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Duchy of Saxony

(804-1260) duchy of Holy Roman Empire

38 dated entries naming Duchy of Saxony, drawn from 37 separate years between 805 CE and 1539 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

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9th century

  • 805Liudolf, duke of Saxony (approximate date)source
  • 851Otto I, duke of Saxony (approximate date)source
  • 885Summer – Emperor Charles the Fat summons a meeting of officials at Lobith (modern Netherlands), and accuses Hugh, an illegitimate son of former king Lothair II, and his vassal Godfrid, Duke of Frisia, of plotting against him. Hugh is blinded, and exiled to the Abbey of Saint Gall (modern Switzerland). Godfrid is killed by a group of Frisian and Saxon nobles, at the connivance of Henry of Franconia. The local count, Gerolf, takes over the West Frisian coastline from the Danish, after the murder.source

10th century

  • 903December 24 – Hedwiga, duchess of Saxonysource
  • 910June 22 – Battle of Rednitz: The Hungarians defeat the East Frankish army near the Rednitz River, killing its leader Gebhard, Duke of Lotharingia (Lorraine). After the battle Louis IV, together with the East Frankish duchies Franconia, Lotharingia, Bavaria and Saxony, agrees to pay tribute to the Hungarian state.source
  • 912German dukes Henry the Fowler of Saxony and Arnulf I (the Bad) of Bavaria claim themselves to be sovereign princes, not recognizing the authority of their overlord, King Conrad I of the East Frankish Kingdom, as he is not a Carolingian. Duke Erchanger II of Swabia and Conrad's brother, Duke Eberhard III of Franconia, support the Conradines.source
  • 912November 30 – Otto I, duke of Saxonysource
  • 918December 23 – King Conrad I, injured at one of his battles with Arnulf I (the Bad), dies at his residence in Weilburg Castle after a 7-year reign. On his deathbed Conrad persuades his younger brother Eberhard III to offer the East Frankish crown to Henry the Fowler, the duke of Saxony. Conrad is buried in Fulda Cathedral (also the burial place of Boniface) in Germany.source
  • 919May 24 – The nobles of Franconia and Saxony elect Henry the Fowler at the Imperial Diet in Fritzlar as ruler of the East Frankish Kingdom. He recognizes the stem duchies (uniting them in a German confederation) and all their sovereign privileges. Two of the four most influential duchies, Bavaria and Swabia, do not accept his rule. Henry fortifies Magdeburg against the Magyars.source
  • 924Winter – The Hungarians invade Saxony and force King Henry I (the Fowler) to retreat into the Castle of Werla. He makes a pact and agrees to pay them tribute for 9 years. They return to the Po Valley and sack the cities of Bergamo, Brescia and Mantua (Northern Italy).source
  • 929September 4 – Battle of Lenzen: Slavic forces (the Redarii and the Obotrites) are defeated by a Saxon army near the fortified stronghold of Lenzen (modern Germany).source
  • 932June 1 – Thietmar, duke of Saxonysource
  • 938Fall – Otto I defeats in two campaigns a series of uprisings in Saxony, Franconia and Lotharingia. He signs a "friendship pact" with King Louis IV ("d'Outremer") of the West Frankish Kingdom.source
  • 972June 24 – Battle of Cedynia: The Polans under prince (or Duke) Mieszko I, defeat the German forces of the Saxon count Odo I at their stronghold in Cedynia (with the help of hidden reinforcements). The battle – one of the first in Polish history – strengthens Mieszko's hold over Western Pomerania.source
  • 974Battle of Danevirke: Emperor Otto II defeats the rebel forces of King Harald I, who has invaded Nordalbingia (modern-day Holstein), to shake off imperial overlordship. Otto's armies swiftly subdue the Danes, consolidating the frontier between Scandinavia and Northern Germany. Meanwhile, Henry II begins a rebellion against his cousin Otto. He forges alliances with Bavarian and Saxon nobles.source

11th century

  • 1020Wulfhild of Norway, duchess consort of Saxony (d. 1071)source
  • 1022Ordulf, duke of Saxony (approximate date)source
  • 1050Sophia of Hungary, duchess of Saxony (approximate date)source
  • 1071May 24 – Wulfhild of Norway, duchess of Saxony (b. 1020)source
  • 1072March 28 – Ordulf (or Otto), duke of Saxonysource
  • 1095June 18 – Sophia of Hungary, duchess of Saxonysource

12th century

  • 1112Otto ("the Rich"), count of Ballenstedt, is appointed duke of Saxony by Emperor Henry V, but is later stripped of his title.source
  • 1129Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony and Bavaria (d. 1195)source
  • 1137December 4 – Emperor Lothair III dies at Breitenwang in Tyrol, while retreating from Italy after a mutiny among his troops. His son-in-law Henry X (the Proud), duke of Bavaria, inherits the Duchy of Saxony.source
  • 1142May – Conrad III makes a peace agreement with the 13-year-old Henry the Lion at Frankfurt. He is appointed as duke of Saxony, which territories are deprived from his father, the late Duke Henry the Proud.source
  • 1150February 8 – Battle of Flochberg: German forces under Henry VI defeat the army of the House of Welf at Bopfingen. At the same time, King Conrad III besieges Welf forces at Braunschweig in Saxony, but he lifts the siege when confronted by Henry the Lion.source
  • 1166Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony, has the Brunswick Lion created at Dankwarderode Castle in Braunschweig (modern Germany). (Mentioned by Albert of Stade, a German abbot and chronicler, as the year of origin.)source
  • 1168Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony, marries the 12-year-old Matilda (or Maud), daughter of King Henry II of England.source
  • 1175Clementia of Zähringen, duchess of Bavaria and Saxonysource
  • 1178June 30 – Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa) is crowned King of Burgundy at Arles. He will repeat the ceremony in 1186. Returning to Germany, he begins proceedings against Henry III (the Lion), duke of Saxony, who has been charged by Saxon noblemen with breaking the king's peace.source
  • 1179June 24 – Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony, is put under the ban of the empire when he refuses to appear before Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa) to answer charges of misgovernment.source
  • 1181Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony, submits to Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa) at an Imperial Diet in Erfurt. He is banished to England and retains only Brunswick among his former lands.source
  • 1185September – Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony, returns to Germany after being banished for three years by Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor.source
  • 1189June 28 – Matilda of England, duchess of Saxony (b. 1156)source
  • 1196Spring – Henry VI persuades a diet at Würzburg. He manages to convince the majority of the German nobles and clergy to recognize his 2-year-old son, Frederick II, as king of the Romans and heir to the imperial throne. However, Archbishop Adolf of Cologne thwarts the will of the diet and arouses the resistance of several Saxon and Thuringian nobles against Henry, who realizes that he is unable to establish a hereditary monarchy (his Erbreichsplan) in the Holy Roman Empire without resistance.source

13th century

  • 1260The Duchy of Saxony is divided into Saxony-Lauenberg and Saxony-Wittenberg, marking the end of the first Saxon state.source

15th century

  • 1464September 7 – At Leipzig, Ernest, Landgrave of Thuringia, 23, becomes the new Elector of Saxony upon the death of his father, Friederich II, while his younger brother Albert III, 21, succeeds his father as the new Duke of Saxony.source

16th century

  • 1539May 25 – The inaugural declaration of the Protestant Reformation takes place in Leipzig (now part of Germany) with Martin Luther present, as Duke Henry IV pledges to adopt Lutheranism as the official religion of make the Duchy of Saxony.source

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