Thietmar of Merseburg

Thietmar (also Dietmar or Dithmar; 25 July 975 – 1 December 1018), Prince-Bishop of Merseburg from 1009 until his death in 1018, was an important chronicler recording the reigns of German kings and Holy Roman Emperors of the Ottonian (Saxon) dynasty.

Later, a balance was achieved; Siegfried became burgrave at Möckern and his brother Count Lothair of Walbeck served as margrave of the Northern March from 983 until his death in 1003.

Thietmar witnessed the struggles of the young Ottonian king Otto III and his mother Theophanu to secure their reign.

[1] Upon the death of his parents, he inherited large parts of the Walbeck estates and in 1002 became provost of the family monastery, established by his grandfather Count Lothair II.

The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia criticizes the style and composition of the writing, as well as the indiscriminate inclusion of unimportant events, but nevertheless recommends it as a historical source on the Saxony during the reigns of the emperors Otto III and Henry II.

When the city was destroyed by bombing during World War II the manuscript was severely damaged, and only a few folios remain intact.