The Margraviate of the Nordgau (Modern German : Markgrafschaft Nordgau , Middle High German : Marcgraveschaft Nortgou ) or Bavarian Nordgau ( Bayerischer Nordgau ) was a medieval administrative unit ( Gau ) on the frontier of the German Duchy of Bavaria . It comprised the region north of the Danube and Regensburg (Ratisbon), roughly covered by the modern Upper Palatinate stretching up to the river Main and, especially after 1061, into the Egerland on the border with Bohemia .
20-577: The area east of Franconia proper up to the Bohemian Forest had been settled by Germanic Varisci and Armalausi tribes in ancient times; after the Migration Period , the forces of the proto-Merovingian king Chlodio (died c. 450 ) occupied the district. From the mid-6th century onwards, the region was Christianised by several wandering bishops , among them Saints Boniface (lived c. 675 to 754) and Emmeram of Regensburg . In 739,
40-516: A fief to the palatine count of Aachen , which would evolve into the important German principality of Electoral Palatinate ( Kurpfalz ). With the advancement of Count Conrad the Red , Rhenish Franconia became the heartland of the Salian dynasty, which provided four emperors in the 11th and 12th centuries: Conrad II , Henry III , Henry IV , and Henry V . It contained the cities of Mainz , Speyer and Worms,
60-753: A portion of the land occupied by the Franks . It stretched along the valley of the River Main from its confluence with the Upper Rhine up to the Bavarian March of the Nordgau , in the areas of the present-day Bavarian region of Franconia , the adjacent southern parts of the Free State of Thuringia , northern Baden-Württemberg (i.e. Rhine-Neckar and Heilbronn-Franken ) and Hesse . It also included several Gaue on
80-629: The Diocese of Regensburg was founded. At the insistence of Saint Boniface, Charles Martel (lived c. 688 to 741) built the great fortress of Wogastisburg . When King Charlemagne deposed Duke Tassilo III of Bavaria in 788, he entered the Nordgau and brought the Carolingian Empire into contact with Bohemia permanently. For this reason, the incorporated Nordgau has been called the Bohemian March on occasion, although this term also designates
100-533: The Landgraviate of Hesse (then part of Thuringia ). Alongside these powerful entities were many smaller, petty states. In 1093, Emperor Henry IV gave the Salian territories in Rhenish Franconia as a fief to Henry of Laach , the count palatine of Lower Lorraine at Aachen . His lands would evolve into the important principality of Electoral Palatinate . While Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1168 granted
120-701: The Luitpolding duke Arnulf in 937. There has been some confusion over whether or not the Nordgau was separated from Bavaria at this date or only as late as 976, when the East Franconian count Berthold of Schweinfurt , who had helped to suppress the rebellion of the Bavarian duke Henry the Wrangler against Emperor Otto II , was appointed margrave to administrate the region as a distinct march . Likewise, Berthold's son Count Henry of Schweinfurt appeared as Margrave of
140-419: The "Upper Palatinate" ( German : Oberpfalz ). ... Duchy of Franconia The Duchy of Franconia ( Middle High German : Herzogtuom Franken ) was one of the five stem duchies of East Francia and the medieval Kingdom of Germany emerging in the early 10th century. The word Franconia, first used in a Latin charter of 1053, was applied like the words Francia , France , and Franken , to
160-585: The Franconian stem duchy after an unsuccessful revolt of Duke Eberhard was shattered at the 939 Battle of Andernach . King Otto did not appoint a new duke of Franconia, and the duchy was fragmented into several counties and bishoprics, which reported to the German kings directly. The Salian counts in Rhenish Franconia were sometimes mentioned as Franconian dukes and they became Germany's royal and imperial dynasty in 1024. In 1093 their Franconian territories were granted as
180-774: The Nordgau in 994. He backed the election of Duke Henry IV of Bavaria as King of the Romans in 1002, however, the new king (Henry II) responded with ingratitude. Count Henry soon after joined a revolt (the Schweinfurt feud [ de ] of 1003) in association with the German–Polish War (1002–1018) against the Polish ruler Bolesław I the Brave , after which he was deposed and arrested. In 1004, King Henry II installed his brother-in-law, Count Henry of Luxembourg , as Bavarian duke and gave
200-665: The bishopric was secularized in 1803 and absorbed into the Electorate of Bavaria . When the Grand Duchy of Würzburg , the Archbishopric of Mainz and most other parts of Franconia became part of the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1814, the kings assumed the ducal title. The present head of the House of Wittelsbach , Franz, Duke of Bavaria (born 1933) is still traditionally styled as His Royal Highness
220-593: The countering armies of the Holy Roman Empire . In the mid-11th century, the Salian emperor Henry III had an Imperial castle erected at Cham to encounter the forces of Duke Bretislav I of Bohemia . It became the residence of the Rapotonen noble family, who eventually received the margravial title by royal grant about 1073, passing it down as "Margrave of Vohburg " to their descendants. Margrave Diepold III (d. 1146)
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#1732852104422240-693: The ducal title to the prince-bishops of Würzburg in Eastern Franconia, Rhenish Franconia was divided and extinguished. Its territories became part of the Imperial Upper Rhenish Circle in 1500. As of the 13th century, the following states, among others, had formed in the territory of the former Duchy: In 1168 the duchy of Franconia was bestowed by the Emperor Frederick I on the Bishopric of Würzburg . The bishops continued to rule until
260-456: The later Margraviate of Moravia . By an 806 deed issued at Thionville , Charlemagne separated out the Bavarian lands on the left bank of the Danube, including the ducal residences of Regensburg and Lauterhofen , called pagum, qui dicitur Northgowe . His chancellor Einhard submitted the deed to Pope Leo III for confirmation. The Nordgau was again separated from Bavaria following the death of
280-558: The latter two being the administrative centres of countships within the hands of the Salian descendants of Conrad the Red. These counts were sometimes referred to as the Dukes of Franconia. Emperor Conrad II was last to bear the ducal title. When he died in 1039, Rhenish Franconia was governed as a constellation of small states, including the cities of Frankfurt , Speyer and Worms; the Prince-bishoprics of Mainz , Speyer , and Worms ; and
300-554: The left bank of the Rhine around the cities of Mainz , Speyer and Worms comprising present-day Rhenish Hesse and the Palatinate region. Located in the centre of what was to become the German kingdom about 919, it bordered the stem Duchy of Saxony in the north, Austrasian Lorraine (Upper and Lower Lorraine ) in the west, the Duchy of Swabia in the southwest and the Duchy of Bavaria in
320-490: The southeast. It was located in Germany. The duchy evolved during the decline of the Carolingian Empire , when it was a part of the core Frankish realm of Austrasia (i.e. "Eastern Francia"), and got its form when the northwestern parts of Austrasia became a new realm called Lotharingia . Unlike the other stem duchies, Franconia did not evolve into a stable political entity, though the local Salian counts held large estates in
340-453: The temporal authority of the Nordgau region over to the Bishopric of Bamberg , which he heavily favoured throughout his career. However, the margravial title survived in a succession of families in the region. Count Henry's possessions were partly restored and his descendants used the title "Margrave of Schweinfurt". Throughout the 11th and 12th centuries, the Nordgau functioned as a pathway for invading armies from Bohemia and Hungary and for
360-772: The western parts ( Rhenish Franconia ). In 906 the Conradine relative Count Conrad the Younger in the Lahngau is mentioned as a dux Franconiae . Upon the extinction of the East Frankish Carolingians in 911, he was elected the first German king and was succeeded as Franconian duke by his younger brother Eberhard . However, the Conradines did not prevail against the rising Saxon Ottonians : In 919 Duke Henry of Saxony succeeded Conrad as German king. Henry's son King Otto I seized
380-518: Was a loyal supporter of Emperor Henry V and founder of the abbeys in Reichenbach and Waldsassen . From about 1125, he had the fortress of Eger ( Cheb ) erected at the border with Bohemia. His daughter Adelaide married the Swabian duke and later emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1147. The Egerland was incorporated as a Hohenstaufen imperial territory upon Diepold's death and the town of Eger itself
400-643: Was inherited by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1167. It attained the immediate status of an Imperial city , while the Bavarian House of Wittelsbach controlled large parts of the Nordgau from the mid-13th century onwards. In 1322, the Wittelsbach emperor Louis IV gave the Egerland in pawn to the Kingdom of Bohemia . By the 1329 Treaty of Pavia , he ceded the remaining Nordgau region to his Palatinate nephews Rudolf II and Rupert I , whereafter it became known as
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