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Landgraviate of Thuringia

Duchy (Landgraviate) of Thuringia
Herzogtum (Landgrafschaft) Thüringen
Frankish duchy,
then State of the Holy Roman Empire
631/32–1440


Coat of arms of Landgrave Albert II, 1265

Capital Not specified
Government Feudal Monarchy
Historical era Middle Ages
 •  Frankish invasion c. 531
 •  Duchy established 631/32
 •  Re-established as Landgraviate 1111/12
 •  Comital line extinct 1247
 •  Split off Hesse 1264
 •  To Saxony 1440
 •  Division of Altenburg 1445
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Thuringii
Landgraviate of Hesse Landgraviate of Hesse
Electorate of Saxony Electorate of Saxony


Coat of arms of Landgrave Albert II, 1265

The Duchy of Thuringia was an eastern frontier march of the Merovingian kingdom of Austrasia, established about 631 by King Dagobert I after his troops had been defeated by the forces of the Slavic confederation of Samo at the Battle of Wogastisburg. It was recreated in the Carolingian Empire and its dukes appointed by the king until it was absorbed by the Saxon dukes in 908. From about 1111/12 the territory was ruled by the Landgraves of Thuringia as Princes of the Holy Roman Empire.

The former kingdom of the Thuringii arose during the Migration Period after the decline of the Hunnic Empire in Central Europe in the mid 5th century, culminating in their defeat in the 454 Battle of Nedao. With Bisinus a first Thuringian king is documented about 500, who ruled over extended estates that stretched beyond the Main River in the south. His son and successor Hermanafrid married Amalaberga, a niece of the Ostrogoth king Theoderic the Great, thereby hedging the threat of incursions by the Merovingian Franks in the west. However, when King Theoderic died in 526, they took the occasion to invade the Thuringian lands and finally carried off the victory in a 531 battle on the Unstrut River. King Theuderic of Rheims had Hermanafrid trapped in Zülpich (Tolbiacum) where the last Thuringian king was killed. His niece Princess Radegund was kidnapped by King Chlothar I and died in exile in 586.


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