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{{Short description|Margrave of the Billung March from 936 to 973}}
{{Expand German|topic=bio|Hermann Billung|date=February 2024}}
{{noref|date=April 2017}}
{{Infobox monarch
| name            = Hermann Billung
| image           = Hermann Billung.jpg
| royal house     = [[Billung|House of Billung]]
| title           = Margrave of the Billung March
| reign           = 936–973
| coronation      = 
| full name       = 
| predecessor     = 
| successor       = [[Bernard I, Duke of Saxony|Bernard I]] {{small|(as Duke of Saxony)}}
| father          = Billung von Stubenskorn
| mother          = Ermengarde of Nantes
| spouse          = Oda<br/>Hildegarde of Westerburg
| birth_date      = {{circa|900/912}}
| birth_place     = 
| death_date      = {{death date|973|3|27|df=y}}
| death_place     = [[Quedlinburg]]
| date of burial  = 
| place of burial = 
}}
'''Hermann Billung''' (900 or 912 &ndash; 27 March 973) was the margrave of the [[Billung March]] from 936 until his death. The first of the [[Saxons|Saxon]] House of [[Billung]], Hermann was a trusted lieutenant of [[Emperor Otto I]].

Though never Duke of [[Duchy of Saxony|Saxony]] himself, while Otto (who was the enthroned duke of Saxony) was in Italy from 961 until 972, Hermann served as Otto's personal representative in governing Saxony. Towards the end of his life, Hermann was the effective duke in all but name.

Hermann died in 973, just two months before Otto's own death. Hermann's son [[Bernard I, Duke of Saxony|Bernard I]] was named as the new duke of Saxony by Otto I's son [[Otto II]].

==Life==
Hermann was probably the son of Billung. He was the younger brother of the Saxon count [[Wichmann the Elder]]. Hermann is generally counted as the first Billung [[duke]] (''[[Herzog]]'') of Saxony, but his exact position is unclear. The ducal [[Ottonian dynasty]] had risen to [[List of German monarchs|German royalty]] with the accession of [[Henry the Fowler]] in 919 and had to concentrate on countrywide affairs. At least in 961, when King [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto I of Germany]] marched against the [[Kingdom of Italy (medieval)|Kingdom of Italy]] for the second time, he made Hermann the administrator (''procurator regis'') in his Saxon lands.

When in 936 King Otto I had ascended the throne, he appointed Hermann a [[margrave]] (''princeps militiae''), granting him the Saxon [[March (territory)|march]] north of the [[Elbe]] river. His [[Billung March]] stretched from the ''[[Limes Saxoniae]]'' in the west along the [[Baltic Sea|Baltic]] coast to the [[Peene]] River in the east, roughly corresponding with the later [[Mecklenburg]] region. Otto thereby disregarded the claims of Hermann's elder brother Count Wichmann, a brother-in-law of Queen Dowager [[Matilda of Ringelheim|Matilda]]. Wichmann in turn joined the unsuccessful rebellion of King Otto's half-brother [[Thankmar]] and Duke [[Eberhard of Franconia]] in 938. Having more autonomy than the contemporary margrave [[Gero]] ruling over the adjacent ''[[Marca Geronis]]'' in the south, Hermann exacted [[tribute]] from the local [[Polabian Slavs]] of the [[Obotrites|Obotrite]] tribal federation.

Upon his brother's death in 944, he also became count in the Saxon [[Bardengau]] around the town of [[Lüneburg]], where he founded the monastery of St Michael in that city. He again disregarded the inheritance claims raised by his nephews [[Wichmann the Younger]] and [[Egbert the One-Eyed]]. In 953 both joined the countrywide rebellion started by King Otto's younger brother Duke [[Liudolf, Duke of Swabia|Liudolf of Swabia]], which only collapsed due to the massive invasion of [[Principality of Hungary|Hungarian]] forces. During this grave crisis, the king, who was also Duke of Saxony, began entrusting more and more of his authority in the Saxon lands to Hermann during his absences. However, Hermann was never named ''[[dux]]'' in royal documents. Instead, he is named as a military leader, count, and margrave.

His position was solidified, when on 2 February 962 King Otto was crowned [[Holy Roman Emperor]] in [[Rome]] by [[Pope John XII]]. Hermann was received like a king by Archbishop [[Adalbert (Archbishop of Magdeburg)|Adalbert of Magdeburg]] in 972, which even annoyed the emperor. He may have been the founder of the [[Hermannsburg]] locality in the [[Lüneburg Heath]], first mentioned in 1059.

Hermann died in [[Quedlinburg]]. His son [[Bernard I, Duke of Saxony|Bernard]] inherited and strengthened his father's position and managed to be recognized as duke.

==Descendants==
Hermann Billung perhaps was married twice: According to the chronicles of St Michael's Abbey in Lüneburg, a Countess Oda died on 15 March in an unknown year after 973, the [[Xanten]] annals noted the death of one ''Ode'', spouse of Duke Hermann, on the same day. She probably was related to the royal Ottonian dynasty; Henry the Fowler's grandmother was named Oda (herself a member of the Billung dynasty), which was also the name of his sister. A second wife ''Hildesuith'' or Hildegard of Westerburg is mentioned in the chronicles, but her relation to Oda remains unclear. Hildegard was also the name of the spouse of Hermann's son Bernard. The name of Hermann's granddaughter [[Oda of Meissen]] suggests that Oda was the mother of his children.

He had five children:
*[[Bernard I, Duke of Saxony|Bernhard I]] (died 1011), Duke of Saxony
*Liutger (died 26 February 1011), attested in 991, buried in St. Michaels in Lüneburg, married [[Emma of Lesum]] (died 3 December 1038), buried in the [[Bremen Cathedral]].
*[[Swanehilde of Saxony|Suanhilde]] (born between 945 and 955, died 26 November 1014, buried in the monastery of Jena, reburied after 1028 in the Church of St. George in [[Naumburg (Saale)|Naumburg]], married:
*# in 970 [[Thietmar I, Margrave of Meissen|Thietmar I]] (died after 979) [[Margrave of Meissen]],
*# before 1000 [[Ekkehard I, Margrave of Meissen|Ekkehard I]] (murdered 30 April 1002 in Pöhlde); became in 992 [[Margrave of Meissen]], buried in the monastery of Jena, reburied after 1028 in the Church of St. George in [[Naumburg (Saale)|Naumburg]]
*[[Matilda of Saxony, countess of Flanders|Mathilde]] (born between 935 and 945, died 25 May 1008 in Ghent, buried in St. Peter's church), married:
*# "shortly before 961" to [[Baldwin III of Flanders|Baldwin III, Count of Flanders]] (died 1 January 962),
*# [[Godfrey I, Count of Verdun|Gottfried der Gefangene]] (died on 3/4 April after 995) in 963/982, Count of Verdun (Wigeriche), buried in St. Peter's church in Ghent
*Imma (died in 995), Abbess of [[Herford Abbey|Herford]].
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==References==
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{{S-start}}
{{S-hou|[[Billung|House of Billung]]||900 or 912|27 March|973}}
{{S-bef|before=First}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Margrave]] of the [[Billung March]]|years=936–973}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Bernard I, Duke of Saxony|Bernard I]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:House of Billung|Hermann]]
[[Category:10th-century births]]
[[Category:973 deaths]]
[[Category:10th-century counts in Europe]]

[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]