Thietmar of Merseburg

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For the German count, see Thietmar, Count of Merseburg.
Bas-relief by Karolin Donst, Tangermünde

Thietmar (also Dietmar or Dithmar; 25 July 975 – 1 December 1018),

Ottonian (Saxon) dynasty. Two of Thietmar's great-grandfathers, both referred to as Liuthar, were the Saxon nobles Lothar II, Count of Stade, and Lothar I, Count of Walbeck. They were both killed fighting the Slavs at the Battle of Lenzen
.

Life

Merseburg Cathedral where Thietmar worked

Thietmar was a son of the Saxon count

Lothair of Walbeck served as margrave of the Northern March
from 983 until his death in 1003.

Baptized in

Benedictine abbey of Berge in Buckau near Magdeburg. From 1 November 990, he attended the Magedeburg cathedral school, together with his relative Bruno of Querfurt. He was familiar with the works of Augustine of Hippo, but even more with classical authors like Virgil, Horace, Lucan, and Macrobius
.

Thietmar witnessed the struggles of the young Ottonian king Otto III and his mother Theophanu to secure their reign. He took some part in some political events of the time; in 994 he was a hostage in the hands of the Norsemen, and he was not unfamiliar with the actualities of war.[1] Upon the death of his parents, he inherited large parts of the Walbeck estates and in 1002 became provost of the family monastery, established by his grandfather Count Lothair II. On 21 December 1004, he was ordained as a priest by Archbishop Tagino of Magdeburg.

In 1009, through the intercession of Archbishop Tagino, he became Bishop of the Merseburg diocese, which had been re-established by King

Merseburg cathedral.[1]

Thietmar's Chronicle

Page of Thietmar's Chronicle

Between 1012 and 1018 Thietmar, while Bishop of Merseburg, composed his chronicle Chronicon Thietmari, which comprises eight books,

Henry II the Saint
. As counsellor of the Emperor and participant in many important political transactions he was well equipped for writing a history of his times.

The first three books, covering the reigns of Henry I and the first two Ottos (

river Elbe, as well as Poles, Hungarians and Bulgarians.[2]

The Latin style and the composition are not of a high standard, largely because, as the original manuscript reveals, Thietmar continued to make amendments and insertions to the text after it was completed. Nor does he always discriminate between important and unimportant events.[citation needed]

The chronicle is nevertheless an excellent source for the history of Saxony during the reigns of the emperors Otto III and Henry II. No information is excluded by Thietmar, but the fullest details refer to the Bishopric of Merseburg, and to the wars against the Wends (Polabian Slavs) and the Poles.[citation needed]

The original manuscript was moved in 1570 to

bombing during World War II the manuscript was severely damaged, and only a few folios remain intact. Fortunately a complete facsimile edition had been published by L. Schmidt (Dresden, 1905).[citation needed
]

Thietmar's statement that the

Archbishop Gero, who died in 976, was dismissed by art historians, who thought he meant another cross, until the 1920s, and finally confirmed as correct in 1976 by dendrochronology.[3]

Editions and translations of Thietmar's Chronicle

Thietmari Merseburgensis episcopi Chronicon:

References

  1. ^ a b Chisholm 1911, p. 849.
  2. ^ a b Ott 1909.
  3. ^ Lauer, Rolf. In Legner, Anton (ed). Ornamenta Ecclesiae, Kunst und Künstler der Romanik., vol. III, 1985, p. 214

Attribution:

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thietmar von Merseburg.
Count Thietmar of Walbeck
Born: 25 July 975 Died: 1 December 1018
Catholic Church titles
Regnal titles
Preceded by Prince-Bishop of Merseburg
1009–1018 		Succeeded by
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