [[March of Zeitz]] were overrun by Lutici tribes. Margrave Rikdag joined forces with the Margraves of [[March of Lusatia|Lusatia]] and the [[Northern March]], the [[Bishopric of Halberstadt|Bishop of Halberstadt]], and the Archbishop of Magdeburg and defeated the Slavs in the [[Gau (territory)|gau]] of [[Balsamgau]] near [[Stendal]].<ref>Thompson, p. 490.</ref> Nevertheless, large territories of the Northern March were lost, and the German forces were pushed back west of the Elbe.

Margrave [[Eckard I, Margrave of Meissen|Eckard I]] from Thuringia succeeded Rikdag as Margrave of Meissen in 985. His descendants of the Ekkeharding noble family would keep the margravial title until 1046. Upon his appointment, Eckard allied with Duke [[Mieszko I of Poland]] in order to reconquer Meissen Castle from Duke [[Boleslaus II, Duke of Bohemia|Boleslaus II of Bohemia]] whose forces occupied it the year before. When Eckard was assassinated in 1002, however, Mieszko's son, the [[History of Poland during the Piast dynasty|Polish]] king [[Bolesław I Chrobry]], took the occasion to conquer the margravial lands east of the Elbe and demanded the surrender of Meissen.<ref>Thompson, p. 643.</ref> The following [[German–Polish War (1002–18)|German–Polish War]] ended with the 1018 [[Peace of Bautzen]], whereby Meissen had to cede the Milceni region (later [[Upper Lusatia]]) to Poland. In 1031 however, King [[Conrad II of Germany]] was able to reconquer the Milceni lands, which were returned to Meissen.

In 1046, Count [[Otto I, Margrave of Meissen|Otto of Weimar-Orlamünde]] became margrave, followed by  [[Egbert II, Margrave of Meissen|Egbert II]] of the [[Brunonids]] upon his death in 1067. Egbert II entered into a longstanding conflict with Emperor [[Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry IV]], because of which he had to renounce the Milceni lands to Duke [[Vratislaus II of Bohemia]] in 1076, and was finally deposed during the [[Investiture Controversy]] in 1089.

==Wettin rule==
[[File:Mark Lausitz, Karte Anno 1200.jpg|thumb|upright|Upper Saxony about 1260, Wettin territories of Meissen, [[March of Lusatia|Lusatia]] and [[Osterland]] ([[Margraviate of Landsberg|Landsberg]]) in pink]]
Emperor Henry IV then granted Meissen to Count [[Henry I, Margrave of the Saxon Ostmark|Henry of Eilenburg]] of the [[House of Wettin|Wettin]] dynasty. The margravate would remain under Wettin rule for the rest of its existence. Under [[Wiprecht, Margrave of Meissen|Wiprecht von Groitzsch]] in the 1120s, Meissen underwent a process of Germanisation.<ref>Thompson, p. 481.</ref> He was succeeded by [[Conrad, Margrave of Meissen|Conrad the Great]] (1123–56), [[Otto II, Margrave of Meissen|Otto the Rich]] (1156–91), and [[Dietrich, Margrave of Meissen|Dietrich the Hard-Pressed]] (1191–1221), under whom the march would expand and develop. By then, Meissen had become a stronghold of the Wettin dynasty, suspiciously eyed by the [[Hohenstaufen]] emperors who nevertheless were not able to deprive the margraves of their power.

In 1264, during the [[War of the Thuringian Succession]], Margrave [[Henry III, Margrave of Meissen|Henry III]] asserted himself in the [[Landgraviate]] of Thuringia, where his uncle [[Henry Raspe]] had died childless. Between 1243 and 1255, Henry III had also acquired the intermediate [[Pleißeland|Pleisseland]] around [[Altenburg]] in pawn. In 1307, the attempt by the [[House of Luxembourg|Luxembourg]] king [[Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry VII]] to once again subdue the Margraves of Meissen failed with his defeat at the [[Battle of Lucka]]. By that time the margravate was ''de facto'' independent of any sovereign authority. In the following years, there would be joint rule of Meissen by multiple members of the Wettin dynasty at any given time. In 1382 and 1445, this even led to the division of the march, however it would reunite soon after each time. Meissen was often enlarged by marriage, purchase, or conquest, which is how it gained the rights to the [[Burgrave|burgraviate]] in 1426.

In 1423, Margrave [[Frederick I, Elector of Saxony|Frederick IV]] was assigned the heirless [[Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg]], formerly held by the [[House of Ascania]], by Emperor [[Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor|Sigismund]] in turn for his support against the [[Hussite Wars|Hussites]]. The Wettin rulers thereby entered into the Saxon [[Prince-elector|electorate]], in which they ultimately merged their margravial lands abandoning Meissen's status as an independent principality; though they retained the margravial title. In the late 15th century, the dynasty held a large contiguous territory between the [[Werra]] and [[Oder]] rivers. By the 1485 [[Treaty of Leipzig]], however, the [[Upper Saxony|Upper Saxon]] lands were again divided between Frederick's grandsons [[Ernest, Elector of Saxony|Ernest]] ruling in [[Wittenberg]] and [[Albert III, Duke of Saxony|Albert]], who took the former Meissen territory. The treaty marked the beginning of the permanent separation of the two states of Saxony and [[Ernestine duchies|Ernestine]] Thuringia.

==Burgraviate==
The Burgraviate of Meissen was first mentioned in 1068 when King [[Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry IV]] appointed a [[burgrave]] at the Imperial Castle of Meissen. The burgraves of Meissen were royal officials tasked with asserting the king's authority in the region. They served as a counterbalance to the [[margrave]] and the [[bishop]], who resided in the predecessor structure of the [[Albrechtsburg]] in [[Meissen]]. The burgrave's jurisdiction encompassed several villages in the surrounding area, reinforcing its administrative role within the medieval political framework. However, the [[Vogtland]] was never formally integrated into the Burgraviate, as the two regions shared only a common overlord without direct territorial affiliation. The burgraves initially hailed from the {{Interlanguage link|Meinheringer|de}} dynasty, holding authority for several centuries. In 1426, the title and domain transitioned to the {{Interlanguage link|House of Plauen|de|Vögte von Plauen}}, marking a new phase in the Burgraviate's history.

The Burgraviate of Meissen should not be confused with the Bishopric of Meissen or the Margraviate of Meissen, as each represented distinct territorial and political entities within the [[Holy Roman Empire]].

==See also==
*[[List of margraves of Meissen]]
*[[List of margravines of Meissen]]
*[[List of the burgraves of Meissen]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*[[James Westfall Thompson|Thompson, James Westfall]]. ''Feudal Germany, Volume II''. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1928.
{{coord missing|Saxony}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meissen, Margravate}}
[[Category:960s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire]]
[[Category:1420s disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire]]
[[Category:1423 disestablishments in Europe]]
[[Category:States and territories established in the 960s]]
[[Category:Former states and territories of Thuringia]]
[[Category:Former states and territories of Saxony]]
[[Category:Meissen]]
[[Category:Medieval history of Germany]]
[[Category:965 establishments]]
[[Category:Marches of the Holy Roman Empire]]
[[Category:Otto the Great]]