- Sorbian March
The Sorb(ian) March ( _la.
limes Sorabicus; _de. Sorbenmark) was a frontier district on the eastern border ofEast Francia in the 9th through 11th centuries. It was composed of several counties bordering theSorbs . The Sorbian march seems to have comprised the eastern part ofThuringia .The Sorbian march was sometimes referred to as the "Thuringian March". The term "Sorbian march" appears only four times in the "
Annales Fuldenses " and only three rulers are recorded: Poppo, Thachulf, and Radulf. The commanders of the Sorbian march bore the title "dux Sorabici (limitis)" in the "Annales", but are also referred to elsewhere as counts ("comites"),margrave s ("marchiones"), and dukes of Thuringia ("duces Thuringorum"). The march was probably ruled primarily by the Babenberg family. The boundary between Thuringia and the Sorbs was defined as theSaale river byEinhard , writing in the830s : " _la. Salam fluvium, qui Thuringos et Sorabos dividit" ("the river Saale, which divides the Thuringii and the Sorbs").Erfurt was the chief economic centre of eastern Thuringia at the time. The Sorbian march probably (loosely) included the land east of the Saale as far as the Elster and thePleisse , which might have been controlled bycastles . Whether the Sorbian march itself was only the area west of the Saale, east of it, [Leyser, 11.] or on both sides is impossible to tell.The Sorbian march was frequently troubled in the 9th century by
insurrection on the part of theSlavs , who were tributaries of the Germans. In the10th century , however, the march formed part of the vast "marca Geronis " from937 until965 . [Thompson, 487.] During this period, the Sorbs were reduced toserf dom and the march largely pacified. After 965, it formed a part of theMarch of Meissen .Sources
*
Reuter, Timothy (trans.) " [http://www.medievalsources.co.uk/fulda.htm The Annals of Fulda] ". (Manchester Medieval series, Ninth-Century Histories, Volume II.) Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1992.
*Thompson, James Westfall. "Feudal Germany, Volume II". New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1928.
*Leyser, Karl (January 1968) [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8266%28196801%2983%3A326%3C1%3AHIATBO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-L "Henry I and the Beginnings of the Saxon Empire"] , "The English Historical Review", 83(326):1–32.Notes and references
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