Margrave Dietrich

Who he is

Name

Dietrich (later called 'the Oppressed')

Title

Margrave of Meissen

Since

1198 (enfeoffed by Philip; see Meissen)

Born

1162

Family

Wettin; see Meissen

Confidence

high

de.wikipedia Dietrich der Bedrängte, Pleißenland, Weißenfels, Eisenberg, Geschichte der Stadt Freiberg, Geschichte der Stadt Leipzig

Overlord

The king (Philip)

What it holds

• Meissen: the margrave's castle on the castle hill
• The Burgwarde of the old march: Lommatzsch country, Zehren, Boritz, Strehla and Riesa on the Elbe (Strehla's lord not pinned), the Dresden basin (Nisan), where the margrave's castle that becomes Dresden is first named in 1206
• Großenhain (Hayn), first named in 1205 with its own grain measure
• Oschatz and Döbeln
• Freiberg: the mines, the castle (built about 1170-80) and the mint
• Altzella, the Cistercian house monastery (founded 1162), with its forest villages
• Leipzig with the margrave's castle (attested 1216) and the town
• Grimma on the Mulde
• Weissenfels: castle and county bought by Otto in 1180; town rights since 1185
• Eisenberg: castle built for the margrave in the 12th century, town fortified by 1171
• Camburg on the Saale: a Wettin castle from the later 12th century (which branch held it in 1200 is not pinned; see notes)
• Torgau on the Elbe: a market since 1119; its lord in 1200 is not pinned (drawn here with low confidence)
• Weissenfels was already Dietrich's own lordship before 1195 (he is styled lord of Weissenfels at his marriage in 1194, FMG)

How it was acquired

Inheritance from Otto the Rich through the restoration of 1198; Weissenfels by purchase (1180).

Allies and rivals

See Meissen. Neighbours inside the march: the bishop of Meissen (Wurzen, Mügeln, the cathedral hill), the burgrave of Meissen, the burgrave of Dohna; to the south the king's Pleissenland.

How things stand that morning

Held by Dietrich without challenge. Bishops' districts inside it (Wurzen and Mügeln) belong to the bishop of Meissen and are drawn on the Church map. The burgraves of Dohna hold the land south of the Dresden basin for the king.

Wealth

Freiberg silver; the Leipzig markets; Elbe tolls; the grain of the loess country round Lommatzsch.

Military

Castles at Meissen, Freiberg, Leipzig, Großenhain, Oschatz, Döbeln, Grimma, Weissenfels, Eisenberg and Camburg; ministerial castle families. No numbers recorded.

Threats

• Royal claims to the march if the throne war turns against Philip
• Bohemia across the Erzgebirge

Places of note

• Meissen castle: Margrave's castle
• Freiberg castle and mines: Silver mines since 1168; castle about 1170-80
• Altzella abbey: House monastery
• Weissenfels castle: Bought 1180

Where the sources disagree

• Camburg: the de.wikipedia article on the county of Brehna lists Camburg among the Brehna counts' seats, while the article on Camburg only says the Wettins took hold of it in the later 12th century, and the Augustinian canons of Camburg moved shortly before 1219 to the margrave's Eisenberg. We draw it with the margrave, low confidence.
• Weissenfels: the assignment asked whether it was the landgrave's (as count palatine of Saxony). de.wikipedia says Ludwig the Springer's line acquired the Weissenfels county in 1085 but Margrave Otto bought castle and county in 1180, so on 1 January 1200 it is Meissen's. The landgrave's Neuenburg at Freyburg, Eckartsberga and Sangerhausen are already in the Rhineland map's record (Landgrave (Thuringia)), and Allstedt in Kyffhausen royal lands; no further landgrave records are needed east of them.

Evidence: The towns and castles are well attested in the 12th and 13th centuries; the exact list of the margrave's castle districts on 1 January 1200 is a reconstruction.

On the map: A schematic of castle districts; the margrave did not rule a closed territory, and estates of the bishops, the abbeys and ministerial families lie inside these outlines.

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.