Gero II, Margrave of the Saxon Ostmark

Gero II (c. 975 – 1 September 1015 at Krosno Odrzańskie) was a prominent German noble from Saxony, who held high offices in southeastern Saxon and neighboring Slavic regions, first as count, and then as margrave.[1] He was the eldest son of Thietmar, Margrave of Meissen, and Schwanehilde (Suanhild), daughter of Herman, Duke of Saxony. He was therefore probably a grandson of Hidda and Christian of Thuringia and named for his great-uncle Gero the Great. In 992, he was created Count of Hassegau in southeastern Eastphalia, and already in 993 succeeded his probable uncle Odo I, as margrave over a frontier region (march) on the middle Elbe, known in historiography as the Saxon Eastern March, that stretched into Lusatia.[2]

During the spring of 1002, his march, that was mentioned in the Chronicle of Thietmar of Merseburg (d. before 1018) as the count Gero’s march (Latin: Geronis marcham comitis; German: Mark des Grafen Gero),[3][4] was temporarily overrun by the Polish duke Bolesław I the Brave, who seized all lands up to the river Elbe, capturing Bautzen (Upper Sorbian: Budyšin) and also the neighboring Meissen (Upper Sorbian: Mišno) with all territories up to White Elster river.[5][6]

Gero then went to Merseburg, to meet with the new king Henry II in the summer of the same year (1002),[7][8] but the question of possession over Lusatia remained contested for several years, since German-Polish relations were marked by a series of consecutive conflicts and temporary treaties.[9] By 1009, Germans succeeded in recapturing several regions, including Belgern, that belonged under Gero's jurisdiction.[10][11]

In 1015, Gero participated in the renewed German-Polish war, waged throughout Lusatia and Silesia. He was killed in battle with a Polish army of Boleslaw I. His body was recovered by Eido I, Bishop of Meissen. Gero was buried in his family's monastery of Nienburg.[10][12] He was survived by his wife Adelaide (Athelheidhe) and one son, Thietmar, who succeeded him.[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ Stieldorf 2026, p. 246, 248, 255, 261, 457, 516.
  2. ^ Meckelnborg & Riecke 2011, p. 340.
  3. ^ Trillmich 1957, p. 202, 203.
  4. ^ Warner 2001, p. 211.
  5. ^ Trillmich 1957, p. 202-205.
  6. ^ Warner 2001, p. 211-212.
  7. ^ Trillmich 1957, p. 208, 209.
  8. ^ Warner 2001, p. 215-216.
  9. ^ Bachrach 2020, p. 1-36.
  10. ^ a b Trillmich 1957, p. 304, 305.
  11. ^ Warner 2001, p. 276.
  12. ^ Warner 2001, p. 320-322.
  13. ^ Wolfram 2010, p. 218.

Sources

  • Bachrach, David S. (2020). "The Eastern Campaigns of King Henry II of Germany, 1003–17". Journal of Medieval Military History. 18: 1–36.
  • Meckelnborg, Christina; Riecke, Anne-Beate (2011). Georg Spalatins Chronik der Sachsen und Thüringer: Ein historiographisches Großprojekt der Frühen Neuzeit. Köln: Böhlau Verlag.
  • Stieldorf, Andrea (2026) [2012]. Marken und Markgrafen: Studien zur Grenzsicherung durch die fränkisch-deutschen Herrscher (2nd ed.). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.
  • Trillmich, Werner, ed. (1957). Thietmar von Merseburg: Chronik. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaf.
  • Warner, David A., ed. (2001). Ottonian Germany: The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg. Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press.
  • Wolfram, Herwig (2010). Conrad II 990-1039: Emperor of Three Kingdoms. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press.
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