View source for Thietmar, Margrave of Meissen

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{ infobox noble
| name = Thietmar
| title = [[List of margraves of Meissen|Margrave of Meissen]]
| image = Fotothek df roe-neg 0006470 029 Stifterfigur Graf Dietmar im Naumburger Dom St.jpg
| caption = [[Donor portrait]] in [[Naumburg Cathedral]]
| reign = 976–979
| noble family = 
| father = [[Christian of Thuringia]]
| mother = Hidda of Merseburg
| spouse = Suanhilde of [[Billung]]
| issue = [[Gero II, Margrave of the Saxon Ostmark]]
| birth_date = {{circa|945}}
| birth_place = 
| death_date = {{death date|979|8|3|df=y}}
| death_place = 
| burial_place = [[Nienburg Abbey]]
}}
'''Thietmar (II)''' ({{circa|945}} – 3 August 979) was [[List of margraves of Meissen|Margrave of Meissen]] from about 976 until his death.

==Life==
Thietmar was the eldest of three brothers, all sons of Margrave [[Christian of Thuringia|Christian]], count in the [[Saxon Eastern March]], and his wife Hidda, sister of Margrave [[Gero|Gero the Great]]. His brothers were Archbishop [[Gero (archbishop of Cologne)|Gero of Cologne]] and Margrave [[Odo I, Margrave of the Saxon Ostmark|Odo of the Saxon Ostmark]].

Thietmar strengthened the ties with the mighty [[Billung]] dynasty by marrying [[Swanehilde of Saxony|Swanehilde]] (d. 1014), daughter of Margrave [[Hermann Billung]], acting [[List of rulers of Saxony|Duke of Saxony]] from 961. The couple had one son: [[Gero II, Margrave of the Saxon Ostmark|Gero II]], who in 993 would succeed Thietmar's brother, Odo, as Margrave of the Saxon Eastern March.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

In 951, he was first recorded when he succeeded his father as margrave in the ''[[Gau (territory)|Gau]]'' Serimunt. Between 951 and 978, he was also count in the Saxon [[Schwabengau]]. After the death of his uncle Gero the Great in 965, Thietmar inherited large parts of whose vast ''[[Marca Geronis]]'' and upon the death of Margrave Wigbert (before 976) received the [[Margraviate of Meissen]] from the hands of Emperor [[Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto II]].{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

On 29 August 970, Margrave Thietmar and his brother Gero of Cologne founded the abbey of [[Nienburg Abbey|Thankmarsfelde]],<ref>{{harvp|Bernhardt|1993|p=170}}</ref> which between 971 and 975 became a royal monastery. It was moved to [[Nienburg, Saxony-Anhalt|Nienburg]] at the confluence of the [[Saale]] and [[Bode (river)|Bode]] rivers in 975. In the years which followed, Thietmar and Gero made further donations of land to the monastery,<ref>{{harvp|Bernhardt|1993|p=171}}</ref> where Thietmar is also buried.

Thietmar was succeeded by the Schwabengau count [[Rikdag]]. His widow Swanehilde married Rikdag's successor Margrave [[Eckard I, Margrave of Meissen|Eckard I of Meissen]].{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book |last=Bernhardt |first=John W. |year=1993 |title=Itinerant Kingship and Royal Monasteries in Early Medieval Germany, c. 936–1075 |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521521833 }}

{{refend}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-hou|||{{circa|925}}|3 August|979}}
{{succession box |
  before= [[Wigbert, Margrave of Meissen|Wigbert]] |
  title=[[List of margraves of Meissen|Margrave of Meissen]] |
  years=976–979 |
  after=[[Rikdag]]
}}
{{S-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thietmar, Margrave of Meissen}}
[[Category:920s births]]
[[Category:979 deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:Margraves of Meissen]]


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