The Marca Geronis ("march of Gero")[1] was a vast super-march in the middle of the tenth century. Mark from the Old English mearc and march (or various plural forms of these words derived from the Frankish word marka ("boundary" It was created probably for Thietmar (in the 920s) and passed to his two sons consecutively: Siegfried and Gero. Thietmar (I (also Thiatmar, Dietmar, or Thiommar; died 1 June 932) Count and Margrave was the military tutor ( vir disciplinae Siegfried (died 3 December 937) was the Count and Margrave of Merseburg from an unknown date before 934 until his death Gero I (c 900 &ndash 20 May 965) called the Great (Latin magnus) ruled an initially modest march centred on Merseburg On Gero's death in 965 it was divided into five (sometimes six) different marches: the Nordmark, the Ostmark, Meissen, Zeitz, and Merseburg. The Northern March or North March (Nordmark was created out of the division of the vast Marca Geronis in 965 The Saxon Eastern March or Ostmark (Sächsische Ostmark was a march of the Holy Roman Empire from the 10th until the 12th century The March or Margraviate of Meissen (Mark(grafschaft Meißen was a mediæval principality a march, of the Holy Roman Empire in the area of the modern The March of Zeitz (Mark Zeitz was a frontier county of the Holy Roman Empire, created through the division of the Marca Geronis in 965 when
Because Siegfried's and Gero's comital seat was Merseburg, it has sometimes been called the March of Merseburg. Merseburg is a Town in the south of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt on the river Saale, approx However, there is also a Merseburger march which grew out of it after 965. Because the central diocese in his march was Magdeburg, sometimes it is called the March of Magdeburg (Magdenburger Mark). The Archbishopric of Magdeburg was a Roman Catholic Archdiocese within the Holy Roman Empire. Other historians prefer to call it the (Saxon) Eastern March or Ostmark, but these terms are also applied to another march which grew out of it in 965. The Saxon Eastern March or Ostmark (Sächsische Ostmark was a march of the Holy Roman Empire from the 10th until the 12th century Ostmark is a German term meaning either Eastern march when applied to territories or Eastern Mark when applied to currencies Because the marca Geronis was created simultaneously with the March of Billung to the north, it is sometimes said to be the southern half of the Ostmark. The Billung March (Billunger Mark or March of the Billungs ( Mark der Billunger) was a frontier region of the far northeastern Duchy of Saxony Some historians even call it the "March of Meissen. "[2] Within in the span of one page, James Westfall Thompson, referred to it as both the "Sorben Mark" and the "Thuringian March. James Westfall Thompson (1869&ndash1941 was an American historian specializing in the history of medieval and early modern Europe particularly of the Holy Roman Empire and The Sorb ( ian) March ( Limes Sorabicus; Sorbenmark was a frontier district on the eastern border of East Francia in the The March or Margraviate of Meissen (Mark(grafschaft Meißen was a mediæval principality a march, of the Holy Roman Empire in the area of the modern "[3]
Part of the complication involved in ascertaining the territoriality of the march over which Gero ruled is the nature of the margravial title in tenth-century Saxony. It may have signified territorial governance, but on the other hand may have been an honorific for especially powerful counts signifying nothing more than a preeminence in providing defence of the provinces in which were found their counties. It has been suggested that marcher jurisdictions even overlapped within provinces.
In 965, Merseburg became the centre of a smaller, more restricted march belonging to Gunther. Gunther (Günther died 13 July 982) was the Margrave of Merseburg from 965 until his death upon which the march of Merseburg was united to that of On Gunther's death in 982, it was united to the March of Meissen.
Sources
- Reuter, Timothy. Timothy Alan Reuter ( January 25 1947 – October 14 2002) grandson of the former mayor of Berlin Ernst Reuter, was a German- Germany in the Early Middle Ages 800–1056. New York: Longman, 1991.
- Thompson, James Westfall. James Westfall Thompson (1869&ndash1941 was an American historian specializing in the history of medieval and early modern Europe particularly of the Holy Roman Empire and Feudal Germany, Volume II. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co. , 1928.
- Leyser, Karl. "Ottonian Government." The English Historical Review, Vol. 96, No. 381. (Oct. , 1981), pp 721–753.
- Leyser, Karl. "Henry I and the Beginnings of the Saxon Empire." The English Historical Review, Vol. 83, No. 326. (Jan. , 1968), pp 1–32.
- Lang, Henry Joseph. "The Fall of the Monarchy of Mieszko II, Lambert." Speculum, Vol. 49, No. 4. (Oct. , 1974), pp 623–639.
- Dvornik, F. "The First Wave of the Drang Nach Osten." Cambridge Historical Journal, Vol. 7, No. 3. (1943), pp 129–145.
- Jakubowska, Bogna. "Salve Me Ex Ore Leonis." Artibus et Historiae, Vol. 12, No. 23. (1991), pp. 53–65.
- Howorth, H. H. "The Spread of the Slaves. Part III. The Northern Serbs or Sorabians and the Obodriti." The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 9. (1880), pp 181–232.
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