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27-536: The region was part of Poland after the emergence of the Piast monarchy in the 10th century. The first mention of today's Szprotawa comes at 1000 in the chronicle of bishop Thietmar of Merseburg , who accompanied the emperor Otto III on pilgrimage to the grave of Saint Adalbert in Gniezno . Iława, currently a district of Szprotawa, is one of the two hypothetical locations where emperor Otto III and Polish ruler Bolesław

54-596: A complete facsimile edition had been published by L. Schmidt (Dresden, 1905). Thietmar's statement that the Gero Cross in Cologne cathedral was commissioned by Archbishop Gero , who died in 976, was dismissed by art historians, who thought he meant another cross, until the 1920s, and finally confirmed as correct in 1976 by dendrochronology . Thietmari Merseburgensis episcopi Chronicon : Attribution: Bishopric of Merseburg The Bishopric of Merseburg

81-641: A historical source on the Saxony during the reigns of the emperors Otto III and Henry II. It contains a detailed history of the Bishopric of Merseburg , and of the wars against the Wends (Polabian Slavs) and the Poles. The original manuscript was moved in 1570 to Dresden . When the city was destroyed by bombing during World War II the manuscript was severely damaged, and only a few folios remain intact. Fortunately

108-486: The Annales Quedlinburgenses and others); the fourth book, comprising the reign of Otto III contains much original matter; while the remaining four books, which describe the reign of Henry II to the year 1018, are the independent narrative of Thietmar and, besides being the principal source for Saxon history during the reign of Henry II, contain valuable information, not to be found elsewhere regarding

135-796: The Eastphalian Hassegau , hometown of his first wife, Hatheburg of Merseburg . The establishment of the diocese traced back to a vow Otto took before his victory against the Hungarians at the Battle of Lechfeld on Saint Laurence day, 10 August 955. Confirmed by Pope John XIII at the 968 synod in Ravenna , the first Merseburg bishop was Boso , a Bavarian monk descending from St. Emmeram's Abbey in Regensburg (Ratisbon), already distinguished by his missionary labours among

162-527: The Great Slav Rising of 983, therefore the dissolution was revoked by the papacy in 998 or early in 999 at a Roman synod. Upon Archbishop Gisilher's death in 1004, King Henry II re-established the prince-bishopric; the diocese did not, however, recover all its former territory, and was now almost exclusively a missionary jurisdiction among the Sorbs, who were not fully converted to Christianity until

189-745: The Northern March from 983 until his death in 1003. Baptized in Halberstadt , Thietmar prepared for an ecclesiastical career. He was educated at the St. Servatius chapter of Quedlinburg Abbey and from 987 onwards at the Benedictine abbey of Berge in Buckau near Magdeburg . From 1 November 990, he attended the Magedeburg cathedral school , together with his relative Bruno of Querfurt . He

216-889: The Saxon Eastern March beyond the Saale River more closely to the Holy Roman Empire . The prince-bishopric was re-established by King Henry II of Germany in 1004. It then covered a considerable small territory stretching from the Saale up to the Mulde River and the Margraviate of Meissen in the east. About 919 Otto's father King Henry the Fowler had a Kaiserpfalz erected in Merseburg in

243-600: The Second World War , 90 percent of Sprottau was destroyed. After the local Nazi representatives had fled, the town was evacuated January 2, 1945. The city was occupied by the Red Army in the spring of 1945. After the war, the redrawn in the Potsdam Agreement placed the town, once again, inside Poland. The town's German population was expelled and the town was resettled by Poles. From 1950 to 1975,

270-691: The 13th century, Szprotawa was settled by Germans as part of the Ostsiedlung . In 1304, Szprotawa gained full city rights and privileges, including the internal organization of the City Council "Concilium Magistratus". In 1331, together with the Duchy of Głogów, Szprotawa, although ruled by the Polish Piast dynasty , became a fief of the Bohemian (Czech) Crown . In 1506 it was incorporated into

297-626: The 14th century also hammer mills were located there. After the First Silesian War in 1742 Szprotawa, under the Germanized name Sprottau , fell to Prussia , like almost all Silesia. After the reorganization of Prussia in 1815, Sprottau became part of the province of Silesia, and from 1816, was the seat of the district of Sprottau, part of the government district of Liegnitz . With the Unification of Germany in 1871, Sprottau

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324-687: The Bald , Count of Stade ( House of Udonids ). His father fought with Margrave Odo against Duke Mieszko I of Poland at the 972 Battle of Cedynia . At the time of Thietmar's birth, his family sided with the Ottonian duke Henry II of Bavaria ("the Wrangler") in his uprising against his cousin Emperor Otto II . Later, a balance was achieved; Siegfried became burgrave at Möckern and his brother Count Lothair of Walbeck served as margrave of

351-717: The Bohemian Kingdom, although Polish King Sigismund I the Old continued to claim the duchy and the town until 1508. It was since ruled directly by the Bohemian Jagiellons until 1526 and afterwards it was held by the House of Habsburg . Since the Middle Ages , the town's wealth was primarily attributable to trade, mainly in cattle , salt and grain , from Silesia and Greater Poland to German states. From

378-664: The Brave could have met. The area was part of medieval Poland, and later on, it was part of the Polish Duchy of Głogów , created as a result of the fragmentation of Poland . It was ruled by the Piasts and Jagiellons , including future Kings of Poland John I Albert and Sigismund I the Old , until its dissolution in 1506. Szprotawa received town rights around 1260. Szprotawa was granted town rights around 1260 by Piast Duke Konrad I of Głogów , who also erected new town walls. In

405-537: The Fowler , the three Ottos, and Henry II the Saint . As counsellor of the Emperor and participant in many important political transactions he was well equipped for writing a history of his times. The first three books, covering the reigns of Henry I and the first two Ottos ( Otto I and Otto II ) are largely based on previous chronicles most of which are still extant (e.g. Widukind of Corvey 's Res gestae Saxonicae ,

432-515: The actualities of war. 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. On 21 December 1004, he was ordained as a priest by Archbishop Tagino of Magdeburg . In 1009, through the intercession of Archbishop Tagino, he became Bishop of the Merseburg diocese, which had been re-established by King Henry II in 1004. Thietmar

459-643: The bishops had to deal with rising power of the Meissen margraves of the Wettin dynasty , from 1423 Electors of Saxony , who by denying Merseburg's Imperial immediacy attempted to acquire the overlordship. By the 1485 Treaty of Leipzig the Wettins allocated the protectorate over Merseburg to Duke Albert III of Saxony . The bishopric's fate was sealed with the Protestant Reformation , which

486-487: The contemporary history and civilization of the Slavic tribes east of the river Elbe , as well as Poles , Hungarians and Bulgarians . The surviving manuscript shows ongoing amendments and insertions by Thietmar after the text's completion. 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

513-555: The middle of the 12th century. Under Bishop Thietmar (1009–1018) the erection of Merseburg Cathedral began, it was consecrated in 1021 in presence of Emperor Henry II. During the Investiture Controversy the Merseburg bishops sided with Pope Gregory VII and also joined the Great Saxon Revolt , which, however, could not stop the dwindling importance of the small diocese. From the 13th century onwards,

540-464: The pagan Sorbs . Boso's successor Gisilher , a confidant of the new Emperor Otto II , from 971 procured the suppression of the see in favour of his aims to become Archbishop of Magdeburg, finally reached through the Emperor's power over Pope Benedict VII in 981. However this step was clearly against the interests of the Church and the position of Magdeburg archbishopric was decisively enfeebled after

567-668: The reigns of German kings and Holy Roman Emperors of the Ottonian ( Saxon ) dynasty. Two of Thietmar's great-grandfathers, both referred to as Liuthar, were the Saxon nobles Lothar II, Count of Stade , and Lothar I, Count of Walbeck . They were both killed fighting the Slavs at the Battle of Lenzen . Thietmar was a son of the Saxon count Siegfried I the Older of Walbeck (died 990) and his wife Kunigunde (died 997), daughter of Henry I

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594-419: The town served as a capital of a poviat . In 2024, the town was affected by the 2024 Central European floods with parts of the town being evacuated. See twin towns of Gmina Szprotawa . 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

621-545: Was an episcopal see on the eastern border of the medieval Duchy of Saxony with its centre in Merseburg , where Merseburg Cathedral was constructed. The see was founded in 967 by Emperor Otto I at the same time in the same manner as those of Meissen and Zeitz (from 1029: Naumburg ), all suffragan dioceses of the Archbishopric of Magdeburg as part of a plan to bind the adjacent Slavic (" Wendish ") lands in

648-543: Was concerned with the full restitution of his bishopric. A loyal supporter of the German kingship, he rarely interfered in political affairs. He died on 1 December 1018 and was buried in Merseburg cathedral . Between 1012 and 1018 Thietmar, while Bishop of Merseburg, composed his chronicle Chronicon Thietmari , which comprises eight books, that cover the period between 908 and 1018, the Saxon Emperors Henry

675-511: Was enforced here during the episcopate of Prince Adolph II of Anhalt , who was driven out of office by his uprising subjects during the German Peasants' War in 1525. In 1544 Elector Augustus of Saxony finally assumed the rule as Protestant administrator, with Prince George III of Anhalt as Coadjutor bishop . In 1561 the Saxon elector installed his minor son Alexander as administrator, who nevertheless died four years later, whereafter

702-461: Was familiar with the works of Augustine of Hippo , but even more with classical authors like Virgil , Horace , Lucan , and Macrobius . Thietmar witnessed the struggles of the young Ottonian king Otto III and his mother Theophanu to secure their reign. He took some part in some political events of the time; in 994 he was a hostage in the hands of the Norsemen , and he was not unfamiliar with

729-587: Was incorporated into the German Empire . In the first half of the 20th century, the city had an economic boom in the iron, textile and wax goods industry. The Wilhelmshütte iron and enamel companies of Aktiengesellschaft furnace employed more than 400 people. In 1939, the city had 12,578 inhabitants. During World War II the Germans established two labour units of the prisoner-of-war camp in Żagań (then Sagan ), intended for Italian and Soviet POWs. During

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