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{{short description|10th-century march of East Francia}}
{{redirect|Nordmark}}
[[File:Northern March locator map (1004).svg|thumb|200px|The Northern March (red) around the start of the 11th century, between the [[Billung March]] in the north and the [[Saxon Eastern March]] ([[March of Lusatia]]) in the south]]
The '''Northern March''' or '''North March''' ({{langx|de|Nordmark}}, {{IPA|de|ˈnɔʁtˌmaʁk|pron|De-Nordmark.ogg}}) was created out of the division of the vast ''[[Marca Geronis]]'' in 965.<ref name="Collins1999">{{cite book|author=Roger Collins|title=Early Medieval Europe 300–1000|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jE5dDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA417|date=7 June 1999|publisher=Macmillan International Higher Education|isbn=978-1-349-27533-5|pages=417–}}</ref> It initially comprised the northern third of the ''Marca'' (roughly corresponding to the modern state of [[Brandenburg]]) and was part of the territorial organisation of areas conquered from the [[Wends]]. A [[Slavic revolt of 983|Lutician rebellion in 983]] reversed German control over the region<ref name=oreg>{{cite web|url= https://medievalelbe.uoregon.edu/events-983 |title= The Medieval Elbe - Slavs and Germans on the Frontier |publisher= University of Oregon |access-date=July 25, 2020}}</ref> until the establishment of the [[Margraviate of Brandenburg|March of Brandenburg]] by [[Albert the Bear]] in the 12th century.<ref name="Reuter2014">{{cite book|author=Timothy Reuter|title=Germany in the Early Middle Ages c. 800-1056|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9PrJAwAAQBAJ|date=6 June 2014|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-317-87238-2}}</ref>

== Slavic background ==
[[File:Lutizenbund.PNG|thumb|Tribes in the Northern and Billung marches at the time of the [[Lutici]] uprising of 983]]
During the [[Migration Period]], many [[Germanic peoples]] began migrating towards the Roman frontier. In the northeast they were replaced primarily by [[Slavic peoples]] ([[Veleti]], later [[Lutici]]). The first Slavs were certainly in the Brandenburg area by 720, after the arrival of the [[Pannonian Avars|Avars]] in Europe. These Slavs had come via [[Great Moravia|Moravia]], where they had arrived in the mid-seventh century. The remnants of the Germanic [[Semnoni]] were absorbed into these Slavic groups.{{Citation needed|date=June 2007}} 

The group of people who settled at the [[Spree (river)|Spree]] river became known as [[Sprevani]]. They settled east of the line formed by the Havel and [[Nuthe]] rivers, in the current [[Barnim Plateau|Barnim]] and [[Teltow (region)|Teltow regions]]. They built their main fortification at the confluence of the Spree and the [[Dahme (river)|Dahme]] rivers at [[Köpenick]]. The [[Hevelli]] lived west of that line, in the current [[Havelland]] and [[Zauche]] regions. They were named ''Habelli'' for the ancient Germanic name of the river "Habula" ([[Havel]]). The name for themselves was the ''Stodoranie''. They built their main fortification at "Brenna" (modern [[Brandenburg (town)|Brandenburg]]). The Hevelli also built a large outpost at the current site of [[Spandau Citadel]] in [[Berlin]]. The Sprevani and Hevelli waged war against not only their German neighbors, but also their Slavic neighbours.<ref name="Borgolte2009">{{cite book|author=Michael Borgolte|title=Polen und Deutschland vor 1000 Jahren: Die Berliner Tagung über den "Akt von Gnesen"|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zaVHAAAAQBAJ|date=1 January 2009|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-05-004738-6}}</ref><ref name="mgh">{{cite web |author=JÜRGEN PETERSOHN |author-link=Jürgen Petersohn |title=König Otto III. und die Slawen an Ostsee, Oder und Elbe um das Jahr 995 |url=https://www.mgh-bibliothek.de/dokumente/a/a126827.pdf |access-date=September 6, 2020 |publisher=Digitale Monumenta}}</ref>

== History of the Northern March ==
{{History of Brandenburg and Prussia}}
=== Establishment and loss, 965–983 ===
After the [[Saxon Wars|Saxon War]] of 808, the victorious [[Charlemagne]] bestowed on the Slavic tribes allied with him (such as the [[Obotrites]]) part of the Saxon lands between the [[Elbe]] and the [[Baltic Sea]]. A period of quiet followed in the region. The [[Diocese of Brandenburg|Bishoprics of Brandenburg]] and [[Bishopric of Havelberg|Havelberg]] were established around 940 and the [[Christianisation]] of the pagan Slavs began.

[[Henry I of Germany]] conquered Brandenburg in 928–929 and imposed tribute upon the tribes up to the [[Oder]]. By 948 his son [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto I]] had established German control over the many remaining pagans, who were collectively referred to as Slavs or [[Wends]] by contemporaries. Slavic settlements such as Brenna ([[Brandenburg an der Havel|Brandenburg]]), Budišin ([[Bautzen]]), and Chotebuž ([[Cottbus]]) came under German control through the installation of [[margrave]]s.{{Citation needed|date=June 2007}} The main function of the margravial office was to defend and protect the [[marches]] (frontier districts) of the [[Kingdom of Germany]]. After the death of the margrave [[Gero the Great]] in 965, the vast collection of marches (a "super-march") was divided by Otto into five smaller commands. The Northern March was one of these. The others were the [[Saxon Eastern March|Eastern March]], the [[March of Merseburg]], the [[March of Meissen]], and the [[March of Zeitz]].

The [[Slavic revolt of 983|rebellion of 983]], initiated by the [[Lutici]], led to a factual disestablishment of the Northern and [[Billung march]]es as well as the corresponding bishoprics, though titular margraves and bishops were still appointed. Until the collapse of the [[Liutizi]] alliance in the middle of the 11th century, the German expansion in the direction of the Northern March remained at a standstill and the Wends east of the Elbe remained independent for approximately 150 years.<ref>{{cite journal|url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/561761 |title= Henry I and the Beginnings of the Saxon Empire - p.11- |publisher= Jstor |author=K. Leyser |journal= The English Historical Review |year= 1968 |volume= 83 |issue= 326 |pages= 1–32 |doi= 10.1093/ehr/LXXXIII.CCCXXVI.1 |jstor= 561761 |access-date =September 6, 2020|url-access= subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324472688 |title= Study into Socio-political History of the Obodrites |author=Roman Zaroff |date= January 2003 |access-date =September 6, 2020}}</ref><ref name=sla>{{cite journal|url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/2841974 |title= The Spread of the Slaves. Part III. The Northern Serbs or Sorabians and the Obodriti |publisher= Jstor |author=H. H. Howorth |journal= The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland |year= 1880 |volume= 9 |pages= 181–232 |doi= 10.2307/2841974 |jstor= 2841974 |access-date =September 6, 2020|url-access= subscription }}</ref><ref name=mgh/>

=== March of Brandenburg ===
{{Main|Margraviate of Brandenburg}}
In the beginning of the 12th century, the German kings re-established control over the mixed Slav-inhabited lands on the eastern borders of the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. In 1134, in the wake of the [[Wendish Crusade]] of 1147, the German magnate [[Albert the Bear]] was granted the Northern March by [[Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Lothair III]]. The Slavs were subsequently assimilated by German settlers during the [[Ostsiedlung]]. The church under Albert established dioceses, which with their walled towns protected the townspeople from attack. With the arrival of monks and bishops begins anew the recorded history of the town of Brandenburg, from which would develop the eponymous margraviate.

Albert's control of the region was nominal for several decades, but he engaged in a variety of military and diplomatic actions against the Wends, and saw his control become more real by the middle of the century. In 1150, Albert formally inherited Brandenburg from its last [[Hevelli]] ruler, the Christian [[Pribislav of Brandenburg|Pribislav]]. Albert and his [[Ascanian]] descendants made considerable progress in Christianising the captured lands.<ref name=sla/>

== List of margraves ==
The Margraves of the Nordmark were closely related to both the [[Counts of Stade]], many holding dual titles, and the [[Counts of Walbeck]]. The early counts and margraves were discussed by [[Thietmar of Merseburg]], a descendant of the original rulers.

=== Counts of Haldensleben ===
*[[Dietrich of Haldensleben|Dietrich]], 965–983, possibly the son of [[Wichmann the Elder|Wichman the Elder]], an early [[Counts of Stade|Count of Stade]]<ref name="Arnold1997">{{cite book|author=Benjamin Arnold|title=Medieval Germany, 500–1300: A Political Interpretation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7kxdDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA46|date=9 June 1997|publisher=Macmillan International Higher Education|isbn=978-1-349-25677-8|pages=46–}}</ref>
=== Counts of Walbeck === 
*[[Lothair, Margrave of the Nordmark|Lothair I]], 983–1003, the first margrave of the [[Counts of Walbeck|House of Walbeck]], and son of [[Lothar II the Old, Count of Walbeck]]
*[[Werner, Margrave of the Nordmark|Werner]], 1003–1009, son of the previous and cousin of Thietmar of Merseburg
=== Counts of Haldensleben ===
*Bernard I, 1009–1018, son of Dietrich
*[[Bernard, Margrave of the Nordmark|Bernard II]], 1018–1051, son of the previous
*[[William, Margrave of the Nordmark|William]], 1051–1056, son of the previous
*[[Otto, Margrave of the Nordmark|Otto]], 1056–1057, illegitimate son of Bernard 
=== Counts of Stade ===
*[[Lothair Udo I, Margrave of the Nordmark|Lothair Udo I]], 1056–1057, also Count of Stade (as Lothair Udo II), first of the [[House of Udonids]], and son of [[Siegfried II, Count of Stade]]
*[[Lothair Udo II, Margrave of the Nordmark|Lothair Udo II]], 1057–1082, also Count of Stade (as Lothair Udo III), son of the previous
*[[Henry I the Long, Margrave of the Nordmark|Henry I the Long]], 1082–1087, also Count of Stade (as Henry III the Long), son of the previous
*[[Lothair Udo III, Margrave of the Nordmark|Lothair Udo III]], 1087–1106, also Count of Stade (as Lothair Udo IV), brother of the previous
*[[Rudolf I, Margrave of the Nordmark|Rudolf I]], 1106–1112, also Count of Stade, brother of the previous
=== Counts of Plötzkau ===
*[[Helperich von Plötzkau, Margrave of the Nordmark|Helperich von Plötzkau]], 1112–1114, nondynastic, but part of the [[Counts of Walbeck|House of Walbeck]] as grandson of [[Conrad, Count of Walbeck]]
=== Counts of Stade ===
*[[Henry II, Margrave of the Nordmark|Henry II]], 1114–1128, son of Lothair Udo III
*[[Udo IV, Margrave of the Nordmark|Udo IV]], 1128–1130, son of Rudolf I
=== Counts of Plötzkau ===
*[[Conrad von Plötzkau, Margrave of the Nordmark|Conrad]], 1130–1133, son of Helperich
=== Counts of Stade ===
*[[Rudolf II, Margrave of the Nordmark|Rudolf II]], 1133–1134, son of Rudolf I and the last of the [[House of Udonids]]
=== Counts of Ballenstedt (Ascanians) ===
*[[Albert the Bear]], 1134–1170

Under Albert, the march was expanded with the acquisition of Slavic lands around [[Brandenburg an der Havel|Brandenburg]] in 1157. The expanded march became a hereditary possession of Albert's house, the [[Ascanian]]s, and was called the [[March of Brandenburg]].

For a lists of margravines (margrave's wives), see [[List of consorts of Brandenburg]].

== Notes ==
{{reflist|2}}

== Sources ==
*[[Timothy Reuter|Reuter, Timothy]]. ''Germany in the Early Middle Ages 800–1056''. New York: Longman, 1991.
*[[James Westfall Thompson|Thompson, James Westfall]]. ''Feudal Germany, Volume II''. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1928.
*Warner, David A., ''Ottonian Germany: The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg'', Manchester University Press, Manchester, 2001

{{Pomeranian history}}
{{coord missing|Brandenburg}}

[[Category:Marches of the Holy Roman Empire]]
[[Category:Former states and territories of Brandenburg]]
[[Category:States and territories established in the 960s]]
[[Category:960s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire]]
[[Category:965 establishments]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in the 980s]]
[[Category:980s disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire]]
[[Category:983 disestablishments]]
[[Category:Otto the Great]]