Meissen

Who holds it

Name

Dietrich II (of Kittlitz)

Title

Bishop of Meissen

Since

1190-1191 (succeeded Martin, d. 15 July 1190; consecrated probably May 1191)

Confidence

high

Of a free noble family named after Kittlitz near Löbau in Upper Lusatia. He keeps a good, quarrel-free relationship with Margrave Dietrich of Meissen and stands aloof from imperial politics. He is pressing his diocese to pay the full canonical tithe and will use Innocent III's authority to enforce it; from 1201 to 1206 he quarrels with Burgrave Heinrich of Dohna over the castle of Thorun at Pesterwitz. Dies 29 August 1208.

What it holds

• Meissen: the cathedral on the castle hill, shared with the margrave's and the burgrave's castles
• Wurzen on the Mulde: castle district and collegiate church, the bishops' (from the Ottonian grants; attribution for 1200 fair)
• Mügeln: old royal castle district granted to the see (fair)
• Göda in Upper Lusatia, with the land where Bischofswerda grows (granted by Henry II in the early 11th century; fair)
• Tithes across a diocese where German settlers are clearing new land; the bishop is pushing for the full canonical tithe

How it was acquired

Ottonian and Salian royal grants of castle districts (burgwards) to the see founded in 968. Stolpen came only in 1222.

How things stand that morning

Quiet. Dietrich holds his districts and keeps out of the throne dispute.

Wealth

Tithes from the colonised lands; estate revenues; the nearby silver of Freiberg enriches the margrave, not the bishop.

Threats

• Lay resistance to the tithe
• The Dohna burgraves (from 1201)

Advocates and rivals

Margrave Dietrich of Meissen (on good terms); the burgraves of Meissen and of Dohna; Wettin and other lay lords who resist the tithe.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The bishop is well documented (Sächsische Biografie). The list of episcopal districts follows the standard account of the see's early grants and was not checked here against a 1200 source; the German Wikipedia page on the Hochstift could not be read (rate limit).

On the map: Districts drawn as town territories; their extent in 1200 is approximate.

Primary sources for Meissen

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Annals of Jarloch (Gerlach), abbot of Milevsko, Jarloch of Milevsko (about 1200 to 1220). The last Bohemian narrative before 1200, continuing Vincentius of Prague. Read online
• Annals of Pegau; Annals of Magdeburg (12th and 13th centuries; Pegau continued to 1227). The annals of the Wettin lands and of Magdeburg. Read online
• Chronicle of the Lauterberg (Petersberg near Halle), Konrad of Lauterberg (about 1225). The house chronicle of the Wettin foundation on the Lauterberg, sharp-tongued and well informed on Saxony, Meissen and Magdeburg. Read online
• Chronicle of Reinhardsbrunn; Chronicle of St Peter's, Erfurt (Erfurt chronicle in the 13th century; Reinhardsbrunn compilation about 1340 to 1349 from older annals). The two Thuringian chronicles. Read online
• Royal Chronicle of Cologne (in stages from about 1175 to about 1250; the section on 1198 to 1220 written soon after the events). The fullest German narrative of the throne war from the Welf and Cologne side. Read online
• Deeds of the archbishops of Magdeburg (main text to 1142, continued in the 13th and 14th centuries). The Magdeburg house history, with a continuation covering Archbishop Ludolf of Kroppenstedt (1192 to 1205), a firm supporter of Philip who hosted the king's Christmas court at Magdeburg on 25 December 1199. Read online
• Charters and letters of the kingdom of Bohemia, volume 2, 1198 to 1230 (documents of 1198 to 1230, edited 1912). The critical edition of every Bohemian and Moravian charter and letter from Ottokar I's accession to 1230.