- Wichmann the Elder
Wichmann I the Elder (also spelled "Wigmann" or "Wichman"; died
23 April 944 ) was a member of the SaxonHouse of Billung . He was a brother ofAmelung, Bishop of Verden , andHerman, Duke of Saxony .In 938, Wichmann rebelled because his younger brother Herman had been given the military command of the northern reaches of the
Duchy of Saxony . He believed that he had a better claim to the office by virtue of his seniority and because he was related by marriage to the queen dowagerMatilda of Ringelheim : that is, "Königsnähe ". He was joined byEberhard of Franconia andThankmar , the half-brother of King Otto I. The revolt was soon suppressed: Thankmar died the same year he and Eberhard came to terms. Wichmann allied with someSlavs and made war against his former compatriots. [Thompson, 599–600, records thatWidukind of Corvey was condoning of Wichmann's behaviour.] He was finally reconciled to Otto in 941.Wichmann married Frederuna (or Fridaruna), sister of Queen Matilda. She became a nun after her husband's death and died on
18 January 971 . She left hims three sons and a daughter:
*Wichmann II
*Bruno, Bishop of Verden
*Egbert the One-Eyed
*Hedwig or Hathui, married Siegfried, son ofGero ources
*Reuter, Timothy. "Germany in the Early Middle Ages 800–1056". New York: Longman, 1991.
*Thompson, James Westfall. "Feudal Germany, Volume II". New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1928.
*Bernhardt, John W. "Itinerant Kingship and Royal Monasteries in Early Medieval Germany, c. 936–1075". Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.Notes
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