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4 the Structural Framework of Governance

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4 the Structural Framework of Governance 4 The structural framework of governance The last few decades of historical research have been focused on social interactions as a key issue in the research on the past. Medievalists have withdrawn to large extent from studying constitutional and legal matters, leaving such topics behind as some sort of anachronistic holdover of positivistic methodology. It seems, however, that there is no way for a study of political issues to abandon questions of the structural means of power – as defined in Chapter 1 – as an important element of the instrumentarium of particular players on the dynamic chessboard of the European High Middle Ages. These means, including changes and redefinitions of the legal status of the province under study, were an indispensable counterpart of the ad hoc political and personal measures related to in the previous chapter. 4.1 Marchia Milzania: the status of Milsko in the structure of the Ottonian and early Salian Empire The starting point for considerations about the formal status of Milsko as part of the Empire should be the assertion from Chapter 3 that between 1004–1007, Milsko for the first time became a territory administered by an individual appointed by the German king as comes, Herman I. Herman’s status as a royal administrator is illustrated in several sources. The most significant of these is a charter by Henry II from January 1, 1007 (DH II, no. 124) confirming the donation by the king of three ringforts (castella) in Milsko along with their districts (burgwards) to the Bishopric of Meissen. The strongholds specified in this document were located directly in comitatu Herrimanni comitis, demonstrating that Herman’s rule in Budyšin was the normal rule of a comes and not, as one might conclude from reading the appropriate passage in Thietmar’s of Merseburg chronicle about the events of a few months before, that it was only a command to the Budyšin garrison.69 It would not be amiss to add here that in the context of these events, Bolesław the Brave’s offensives in the spring and summer of 1007 as well as the siege of Budyšin, that Count Herman was in Thietmar’s of Merseburg chronicle explicite called by the functional designation marchio.70 In the sentence in question, the chronicler does not dot the proverbial “i” in that he did not name Herman the Margrave of Budyšin or Milsko, which has prompted some researchers to doubt the link between Herman’s title of marchio and the hillfort on the Spree. Herman’s title of margrave in the context of the events of 1007 would have been anachronistic, acting in anticipation of a later state of affairs (1009) when Ekkehard’s 69 Thietmar, VI, 34 (MGH SS rer. Germ. NS 9, 314: …Budusin civitatem presidio Hirimanni comitis munitam socer invidus [scil. Bolizlavus] possedit. 70 Thietmar, VI, 34 (MGH SS rer. Germ. NS 9, 316: Venit marchio H[erimannus] ad Magadaburg...). 88 The structural framework of governance son replaced Gunzelin in Meissen (see Knothe 1874, 276, fn. 7; Jedlicki ed. 1953/2005, 343, annot. 176). It must be emphasized, however, that this hypothesis is based only on an a priori assumption of the principle that Herman’s title of margrave could have only been received from Meissen. In reality, the most logical explanation for the relevant paragraph in Thietmar’s chronicle is that Herman was a margrave where he acted as a comes, which was precisely in Budyšin. Figure 4.1: Sculptures of Herman I and his wife Regilindis in the Cathedral Church in Naumburg. Source: Wikimedia Commons, photo by user Linsengericht (own work), license CC BY–SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5520294, here reproduced under the same license. Marchia Milzania: the status of Milsko... 89 Not only was Herman I called a comes, but also Milsko was named a march in one of the scarce sources. It was namely in the life of Henry II by Adalbold of Utrecht that the future Upper Lusatia appeared in the context of the events of 1002–1003 as the marchia Milzavia.71 This citation is unfortunately the only one where Milsko was explicitly called a march, and thus there are doubts as to its credibility72 – these seem, however, to be incorrect. Adalbold, a contemporary of the events, most likely knew exactly what he was writing, just like Thietmar of Merseburg calling count Herman a margrave. If any doubts could be raised about the respective passage of the Vita s. Heinrici II Imperatoris, these would have nothing to do with the text itself, but rather with the meaning of the term marca before the mid-eleventh century, which was, according to a study by Andrea Stieldorf (2012), far from precise. The same should be said about the designation marchio, in the beginning of the eleventh century it was generally still synonymous with the denomination comes. Nevertheless, it is worth remembering that both the names marchio and marca were used in various sources dating from that period in relation to Milsko, which at least allows the hypothesis that this region was among the “candidates” for institutionalization as margraviates, which came up, according to Stieldorf (2012), roughly in the second half of the eleventh century. It can be surmised that in recovering Milsko in 1031 from Mieszko II, Conrad II had great latitude when it came to the possibility of the further development of the fate of those lands. In light of the deductions presented in the previous chapter (section 3.2.1), he chose an extremely cautious solution: to return power in Budyšin to one of the Ekkehardines, but not the one who was actually in charge of the castle in Meissen. Milsko therefore gained the same status that it had enjoyed before it was acquired by Bolesław the Brave in 1007, namely that of a comitatus separate from Meissen. In the political sense, this status did not last long, since Ekkehard II received the Saxon Eastern March in 1034 and the March of Meissen in 1038. One could suppose, however, that despite becoming part of a larger conglomerate of lands that were the domain of Ekkehard II, Milsko (consisting of the former lands of the Milčane and Besunzane) retained some autonomy. This is clearly supported by the reference in the previously discussed Annales Altahenses Maiores concerning the division of the Ekkehardine inheritance in 1046. This shows that until the extinction of the Ekkehardine dynasty, Milsko was autonomous from the other parts of their dominion. 71 Adalboldi vita Heinrici II. imperatoris, c. 22, MGH SS 4, 689: Milzaviam quoque, Saxoniae et Poloniae interiacentem marchiam, insidiis, quibus edoctus erat, suae infelicitati subicit. According to Jerzy Nalepa (1996, 157) the name Milzavia should be actually read as Milzania. Andrea Stieldorf (2012, 173, 179–180) stressed the territotial rather than institutional meaning of the word marchia in the above quoted passage. 72 Rentschler 2012, 41, 408, 496. A different judgement was passed by Walter Schlesinger (1953, 8). See also below, sub-chapter 5.2. 90 The structural framework of governance In seeking the causes of this state of affairs, it is necessary to point out two circumstances. Firstly, in connection with the short-lived existence of the autonomous comitatus of Herman I (1005–1008) and then of Ekkehard II (1031–1034) in Budyšin, Milsko had a certain tradition of autonomy from Meissen. Secondly, the Ekkehardines, because of their kinship with the House of Dobromir and presumably some succession agreement concluded between the latter and Ekkehard I, were able to rely on a title to power in Budyšin that was not given by the king. It seems that this is where one should look for the key to the situation, which is reflected in the notes of the chronicler of Niederaltaich: Ekkehard II simply had to pay to preserve Milsko’s autonomy even after he took the offices of Margrave of Saxon Eastern March and Meissen, since he had a better claim to this area than the others he ruled. This attitude perfectly fits in with the policy conducted by the Ekkehardines, which Hans Patze (1962, 110–124) and Gabriele Rupp (1996, 192) were entirely correct in describing as an early attempt to build different pillars of dynastic power comparable with later examples of building semi-independent territories in the political framework of the Empire. It seems, however, that in comparing the means for building territorial power utilized by the Ekkehardines, these authors underestimated the importance of dynastic politics for this family (cf. Ludat 1971, 25–27, 31–32, passim). To justify the claim that Ekkehard II could have boasted particularly strong rights to Milsko, one more argument could be mentioned that thus far has not been taken into account in the scholarship. I am speaking here of the fate of the castle districts in the eastern part of Upper Lusatia – Niedów and Dolgowitz (with its center in the hillfort upon the Rotstein Mountain) – which at some undetermined time after 1031 found themselves in the possession of the Bishop of Meissen. Despite the widespread – and erroneous (cf. below, section 5.4.1) – identification of Dolgowitz with Ostrusna (the latter being mentioned in the 1007 charter of Henry II: MGH DH II, no. 124), the gifting of these burgwards to the Bishop of Meissen did not have anything in common with the donation made by Henry II in 1007 (see more on that topic below, in section 5.4.1.). This event was rather associated with the reign of Conrad II or Henry III, when whole burgwards were still bequeathed to the Bishopric of Meissen (MGH DH III, nos.
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