Margrave's lands east of the Elbe

Who he is

Name

Otto II

Title

Margrave of Brandenburg

Since

July 1184

Born

after 1147

Family

Ascanian; see the realm record Brandenburg (Otto II). His half-brother Albert, count of Arneburg, is co-ruler and heir.

Confidence

high

de.wikipedia (Otto II. (Brandenburg), Zauche, Havelberg, Möckern, Schloss Zerbst, Schollene, Geschichte Potsdams).

Overlord

The king for the march; the archbishop of Magdeburg for the family lands surrendered in 1195-96 (the land of Schollene, the Zauche, Möckern among them).

What it holds

• Brandenburg: the margrave's part of the castle island (Dominsel), shared with the bishop's chapter and the royal burgrave; the old town (called a town in Otto I's charter of 1170) and the new town (first named 1196)
• The Havelland north of the Havel: Nauen (first named 1186, a village), Ketzin, the Slav castle place of Rathenow on the Havel (Burgwall 'Alt Rathenow'; the name first in 1216), Friesack, the Rhin marshes
• The Zauche south of the Havel, with Lehnin Abbey (Cistercian, founded 1180, monks from Sittichenbach in 1183), Werder and Beelitz
• Potsdam: the Havel crossing at the Nuthe mouth, conquered by Albert the Bear in 1150, with a German stone tower castle built after 1157 (its keeper in 1200 not pinned)
• Havelberg town on the Havel island (the margraves' lordship attested 1160); the cathedral hill shared with the bishop
• The land and castle of Schollene (castrum 1195), a Magdeburg fief since 1195
• Zerbst castle, built by Albert the Bear on a Slav water castle and first documented in 1196
• Möckern castle (the margraves' lordship in the 12th century, handed to Magdeburg in 1196)
• The site of Treuenbrietzen on the Zauche's southern edge (an Ascanian castle first documented in 1208: not pinned for 1200)

How it was acquired

The Havelland by Albert the Bear's inheritance from Pribislav-Henry (1150) and his recovery of Brandenburg (11 June 1157); the Zauche as Pribislav's christening gift to Otto I; Havelberg and the lower Havel in the conquests of 1136-37 and 1147; Zerbst and Möckern as Albert the Bear's acquisitions on the Fläming edge. Otto II inherited all of it in 1184.

Allies and rivals

The bishop of Brandenburg (Norbert) and his Premonstratensian chapter, with whom he shares the castle island; the royal burgrave Siegfried, whose office competes with his; the archbishop of Magdeburg, his feudal lord for the allods.

How things stand that morning

Held by the margrave's officers on 1 January 1200. The Havelland and Zauche are the secure core of the march. Möckern and Schollene are Magdeburg fiefs since 1195-96; who actually keeps Möckern's castle that winter is not pinned.

Wealth

Mills on the dammed Havel at Brandenburg (from about 1180); the markets of the two towns of Brandenburg; tolls at the Havel crossings (Brandenburg, Potsdam, Rathenow, Havelberg); rents from new villages of settlers and from Slav villages.

Military

Castles at Brandenburg, Potsdam, Rathenow, Havelberg, Schollene, Zerbst and Möckern (Slav castle places taken over and rebuilt in stone where attested). Garrisons and Vögte not pinned. No figures.

Threats

• Danish or Rügen retaliation for the war of 1198-99
• The burgrave's and bishop's rights on the castle island
• Magdeburg's lordship over the surrendered lands

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. During 1200Settlement of the Havelland and the Zauche goes on; no change of lordship is expected.Depends on: Peace in the march. Stopped by: A Pomeranian or Danish counter-raid.

Places of note

• Brandenburg castle island: Castle, cathedral (begun 1165) and the burgrave's seat.
• Lehnin Abbey: Ascanian house monastery (1180); Otto I buried there.
• Potsdam castle: Havel crossing at the Nuthe mouth.
• Rathenow: Slav castle place on the Havel.
• Zerbst castle: First documented 1196.
• Möckern castle: Margrave's lordship until handed to Magdeburg in 1196.

Where the sources disagree

• The Rhineland map's Magdeburg outline takes in Möckern; the de.wikipedia article on Möckern says the margraves held the lordship there in the 12th century and handed it to the archbishop only in 1196. Drawn here as the margrave's (a Magdeburg fief), with the caveat.

Evidence: The core lands are well established; officers and the exact state of each castle in the winter of 1199-1200 are not pinned.

On the map: The polygons follow the Havel, the Rhin and the Nuthe; the bishop's and the burgrave's villages inside them are not separated. Zerbst and Möckern are drawn as small blocks round the castles.

Primary sources for Brandenburg (Otto II)

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 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
• 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
• Pomeranian charter book, volume 1, 786 to 1253 (documents of 786 to 1253, edited 1868). All known charters for Pomerania and Rügen to 1253. Read online