Eckard I, Margrave of Meissen

Eckard I
Margrave of Meissen
Reign	985–1002
Spouse(s)	Suanhilde of Billung
Noble family	Ekkehardiner
Father	Gunther of Merseburg
Mother	?
Born	c. 960
Died	30 April 1002 Pöhlde Abbey
Buried	Gerbstedt Abbey

Eckard I (Ekkehard;c. 960 – 30 April 1002) was Margrave of Meissen from 985 until his death. He was the first margrave of the Ekkehardinger family that ruled over Meissen until the extinction of the line in 1046.

Eckard was of noble east Thuringian stock, the eldest son of Margrave Gunther of Merseburg (d. 982). He followed his father into exile from 976 to 979 and took part in the 982 Battle of Stilo against the Emirate of Sicily, where Gunther was killed. Back in Germany, Eckard upon the death of Emperor Otto II in 983 supported his minor son King Otto III of Germany. At the Hoftag diet of Rohr in June 984, he together with Archbishop Willigis of Mainz and several German princes enforced the release of the four-year-old king by his rivaling cousin Duke Henry II of Bavaria.

In 985 Otto III appointed him to succeed Margrave Rikdag in Meissen, following severe Saxon setbacks against the Slavic Lutici tribes during the Great Slav Rising. Eckard remained a vital support for the king and his mother Empress Theophanu. His military responsibilities consisted primarily of securing the Milceni lands as well as the containment of the neighbouring Polish and Bohemia duchies. Duke Boleslaus II of Bohemia had allied with Duke Henry and had taken the occasion to occupy the Albrechtsburg residence, he nevertheless had to withdraw by 987, after Eckard's forces had prevailed. According to the chronicles of Thietmar of Merseburg, he was later elected Duke of Thuringia by the magnates of the region, an event which has been taken as evidence of the principle of tribal ducal election.

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