Margraviate of the Nordgau

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Margraviate of the Nordgau
Markgrafschaft Nordgau
Margraviate
Historical era
Medieval Europe
• Established
c. 806
4 August 1329
 Succeeded by
Egerland
Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg
Electoral Palatinate
Today part ofCzech Republic
Germany

The Margraviate of the Nordgau (German: Markgrafschaft Nordgau) or Bavarian Nordgau (Bayerischer Nordgau) was a medieval administrative unit (Gau) on the frontier of the German Duchy of Bavaria. It comprised the region north of the Danube and Regensburg (Ratisbon), roughly covered by the modern Upper Palatinate stretching up to the river Main[1] and, especially after 1061, into the Egerland on the border with Bohemia.

History

See also: History of Bavaria

The area east of

Wogastisburg.[2]

When King Charlemagne deposed Duke Tassilo III of Bavaria in 788, he entered the Nordgau and brought the Carolingian Empire into contact with Bohemia permanently. For this reason, the incorporated Nordgau has been called the Bohemian March on occasion, although this term also designates the later Margraviate of Moravia.[2] By an 806 deed issued at Thionville, Charlemagne separated out the Bavarian lands on the left bank of the Danube, including the ducal residences of Regensburg and Lauterhofen, called pagum, qui dicitur Northgowe. His chancellor Einhard submitted the deed to Pope Leo III for confirmation.

The Nordgau was again separated from Bavaria following the death of the

march
.

Likewise, Berthold's son Count

German–Polish War (1002–1018) against the Polish ruler Bolesław I the Brave, after which he was deposed and arrested. In 1004, King Henry II installed his brother-in-law, Count Henry of Luxembourg, as Bavarian duke and gave the temporal authority of the Nordgau region over to the Bishopric of Bamberg
, which he heavily favoured throughout his career. However, the margravial title survived in a succession of families in the region. Count Henry's possessions were partly restored and his descendants used the title "Margrave of Schweinfurt".

Throughout the 11th and 12th centuries, the Nordgau functioned as a pathway for invading armies from Bohemia and Hungary and for the countering armies of the Holy Roman Empire.[3] In the mid-11th century, the

Vohburg
" to their descendants.

Margrave

Frederick Barbarossa
in 1147.

The

Imperial city, while the Bavarian House of Wittelsbach controlled large parts of the Nordgau from the mid-13th century onwards. In 1322, the Wittelsbach emperor Louis IV gave the Egerland in pawn to the Kingdom of Bohemia. By the 1329 Treaty of Pavia, he ceded the remaining Nordgau region to his Palatinate nephews Rudolf II and Rupert I, whereafter it became known as the "Upper Palatinate" (German
: Oberpfalz).

Margraves

  • Ernest [de] (d. 865), served until 861[4]
  • Rodold (d. c. 880), served 861–c. 880[4]
  • Engildeo (d. aft. 895), served c. 880–895[4]
  • Luitpold (d. 907), served 895–903
  • Poppo of Thuringia
    (d. 906), served from 903
  • Arnulf (d. 937), served 907–937
  • Berthold of Schweinfurt (d. 980), served from 976
  • Henry of Schweinfurt (970–1017), served 994–1004
  • Otto of Schweinfurt
    (d. 1057), served 1024–1031

    ...

  • Diepold II of Vohburg (d. 1078)
  • Diepold III of Vohburg
    (d. 1146), served 1093–1146

References

  1. ^ Reuter, 54.
  2. ^ a b Thompson, 619.
  3. ^ Thompson, 609.
  4. ^ a b c Bowlus, 287.

Sources

  • Bowlus, Charles R. (1995). Franks, Moravians, and Magyars: The Struggle for the Middle Danube, 788–907. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
  • Reuter, Timothy. (1991). Germany in the Early Middle Ages 800–1056. New York: Longman.
  • Thompson, James Westfall. (1928). Feudal Germany, Volume II. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing.

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