General Notes

OCCU Duke of Saxe
RELI Sources: Dee, Danielle Marie.  AOL user Dani Dee.  File uploastory and Biography, v. 88 (1980), p. .ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA:Billung DYNASTY the primary ruling dynasty in  Saxony in the10th and
11th centuries. It was founded by Hermann Billung, whoin 936 received from the German king (and future emperor)  OttoI a march, or border territory, on the lower Elbe River to beheld against the
pagan Slavic  Wends. In 961 Otto grantedHermann the Saxon ducal title, which on Hermann's death (973)passed to his son and thereafter to his descendants, whocontinued the struggle against the
Slavs.Although the family extended its conquests toward the OderRiver, thus preparing these territories for Christianization,their lands consisted of only the northeastern part of theformer stem
duchy of Saxony. Hermann's son Bernard I (d. 1011)obtained guarantees of the special privileges and customs of theSaxons from the emperor Henry II; Bernard II (d. 1059) obtainedsimilar guarantees
from the emperor Conrad II. Both Bernard IIand his son Ordulf (d. 1072) had to defend their territoriesagainst the encroachments of Adalbert, archbishop of Bremen. Thefamily came to embody the Saxon
national resentment toward theSalian kings and emperors Henry III and particularly  Henry IV,who wanted to reestablish imperial authority in Saxony. InAugust 1106, with the death of Magnus Billung,
the family diedout.Related Propaedia TopicsDecline of the dynasty (685-711): renewed wars with the Slavs;settlement with the Arabs; fiscal, agricultural, and defensivepolicies; military anarchy
(711-717)The Holy Roman Empire, the papacy, and Italy from c. 1050 to c.1300Copyright (c) 1996 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. All RightsReserved
DATE 15 MAR 1997