Margravate of Meissen

Common card · No. 482793

The Margraviate of Meissen (German: Markgrafschaft Meißen) was a medieval margraviate in central regions of the modern German state of Saxony. It was named after the city of Meissen, on the Elbe river. It was created in the 10th century, as a march (frontier province) of the Holy Roman Empire, encompassing regions of several Polabian Slavic tribes (Glomatians, Nisans and other Sorbs). Initially ruled by margraves from various noble houses, it was granted to the House of Wettin in 1089, and became its stronghold and center of gradual agglomeration of Wettin feudal domains. In 1423, the Wettins acquired the Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg, thus also becoming Prince-Electors of Saxony, but the process of gradual administrative integration of various Wettin domains was marked by further divisions (1464, 1485, 1547). Only after 1547, when the junior Albertine branch, which held the Margraviate of Meissen, also took over the Saxon Electoral office and core possessions from the elder Ernestine branch...

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