Hermann Billung

Hermann Billung
Margrave of the Billung March
Margrave Hermann of the Billung March and Hildegard of Westerburg
Reign	936-973
Successor	Bernard I (As Duke of Saxony)
Born	c. 900/912
Died	27 March 973(973-03-27) Quedlinburg
Spouse	Oda Hildegarde of Westerburg
House	House of Billung
Father	Billung von Stubenskorn
Mother	Ermengarde of Nantes

Hermann Billung (900 or 912 – 27 March 973) was the Margrave of the Billung March from 936 until his death. The first of the Saxon House of Billung, Hermann was a trusted lieutenant of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor.

Though never Duke of Saxony himself, while Otto (who was the enthroned Duke of Saxony) was in Italy from 961 until 972, Hermann served as Otto's personal representative in governing Saxony. Towards the end of his life, Hermann was the effective Duke in all but name.

Hermann died in 973, just two months before Otto's own death. Hermann's son Bernard I was named as the new Duke of Saxony by Otto I's son Otto II, the new Holy Roman Emperor.

Hermann was probably the son of Billung. He was the younger brother of the Saxon count Wichmann the Elder. Hermann is generally counted as the first Billung duke (Herzog) of Saxony, but his exact position is unclear. The ducal Ottonian dynasty had risen to German royalty with the accession of Henry the Fowler in 919 and had to concentrate on countrywide affairs. At least in 961, when King Otto I of Germany marched against the Kingdom of Italy for the second time, he made Hermann the administrator (procurator regis) in his Saxon lands.

When in 936 King Otto I had ascended the throne, he appointed Hermann a margrave (princeps militiae), granting him the Saxon march north of the Elbe river. His Billung March stretched from the Limes Saxoniae in the west along the Baltic coast to the Peene River in the east, roughly corresponding with the later Mecklenburg region. Otto thereby disregarded the claims of Hermann's elder brother Count Wichmann, a brother-in-law of Queen Dowager Matilda. Wichmann in turn joined the unsuccessful rebellion of King Otto's half-brother Thankmar and Duke Eberhard of Franconia in 938. Having more autonomy than the contemporary margrave Gero ruling over the adjacent Marca Geronis in the south, Hermann exacted tribute from the local Polabian Slavs of the Obotrite tribal federation.