The Margravate or Margraviate of Meissen ( German : Markgrafschaft Meißen ) was a medieval principality in the area of the modern German state of Saxony . It originally was a frontier march of the Holy Roman Empire , created out of the vast Marca Geronis ( Saxon Eastern March ) in 965. Under the rule of the Wettin dynasty , the margravate finally merged with the former Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg into the Saxon Electorate by 1423.
156-741: In the mid 9th century, the area of the later margravate was part of an eastern frontier zone of the Carolingian Empire called Sorbian March ( Limes Sorabicus ), after Sorbian tribes of Polabian Slavs settling beyond the Saale river. In 849, a margrave named Thachulf was documented in the Annales Fuldenses . His title is rendered as dux Sorabici limitis , "duke of the Sorbian frontier", but he and his East Frankish successors were commonly known as duces Thuringorum , "dukes of
312-707: A Hercynian block tilted so as to present a steep scarp face towards Bohemia and a gentle slope on the German side. They were formed during a lengthy process. During the folding of the Variscan orogeny , metamorphism occurred deep underground, forming slate and gneiss . In addition, granite plutons intruded into the metamorphic rocks. By the end of the Palaeozoic era, the mountains had been eroded into gently undulating hills (the Permian massif ), exposing
468-453: A loamy , rapidly weathered gneiss in the east of the mountains producing a light soil. As a result of the subsoils based on granite and rhyolite, the land is mostly covered in forest ; on the gneiss soils it was possible to grow and cultivate flax in earlier centuries and, later, rye , oats and potatoes up to the highlands. Today the land is predominantly used for pasture . But it is not uncommon to see near-natural mountain meadows. To
624-686: A cover up for the Eastern Bloc's highly secretive uranium mining. For the third time in history, thousands of people poured into the Ore Mountains to build a new life. The principal mining areas were located around Johanngeorgenstadt , Schlema and Aue . Uranium ore deposits were also exploited for the Soviet Union in Bohemian Jáchymov (St. Joachimsthal). Its processing was associated with serious health consequences for
780-543: A divorce from his wife, which caused repeated conflicts with the pope and his uncles. Charles of Burgundy died in 863, and his kingdom was inherited by Louis II. Lothar II died in 869 with no legitimate heirs, and his kingdom was divided between Charles the Bald and Louis the German in 870 by the Treaty of Meerssen . Meanwhile, Louis the German was involved in disputes with his three sons. Louis II died in 875, and named Carloman ,
936-548: A height of 807 m above sea level (NN) on the mountain of Komáří vížka which lies on the Czech side, east of Zinnwald-Georgenfeld , right on the edge of the fault block. Consequently, it is a fault-block mountain range, which has been incised by a whole range of river valleys whose rivers drain southwards into the Ohře and northwards into the Mulde or directly into
1092-504: A height of 922 m above sea level (NN) , on average only about 140 frost-free days per year are observed. Based on reports of earlier chroniclers, the climate of the upper Ore Mountains in past centuries must have been even harsher than it is today. Historic sources describe hard winters in which cattle froze to death in their stables, and occasionally houses and cellars were snowed in even after snowfalls in April. The population
1248-528: A large number of Bohemian Protestants then fled into the neighbouring Electorate of Saxony . As a result, many Bohemian villages became devastated and desolate, while on the Saxon side new places were founded by these migrants, such as the mining town of Johanngeorgenstadt . Ore mining largely came to a standstill in the 17th century, especially after the Thirty Years' War . Due to the very sharp decline of
1404-488: A leading centre of wood and toy manufacturing. Here, wooden smoking figures , nutcrackers , hand-carved wooden trees ( Spanbäume ), candle arches , ( Schwibbogen ), Christmas pyramids and music boxes are made. Up to the last third of the 20th century, Coal was mined near Zwickau until 1978, around Lugau and Oelsnitz until 1971 and in the Döhlen Basin near Freital until 1989. The mountains that until
1560-438: A length of 120 km. The eastern Ore Mountains are protected landscape. Other smaller areas on the German and Czech sides are protected as nature reserves and natural monuments. On the ridges there are also several larger raised bogs that are only fed by rainwater. The mountains are popular for hiking and there are winter sports areas at higher elevations. In 2019, the region became a UNESCO World Heritage Site . In English,
1716-454: A literal translation of the German name, and Vyšehory , meaning "high mountains". In Upper Sorbian the mountains are known as the Rudne horiny . The German and Upper Sorbian names, as well as the historical Czech Rudohoří , literally mean "ore mountains". The Ore Mountains are geologically considered to be one of the most heavily researched mountain ranges in the world. The Ore Mountains are
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#17327655784491872-704: A long time, so that for about 100 years the blue colour works had a worldwide monopoly. From about 1820 in Johanngeorgenstadt, uranium was also extracted and was then used to colour glass, amongst other things. Even richer deposits of uranium ore were found in St. Joachimsthal. St. Andrew's White Earth Mine ( Weißerdenzeche St. Andreas ) at Aue supplied kaolin to the Meissen Porcelain Factory in Meissen for nearly 150 years. Its export from
2028-486: A military effort that would typically take place through the summer as this would ensure there were enough supplies for the fighting force. Charlemagne passed regulations requiring all mustered fighting men to own and bring their own weapons; the wealthy cavalrymen had to bring their own armour, poor men had to bring spears and shields, and those driving the carts had to have bows and arrows in their possession. In regards to provisions, men were instructed not to eat food until
2184-546: A result of settlement in the early 12th century at the northern edge of the Ore Mountains, the first silver ore was discovered in the vicinity of present-day Freiberg , resulting in the First Berggeschrey or mining rush. Almost simultaneously, the first tin ore was discovered on the southern edge of the mountains in Bohemia. In the 13th century, colonization of the mountains took place only sporadically along
2340-572: A rock above the confluence of the Elbe and Triebisch rivers to erect a new fortress, called Misni ( Meissen ) Castle after the nearby Meisa stream. The fortifications were renamed Albrechtsburg in the 15th century. A town soon developed around the castle. King Henry, however, made no attempts to Germanise the Slavs or to create a chain of burgwards around his fortress. Sat alone, like Brandenburg , with few defenses or towns around it; Meissen probably
2496-465: A second trending north–south from Freiberg through Marienberg, Annaberg, Niederschlag, Joachimsthal, and Schlaggenwald. Late Tertiary faulting and volcanism gave rise to basalt and phonolite dikes . Ore veins include iron, copper, tin, tungsten, lead, silver, cobalt, bismuth, uranium, plus iron and manganese oxides. The most important rocks occurring in the Ore Mountains are schist , phyllite and granite with contact metamorphic zones in
2652-400: A specific location was reached, and carts should carry three months worth of food and six months worth of weapons and clothing along with tools. Preference was shown towards mobility warfare in place of defence-in-depth infrastructure; captured fortifications were often destroyed so they could not be used to resist Carolingian authority in the future. After 800 and during the reign of Louis
2808-452: A symbolic permanence as well as exclaiming royal authority. Einhard suggested the construction of so-called 'public buildings' was a testament to Charlemagne's greatness and likeness to the emperors of antiquity and this connection was certainly capitalised upon by the imagery of palace decorations. Ingelheim is a particular example of such symbolism and thus the importance of the palace system in more than mere governance. The palace chapel
2964-768: A tenth out of so many thousands are said to have survived." Shortage of horses played a role in preventing Carolingian forces from continuing a campaign against the Avars in Pannonia. The Frankish royal bodyguards, the continuation of the Merovingian institution of the antrustion , were consciously modelled on Late Roman precedents. These guards were organized into schola and entitled scholares , and used armour based on Late Roman and early Byzantine models. Frankish artistic depictions of these bodyguards also mirrored Late Roman traditions. No permanent capital city existed in
3120-660: Is Krušné hory , derived from an old Czech expression krušec , meaning "ore". The mountains are sometimes divided into the Saxon Ore Mountains and Bohemian Ore Mountains. A similarly named range in Slovakia is usually known as the Slovak Ore Mountains . Europe's earliest mining district appears to be located in Erzgebirge, dated to 2500 BC. From there tin was traded north to
3276-693: Is a notably difficult task. In his comprehensive Framing the Early Middle Ages, Chris Wickham suggests that there are currently no reliable calculations for the period regarding the populations of early medieval towns. What is likely, however, is that most cities of the empire did not exceed the 20–25,000 speculated for Rome during this period. On an empire-wide level, populations expanded steadily from 750 to 850 AD. Figures ranging from 10 to 20 million have been offered, with estimates being devised based on calculations of empire size and theoretical densities. Recently, however, Timothy Newfield challenges
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#17327655784493432-478: Is seen historically as part of the Ore Mountains, Chemnitz is seen historically as just lying outside them, but Freiberg is included. The supposed limit of the Ore Mountains continues southwest of Dresden towards the Elbe Sandstone Mountains . From this perspective, its main characteristics, i.e., gently sloping plateaus climbing up to the ridgeline incised by V-shaped valleys , continue to
3588-586: Is written to have been 'lined with images from the Bible' and the hall of the palace 'decorated with a picture cycle celebrating the deeds of great kings' including rulers of antiquity as well as Carolingian rulers such as Charles Martel and Pippin III. Louis the Pious used the palace system much to the same effect as Charlemagne during his reign as king of Aquitaine, rotating his court between four winter palaces throughout
3744-793: The Baltic Sea and south to the Mediterranean following the Amber Road trading route, of great importance in the Bronze Age . Tin mining knowledge spread to other European tin mining districts from Erzgebirge and evidence of tin mining begins to appear in Brittany , Devon and Cornwall , and in the Iberian Peninsula around 2000 BC. These deposits saw greater exploitation when they fell under Roman control between
3900-865: The Early Middle Ages . It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty , which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the Lombards in Italy from 774. In 800, the Frankish king Charlemagne was crowned emperor in Rome by Pope Leo III in an effort to transfer the status of Roman Empire from the Byzantine Empire to Western Europe. The Carolingian Empire is sometimes considered
4056-641: The Elbe . The main geologic feature in the Ore Mountains is the Late Paleozoic Eibenstock granite pluton , which is exposed for 25 miles along its northwest–southeast axis and up to 15 miles in width. This pluton is surrounded by progressive zones of contact metamorphism in which Paleozoic slates and phyllites have been changed to spotted hornfels , andalusite hornfels, and quartzites . Two key mineral centres intersect this pluton at Joachimsthal, one trending northwesterly from Schneeberg through Johanngeorgenstadt to Joachimsthal, and
4212-758: The Emirate of Córdoba and, after 824, the Kingdom of Pamplona ; to the north it bordered the kingdom of the Danes ; to the west it had a short land border with Brittany , which was later reduced to a tributary; and to the east it had a long border with the Slavs and the Avars , who were eventually defeated and their land incorporated into the empire. In southern Italy, the Carolingians' claims to authority were disputed by
4368-725: The Investiture Controversy in 1089. Emperor Henry IV then granted Meissen to Count Henry of Eilenburg of the Wettin dynasty. The margravate would remain under Wettin rule for the rest of its existence. Under Wiprecht von Groitzsch in the 1120s, Meissen underwent a process of Germanisation. He was succeeded by Conrad the Great (1123–56), Otto the Rich (1156–91), and Dietrich the Hard-Pressed (1191–1221), under whom
4524-774: The Lusatian Mountains , the Iser Mountains , the Giant Mountains and the Inner-Bohemian Mountains . At the same time it forms a y-shaped mountain chain, along with the Upper Palatine Forest, Bohemian Forest, Fichtel Mountains , Franconian Forest , Thuringian Slate Mountains and Thuringian Forest , that has no unique name but is characterised by a rather homogeneous climate. According to cultural tradition, Zwickau
4680-632: The Pyrenees . Only the remaining Saxon realms, which he partly conquered, Lombardy , and the Marca Hispanica south of the Pyrenees were significant additions to the Frankish realms after his death. Martel cemented his place in history with his defense of Christian Europe against a Muslim army at the Battle of Tours in 732. The Iberian Saracens had incorporated Berber light horse cavalry with
4836-717: The Western , Central and Eastern Ore Mountains , separated by the valleys of the Schwarzwasser and Zwickauer Mulde and the Flöha (" Flöha Line "), the division of the western section along the River Schwarzwasser is of a more recent date. The Eastern Ore Mountains mainly comprise large, gently climbing plateaux, in contrast with the steeper and higher-lying western and central areas, and are dissected by river valleys that frequently change direction. The crest of
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4992-420: The discovery of large ore deposits the area was further renamed in the 16th century. Petrus Albinus used the name Erzgebirge ("Ore Mountains") for the first time in 1589, in his chronicle. In the early 17th century, the name Meißener Berge ("Meissen Mountains") was temporarily used. A quarter of a century later the names Erzgebirge in German and Rudohoří in Czech became established. The Czech toponym
5148-414: The engineering and textile industries . In 1789 the chemical element uranium was discovered in St. Joachimsthal; then in pitchblende from the same area, radium was discovered by Marie Curie in 1898. In the late 1930s, following the discovery of the nuclear fission , uranium ore became of particular interest for military purposes. After the incorporation of Sudetenland into Germany in 1938 all
5304-703: The loess hill country to the north between Zwickau and Chemnitz is referred to as the Ore Mountain Basin ; that from the Eastern Ore Mountains as the Ore Mountain Foreland . Between Freital and Pirna , the area is called the Dresden Ore Mountain Foreland ( Dresdner Erzgebirgsvorland ) or Bannewitz-Possendorf-Burkhardswald Plateau ( Bannewitz-Possendorf-Burkhardswalder Plateau ). Geologically
5460-525: The western kingdom the legitimate Carolingian dynasty was restored in 898 and ruled until 987 with an interruption from 922 to 936. The population of the empire was roughly between 10 and 20 million people. Its heartland was Francia , the land between the Loire and the Rhine , where Aachen , which Charlemagne chose as his primary residence, was located. In the south it crossed the Pyrenees and bordered
5616-426: The 12th century onwards, and even the forests owned by the nobility could not cover the growing demand for wood. In the 18th century, industries were encouraged to use coal as fuel instead of timber in order to preserve the forests, and this was enforced in the 19th century. In the early 1960s the first signs of forest dieback were seen in the Eastern Ore Mountains near Altenberg and Reitzenhain , after local damage to
5772-664: The 21st century, the working group Naturhaushalt und Gebietscharakter of the Saxon Academy of Sciences ( Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften ) in Leipzig merged the Ore Mountains with the major unit group of Vogtland to the west and the major landscape units of Saxon Switzerland , Lusatian Highlands and Zittau Mountains to the east into one overarching unit, the Saxon Highlands and Uplands . In addition, its internal divisions were changed. Former major unit 420
5928-486: The 790s when construction picked up at Aachen Charlemagne's court became more centred compared with the 770s where court so often found itself located in tents during campaigning. Though Aachen was certainly not intended to be a sedentary capital it was built in the political heartland of Charlemagne's realm to act as a meeting place for aristocrats and churchmen so that patronage might be distributed, assemblies held, laws written, and even where scholarly churchmen gathered for
6084-469: The 9th century, were only used in a general sense for the vast forests of the Central Uplands. Frequently the term Miriquidi is used to refer directly to the Ore Mountains, but it only surfaces twice in the 10th and early 11th centuries, and these sources do not permit a clear identification with the ancient forest that formerly covered the whole of the Ore Mountains and its foreland. Following
6240-635: The Avar confederation ended in 803 after Charlemagne sent a Bavarian army into Pannonia. He also conquered Saxon territories in wars and rebellions fought from 772 to 804, with such events as the Massacre of Verden in 782 and the codification of the Lex Saxonum in 802. Prior to the death of Charlemagne, the Empire was divided among various members of the Carolingian dynasty . These included King Charles
6396-505: The Bald into the will was marked by the resistance of his eldest sons. Whilst this was part of the reason for strife amongst Louis' sons, some suggest that it was the appointment of Bernard of Septimania as chamberlain which caused discontent with Lothar, as he was stripped of his co-Emperorship in 829 and was banished to Italy (although it is not known why; The Astronomer simply states that Louis 'dismissed his son Lothar to go back to Italy' ) and Bernard assumed his place as second in command to
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6552-472: The Bohemian Way ( antiqua Bohemiae semita ). It was here that Sayda was built, a station on the trade route from Freiberg via Einsiedl , Johnsdorf and Brüx to Prague. In Sayda it joined the so-called salt road that ran from Halle via Oederan and onto Prague. Glass-making was introduced into the region from the second half of the 13th century. The emergence of this branch of trade benefited from
6708-467: The Bohemian mining town of Graupen (Czech Krupka ) its name. With the further settlement of the Ore Mountains in the 15th century, new, rich, ore deposits were eventually discovered around Schneeberg Annaberg and St. Joachimsthal . The Second Berggeschrey started and triggered a massive wave of colonization. In quick succession, new, planned, mining towns were built across the Ore Mountains in
6864-604: The Byzantines and the vestiges of the Lombard kingdom in the Principality of Benevento . In its day, it was known by various Latin names; the term "Carolingian Empire" arose later. The term "Carolingian Empire" is a modern convention and was not used by its contemporaries. The language of official acts in the empire was Latin . The empire was referred to variously as universum regnum ("the whole kingdom", as opposed to
7020-414: The Carolingian court throughout reigns of many Carolingian rulers. Stuart Airlie has suggested that there were over 150 palaces throughout the Carolingian World which would provide the setting for court activity. Palaces were not merely locations of administrative government but also stood as important symbols. Under Charlemagne their excellence was a translation of the treasure built up from conquest into
7176-415: The Carolingian kingdoms for the last time, but he was deposed by the Frankish nobility in 887 and died in 888 and the empire immediately split up. With the only remaining legitimate male of the dynasty a child, the nobility elected regional kings from outside the dynasty or, in the case of the eastern kingdom , an illegitimate Carolingian. The illegitimate line continued to rule in the east until 911, while in
7332-405: The Czech side, is actually the highest town in Central Europe . Only on the relatively inaccessible, less climatically favourable ridges are there still large, contiguous forests, but since the 18th century these have been managed economically. Due to the high demand for timber by the mining and smelting industries, where it was needed for pit props and fuel, large-scale deforestation took place from
7488-515: The Czech–German border, separating the historical regions of Bohemia in the Czech Republic and Saxony in Germany. The highest peaks are the Klínovec in the Czech Republic (German: Keilberg ) at 1,244 metres (4,081 ft) above sea level and the Fichtelberg in Germany at 1,215 metres (3,986 ft). The Ore Mountains have been intensively reshaped by human intervention and a diverse cultural landscape has developed. Mining in particular, with its tips, dams, ditches and sinkholes, directly shaped
7644-420: The East Frankish rulers; in 908 they were first campaigned by the Saxon prince Henry the Fowler , son of Duke Otto the Illustrious . By 928/29, the main Glomacze fortress on the Jahna river was destroyed and their lands up to the Dresden Basin incorporated into the Marca Geronis . In 928 and 929, during the final campaign against the Glomacze tribes, Henry the Fowler, East Frankish king since 919, chose
7800-401: The Eastern Ore Mountains by narrow fingers of the aforementioned basin. South(east) of the Western Ore Mountains lie the Sokolov Basin , the Eger Graben and the Doupov Mountains . To the north the boundary is less sharply defined because the Ore Mountains, a typical example of a fault-block , descend very gradually. The topographical transition from the Western and Central Ore Mountains to
7956-411: The Eastern Ore Mountains. Here, the artisans were required by Prince-Elector Augustus under the Timber Act of 1560, to buy their wood in Bohemia. Wood from the Saxon Ore Mountains was still needed for the mines and smelters in Freiberg. This export of timber led, among other things, to the construction of an artificial cross-border rafting channel, the Neugrabenflöße , along the river Flöha . Because of
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#17327655784498112-429: The Elbe Valley zone. The western part of the Ore Mountains is home to the two highest peaks of the range: Klínovec , located in the Czech part, with an altitude of 1,244 metres (4,081 ft) and Fichtelberg , the highest mountain of Saxony, Germany, at 1,214 metres (3,983 ft). The Ore Mountains are part of a larger mountain system and adjoin the Fichtel Mountains to the west and the Elbe Sandstone Mountains to
8268-463: The Fat's Kingdom, and Francia and Neustria were granted to Carloman of Aquitaine who also conquered Lower Burgundy. Carloman died in a hunting accident in 884 after a tumultuous and ineffective reign, and his lands were inherited by Charles the Fat, effectively recreating the empire of Charlemagne. Charles, suffering what is believed to be epilepsy, could not secure the kingdom against Viking raiders, and after buying their withdrawal from Paris in 886
8424-524: The Frankish host to go on a campaign, to discuss political and ecclesiastical matters affecting the kingdom and to legislate for them, and to make judgments. All important men had to go to the meeting and so it was an important way for Charles to make his will known. Originally the meeting worked effectively however later it merely became a forum for discussion and for nobles to express their dissatisfaction. Ore Mountains The Ore Mountains ( German : Erzgebirge , Czech : Krušné hory ) lie along
8580-458: The German against his brother Lothar and his uncle Charles the Bald in 858. Lothar reconciled with his brother and uncle shortly after. Charles was so unpopular that he could not raise an army to fight the invasion and instead fled to Burgundy. He was only saved when the bishops refused to crown Louis the German king. In 860, Charles the Bald invaded Charles of Burgundy's kingdom but was repulsed. Lothar II ceded lands to Louis II in 862 for support of
8736-417: The Kingdom of Italy to Charles. Another partition in 832 completely excluded Pepin and Louis the German, making Lothar and Charles the sole benefactors of the kingdom, which precipitated Pepin and Louis the German revolting in the same year, followed by Lothar in 833, and together they imprisoned Louis the Pious and Charles. Lothar brought Pope Gregory IV from Rome under the guise of mediation, but his true role
8892-419: The Lombards'. He later led a failed campaign into Spain in 778, ending with the Battle of Roncevaux Pass , which is considered Charlemagne's greatest defeat. He then extended his domain into Bavaria after forcing Tassilo III, Duke of Bavaria , to renounce any claim to his title in 794. His son, Pepin, was ordered to campaign against the Avars in 795 since Charlemagne was occupied with Saxon revolts. Eventually,
9048-429: The Northern March were lost, and the German forces were pushed back west of the Elbe. Margrave Eckard I from Thuringia succeeded Rikdag as Margrave of Meissen in 985. His descendants of the Ekkeharding noble family would keep the margravial title until 1046. Upon his appointment, Eckard allied with Duke Mieszko I of Poland in order to reconquer Meissen Castle from Duke Boleslaus II of Bohemia whose forces occupied it
9204-491: The Ore / ɔːr / Mountains are sometimes referred to as the Ore Mountain Range , but are also sometimes called the Erzgebirge [ˈeːɐ̯tsɡəˌbɪʁɡə] or Erz Mountains / ɛər t s , ɜːr t s / after their German name or the Krušné Mountains / ˈ k r ʊ ʃ n i , - n eɪ / after their Czech name. In Czech they are the Krušné hory [ˈkruʃnɛː ˈhorɪ] , from old Czech krušec , meaning "piece of ore", and were historically known as Rudohoří ,
9360-412: The Ore Mountains reach the city limits of Dresden at the Windberg hill near Freital and the Karsdorf Fault . The V-shaped valleys of the Ore Mountains break through this fault and the shoulder of the Dresden Basin . The Ore Mountains belong to the Bohemian Massif within Europe's Central Uplands, a massif that also includes the Upper Palatine Forest , the Bohemian Forest , the Bavarian Forest ,
9516-428: The Ore Mountains remains unchanged under the title of Southern Ore Mountains ( Süderzgebirge ). The climate of the higher regions of the Ore Mountains is characterised as distinctly harsh. Temperatures are considerably lower all year round than in the lowlands, and the summer is noticeably shorter and cool days are frequent. The average annual temperatures only reach values of 3 to 5 °C. In Oberwiesenthal , at
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#17327655784499672-410: The Ore Mountains was given new life during the First and Second World Wars in order to supply raw materials. Nazi Germany also saw the resumption of silver mining. Afterwards the people returned to the manufacture of wooden products and toys , especially in the Eastern Ore Mountains. The clock industry is centred on Glashütte . In the Western Ore Mountains, economic alternatives were offered by
9828-411: The Pious finally died in 840, Lothar claimed the entire empire irrespective of the partitions. As a result, Charles and Louis the German went to war against Lothar. After losing the Battle of Fontenay , Lothar fled to his capital at Aachen and raised a new army, which was inferior to that of the younger brothers. In the Oaths of Strasbourg , in 842, Charles and Louis agreed to declare Lothar unfit for
9984-423: The Pious' reign as Emperor was unexpected; as the third son of Charlemagne, he was originally crowned King of Aquitaine at three years old. With the deaths of his older siblings, he went from 'a boy who became a king to a man who would be emperor'. Although his reign was mostly overshadowed by the dynastic struggle and resultant civil war, as his epithet states, he was highly interested in matters of religion. One of
10140-588: The Pious' reign lacked security; he often had to struggle to maintain control of the Empire. As soon as he heard of the death of Charlemagne, he hurried to Aachen, where he exiled many of Charlemagne's trusted advisors, such as Wala. Wala and his siblings were children of the youngest son of Charles Martel, and so were a threat as a potential alternative ruling family. Monastic exile was a tactic Louis used heavily in his early reign to strengthen his position and remove potential rivals. In 817 his nephew, King Bernard of Italy, rebelled against him due to discontent with being
10296-427: The Pious, efforts of expansion dwindled. Tim Reuter has shown that many military efforts during Louis' reign were largely defensive and in response to external threats. It had long been held that Carolingian military success was based on the use of a cavalry force created by Charles Martel in the 730s. However, it is clear that no such "cavalry revolution" took place in the Carolingian period leading up to and during
10452-462: The Saxon electorate , in which they ultimately merged their margravial lands abandoning Meissen's status as an independent principality; though they retained the margravial title. In the late 15th century, the dynasty held a large contiguous territory between the Werra and Oder rivers. By the 1485 Treaty of Leipzig , however, the Upper Saxon lands were again divided between Frederick's grandsons Ernest ruling in Wittenberg and Albert , who took
10608-420: The Saxon Eastern March. When the Marca Geronis was divided in 965 upon the death of Margrave Gero , Meissen became the center of a new march with the goal of controlling the local Slavic population. The first Meissen margrave, Wigbert , is mentioned in a 968 charter of the Archdiocese of Magdeburg . That same year, the Meissen fortress also became the see of the newly created Bishopric of Meissen . In 978,
10764-420: The Saxon count Rikdag became the Margrave of Meissen , and incorporated the marches of Merseburg and Zeitz into Meissen. By 982, the territory of the march had extended as far as the Kwisa river to the east and as far as the slopes of the Ore Mountains to the south, where it shared a border with the Přemyslid duchy of Bohemia. In 983, following the defeat of Emperor Otto II at the Battle of Stilo ,
10920-468: The Slavic Lutici tribes bordering eastern Saxony rebelled in the Great Slav Rising . The newly established bishoprics of Havelberg and Brandenburg as well as the March of Zeitz were overrun by Lutici tribes. Margrave Rikdag joined forces with the Margraves of Lusatia and the Northern March , the Bishop of Halberstadt , and the Archbishop of Magdeburg and defeated the Slavs in the gau of Balsamgau near Stendal . Nevertheless, large territories of
11076-424: The Thuringians", as they set about establishing their power over the older Duchy of Thuringia in the west. The Sorbian march had already lost its importance around 900 AD; the last known margrave Poppo was deposed by King Arnulf in 892 and replaced with Conrad who continued to appear as a "Duke of Thuringia". Conrad himself was replaced by Burchard , whose title in 903 was marchio Thuringionum , "margrave of
11232-706: The Thuringians". Due to scarce sources, the geographical extent of the Frankish march east of the Saale is a matter of ongoing debate among historians; it may have reached up to the settlement area of the Slavic Glomacze ( Talaminzi ) tribes beyond the Mulde river, identified as eastern neighbours of the Sorbs by the Bavarian Geographer about 850. These territories were under constant attacks by
11388-473: The Younger , son of Charlemagne, who received Neustria ; King Louis the Pious , who received Aquitaine ; and King Pepin , who received Italy. Pepin died with an illegitimate son, Bernard , in 810, and Charles died without heirs in 811. Although Bernard succeeded Pepin as king of Italy, Louis was made co-emperor in 813, and the entire Empire passed to him with Charlemagne's death in the winter of 814. Louis
11544-502: The abundance of excess timber, which was created by clearings and new settlements and which was able to meet the high demand of the glassworks. Monks from Waldsassen Abbey brought a knowledge of the glass manufacture to the Ore Mountains. Most glassworks were located in the vicinity of Moldau , Brandau and the Frauenbach valley . The oldest glassworks site is Ulmbach . This timber-hungry industry lost its importance, however, with
11700-515: The army (e.g. Seneschal Andorf against the Bretons in 786). Possibly associated with the chaplain and the royal chapel was the office of the chancellor, head of the chancery, a non-permanent writing office. The charters produced were rudimentary and mostly to do with land deeds. There are 262 surviving from Charles’ reign as opposed to 40 from Pepin ’s and 350 from Louis the Pious . There are 3 main offices which enforced Carolingian authority in
11856-512: The boom in mining, which also enjoyed royal patronage. Mining on the Bohemian side of the mountains probably began in the 14th century. An indication of this is a contract between Boresch of Riesenburg and the Ossegg abbot, Gerwig, in which the division of revenue derived from ore was agreed. Grains of tin ( Zinnkörner or Graupen ) were obtained at that time in the Seiffen mining area and gave
12012-472: The border. From west to east: In the division of Germany into natural regions that was carried out Germany-wide in the 1950s the Ore Mountains formed major unit group 42: Even after the reclassification of natural regions by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation in 1994 the Ore Mountains, region D16 , remained a major unit group with almost unchanged boundaries. However, at the beginning of
12168-726: The crest of the mountains, such as the Freiberg Mines Water Management System or the Reitzenhainer Zeuggraben . Only a few mines remained profitable over a long period. Amongst them was the Himmelsfürst Fundgrube near Erbisdorf , whose 50 continuous years of profitable operation were commemorated in 1818 with the issue of a commemorative coin ( Ausbeutetaler ) and which went on to make a profit continuously until 1848. Thanks to discoveries of rich ore seams it became
12324-895: The death of Charles the Bald, was under attack in the north and west by the Vikings and was facing internal struggles from Italy to the Baltic, from Hungary in the east to Aquitaine in the west. Charles the Bald died in 877 crossing the Pass of Mont Cenis , and was succeeded by his son, Louis the Stammerer as king of the Western Franks, but the title of emperor lapsed. Louis the Stammerer was physically weak and died two years later, his realm being divided between his eldest two sons: Louis III gaining Neustria and Francia , and Carloman gaining Aquitaine and Burgundy . The Kingdom of Italy
12480-468: The decline in industrial production in that period, people without any ties migrated to the interior of Germany or Bohemia. After the discovery of the cobalt blue pigments the mining industry experienced a revival. Cobalt was extracted especially in Schneeberg, and processed in the state paintworks to produce cobalt blue paints and dyes. They succeeded in keeping the method of production secret for
12636-648: The disaster at Teutoburg Forest (9 AD), Charlemagne defeated the Germanic resistance and extended his realm to the Elbe more lastingly, influencing events almost to the Russian Steppes. Charlemagne's reign was one of near-constant warfare, participating in annual campaigns, many led personally. He defeated the Lombard Kingdom in 774 and annexed it into his own domain by declaring himself 'King of
12792-546: The division of the march, however it would reunite soon after each time. Meissen was often enlarged by marriage, purchase, or conquest, which is how it gained the rights to the burgraviate in 1426. In 1423, Margrave Frederick IV was assigned the heirless Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg , formerly held by the House of Ascania , by Emperor Sigismund in turn for his support against the Hussites . The Wettin rulers thereby entered into
12948-548: The early 1990s. In St. Egidien and Aue there were important nickel smelting sites. In Pöhla in the Western Ore Mountains, during exploratory work for SDAG Wismut new, rich lodes of tin ore were discovered in the 1980s. The test workings of that time are now considered the largest tin finds in Europe. Another well-known place of tin production was Seiffen . The village in the Eastern Ore Mountains has become
13104-467: The east. Past the River Elbe , the mountain chain continues as the Lusatian Mountains . While the mountains slope gently away in the northern (German) part, the southern (Czech) slopes are rather steep. The Ore Mountains are oriented in a southwest–northeast direction and are about 150 km long and, on average, about 40 km wide. From a geomorphological perspective the range is divided into
13260-503: The eldest son of Louis the German, his heir. Charles the Bald, supported by the pope, was crowned both king of Italy and emperor. The following year, Louis the German died. Charles tried to annex his realm too, but was defeated decisively at Andernach , and the Kingdom of the eastern Franks was divided between Louis the Younger , Carloman of Bavaria and Charles the Fat . The empire, after
13416-428: The emperor. With Bernard's influence over not only the emperor, but the empress as well, further discord was sowed amongst prominent nobility. Pepin, Louis' second son, too, was disgruntled; he had been implicated in a failed military campaign in 827, and he was tired of his father's overbearing involvement in the ruling of Aquitaine. As such, the angry nobility supported Pepin, civil war broke out during Lent in 830, and
13572-503: The empire, the itinerant court being a typical characteristic of all Western European kingdoms at this time. Some palaces can, however, be distinguished as locations of central administration. In the first year of his reign, Charlemagne went to Aachen ( French : Aix-la-Chapelle ; Italian : Aquisgrana ). He began to build a palace there in the 780s with original plans being thought up perhaps as soon as 768. The palace chapel, constructed in 796, later became Aachen Cathedral . During
13728-536: The expectations of his new title. The political reforms wrought in Aachen were to have an immense impact on the political definition of Western Europe for the rest of the Middle Ages. The Carolingian improvements on the old Merovingian mechanisms of governance have been lauded by historians for the increased central control , efficient bureaucracy, accountability, and cultural renaissance . The Carolingian Empire
13884-504: The extent of the impact of these findings on the empire's populations is difficult to discern. Studies of ethnicity in the Carolingian Empire have been largely limited. However, it is accepted that the empire was inhabited by major ethnic groups such as Franks, Alemanni, Bavarians, Thuringians, Frisians, Lombards, Goths, Romans, Celts, Basques and Slavs. Ethnicity was just one of many systems of identification in this period and
14040-487: The first phase in the history of the Holy Roman Empire . After a civil war (840–843) following the death of Emperor Louis the Pious , the empire was divided into autonomous kingdoms, with one king still recognised as emperor, but with little authority outside his own kingdom. The unity of the empire and the hereditary right of the Carolingians continued to be acknowledged. In 884, Charles the Fat reunited all
14196-470: The first things he did was 'ruling the people by law and with the wealth of his piety', namely by restoring churches. "The Astronomer" stated that, during his kingship of Aquitaine, he 'built up the study of reading and singing, and also the understanding of divine and worldly letters, more quickly than one would believe.' He also made significant effort to restore many monasteries that had disappeared prior to his reign, as well as sponsoring new ones. Louis
14352-645: The forests had become apparent since the 19th century as a result of smelter smoke ( Hüttenrauch ). The German population of the Bohemian part of the Ore Mountains was expelled in 1945 in accordance with to the Beneš decrees . The upper western part of the Ore Mountains, known in German as Erzgebirge , belongs to the Ore Mountains/Vogtland Nature Park . The eastern part, called the Eastern Ore Mountains ( Osterzgebirge ),
14508-533: The former Meissen territory. The treaty marked the beginning of the permanent separation of the two states of Saxony and Ernestine Thuringia. Around 1068, Meissen Castle received its own burgrave . In time the Meinheringer family would come to control the burgravate. Carolingian Empire The Carolingian Empire (800–887) was a Frankish -dominated empire in Western and Central Europe during
14664-589: The hard rocks. In the Tertiary period these mountain remnants came under heavy pressure as a result of plate tectonic processes during which the Alps were formed and the North American and Eurasian plates were separated. As the rock of the Ore Mountains was too brittle to be folded, it shattered into an independent fault block which was uplifted and tilted to the northwest. This can be very clearly seen at
14820-584: The heartland of the Central European mining industry. New ore discoveries attracted more and more people, and the number of residents on the Saxon side of the mountains continued to rise rapidly. Bohemia, in addition to migration from within the country, also received migration from elsewhere, mainly of German miners, who settled in the mountain villages and in the towns at the edge of the mountains. Under Emperor Ferdinand II an unprecedented Re-Catholicization began in Bohemia from 1624 to 1626, whereupon
14976-564: The heavy Arab cavalry to create a formidable army that had almost never been defeated. Christian European forces, meanwhile, lacked the powerful tool of the stirrup . In this victory, Charles earned the surname Martel ("the Hammer"). Edward Gibbon , the historian of Rome and its aftermath, called Charles Martel "the paramount prince of his age". Pepin III accepted the nomination as king by Pope Zachary in about 741. Charlemagne's rule began in 768 at Pepin's death. He proceeded to take control of
15132-511: The heavy amounts of snow a natural Dwarf Mountain Pine region is found near Satzung , near the border to Bohemia at just under 900 m above sea level (NN) . By comparison, in the Alps these pines do not occur until 1,600 to 1,800 m above sea level (NN) . The term Saltusbohemicus ("Bohemian Forest") for the region emerged in the 12th century. In the German language
15288-639: The idea of demographic expansion, criticising scholars for relying on the impact of recurring pandemics in the preceding period of 541-750 AD and ignoring the frequency of famines in Carolingian Europe. A study using climate proxies such as the Greenland Ice core sample 'GISP2' has indicated that there may have been relatively favourable conditions for the empire's early years, although several harsh winters appear afterwards. Whilst demographic implications are observable in contemporary sources,
15444-580: The imperial throne. This marked the east–west division of the Empire between Louis and Charles until the Verdun Treaty. Considered a milestone in European history, the Oaths of Strasbourg symbolize the birth of both France and Germany. The partition of Carolingian Empire was finally settled in 843 by and between Louis the Pious' three sons in the Treaty of Verdun . Lothar received the imperial title,
15600-619: The intermediate Pleisseland around Altenburg in pawn. In 1307, the attempt by the Luxembourg king Henry VII to once again subdue the Margraves of Meissen failed with his defeat at the Battle of Lucka . By that time the margravate was de facto independent of any sovereign authority. In the following years, there would be joint rule of Meissen by multiple members of the Wettin dynasty at any given time. In 1382 and 1445, this even led to
15756-426: The king but many offices became hereditary. They were also sometimes corrupt although many were exemplary e.g. Count Eric of Friuli. Provincial governors eventually evolved who supervised several counts. The Missi Dominici ( Latin : dominical emissaries ). Originally appointed ad hoc, a reform in 802 led to the office of missus dominicus becoming a permanent one. The Missi Dominici were sent out in pairs. One
15912-533: The kingdom following his brother Carloman's death, as the two brothers co-inherited their father's kingdom. Charlemagne was crowned Roman Emperor in the year 800. The Carolingian Empire during the reign of Charlemagne covered most of Western Europe, as the Roman Empire once had. Unlike the Romans, whose imperial ventures between the Rhine and the Elbe lasted fewer than twenty years before being cut short by
16068-895: The kingship of Italy, and the territory between the Rhine and Rhone Rivers, collectively called the Central Frankish Realm . Louis was guaranteed the kingship of all lands to the east of the Rhine and to the north and east of Italy, which was called the Eastern Frankish Realm which was the precursor to modern Germany. Charles received all lands west of the Rhone, which was called the Western Frankish Realm . Lothar retired Italy to his eldest son Louis II in 844, making him co-emperor in 850. Lothar died in 855, dividing his kingdom into three parts:
16224-539: The landscape and the habitats of plants and animals in many places. The region was also the setting of the earliest stages of the early modern transformation of mining and metallurgy from a craft to a large-scale industry, a process that preceded and enabled the later Industrial Revolution . The higher altitudes from around 500 m above sea level on the German side belong to the Ore Mountains/Vogtland Nature Park – the largest of its kind in Germany with
16380-420: The last years of his reign were plagued by civil war. Shortly after Easter, his sons attacked Louis' empire and dethroned him in favour of Lothar. The Astronomer stated Louis spent the summer in the custody of his son, 'an emperor in name only'. The following year Louis attacked his sons' kingdoms by drafting new plans for succession. Louis gave Neustria to Pepin, stripped Lothar of his Imperial title and granted
16536-400: The late 11th (and early 12th century) were covered in dense forests were almost completely transformed into a cultural landscape by the mining industry and by settlement . The population density is high right up into the upper regions of the mountains. For example, Oberwiesenthal , the highest town in Germany, lies in the Ore Mountains, and neighbouring Boží Dar (German: Gottesgab ) on
16692-542: The localities: The Comes ( Latin : count ). Appointed by Charles to administer a county . The Carolingian Empire (except Bavaria) was divided up into between 110 and 600 counties, each divided into centenae which were under the control of a vicar. At first, they were royal agents sent out by Charles but after c. 802 they were important local magnates. They were responsible for justice, enforcing capitularies, levying soldiers, receiving tolls and dues and maintaining roads and bridges. They could technically be dismissed by
16848-694: The march would expand and develop. By then, Meissen had become a stronghold of the Wettin dynasty, suspiciously eyed by the Hohenstaufen emperors who nevertheless were not able to deprive the margraves of their power. In 1264, during the War of the Thuringian Succession , Margrave Henry III asserted himself in the Landgraviate of Thuringia, where his uncle Henry Raspe had died childless. Between 1243 and 1255, Henry III had also acquired
17004-657: The miners. In addition a dam burst in 1954 at Lengenfeld at a uranium mining waste lake; 50,000 cubic metres of waste water poured down 4 kilometres into the valley. Until 1991 uranium ore was also mined in Aue- Alberoda and Pöhla . Mining operations in Freiberg that had begun in 1168 finally ceased in 1968 after 800 years. In Altenberg and Ehrenfriedersdorf tin mining continued to 1991. The smelting of these ores took place mainly in Muldenhütten until
17160-428: The mining industry and because the search for new ore deposits proved fruitless, the population had to resort to other occupations. Agricultural yields were low, however, and also the demand for wood was reduced by the closure of smelteries. Many people were already active at that time in textile production. However, since that was not enough for subsistence, the manufacture of wooden goods and toys developed, especially in
17316-402: The mining industry. Settlement in the Ore Mountains was slow to begin with, especially on the Bohemian side. The harsh climate and short growing seasons hindered the cultivation of agricultural products. Nevertheless, settlements were supported by the aristocratic Hrabischitz family and established mainly at the foot of the mountains and along mountain streams into the deep woods. In 1168, as
17472-455: The missatica system and the itinerant household. Outside this was the regna where Frankish administration rested upon the counts, and outside this was the marcher areas where ruled powerful governors. These marcher lordships were present in Brittany , Spain, and Bavaria . Charles also created two sub-kingdoms in Aquitaine and Italy, ruled by his sons Louis and Pepin respectively. Bavaria
17628-556: The most productive Freiberg mine of the 19th century. But even the excavation of the Rothschönberger Stolln , the largest and most important Saxon drainage adit, which drained the entire Freiberg district, could not stop the decline of mining. Because even before the completion of this technical achievement the German Empire introduced the gold standard in 1871, the price of silver dropped rapidly and led to
17784-743: The mountains themselves forms, in all three regions, a succession of plateaux and individual peaks. To the east it is adjoined by the Elbe Sandstone Mountains and, to the west, by the Elster Mountains and other Saxon parts of the Vogtland . South(east) of the Central and Eastern Ore Mountains lies the North Bohemian Basin and, immediately east of that, the Bohemian Central Uplands which are separated from
17940-520: The names Böhmischer Wald , Beheimer Wald , Behmerwald or Böhmerwald were used, in Czech the name Český les . The last-mentioned names are used today for the mountain range along the Czech Republic's southwestern border ( see: Bohemian Forest ). From earlier research, other names for the Ore Mountains have also appeared in a few older written records. However, the names Hircanus Saltus ( Hercynian Forest) or Fergunna , which appeared in
18096-399: The nobility – some suggest it opened him up to 'clerical domination'. Nonetheless, in 817 Louis had established three new Carolingian kingships for his sons from his first marriage: Lothar was made King of Italy and co-Emperor, Pepin was made King of Aquitaine, and Louis the German was made King of Bavaria . His attempts in 823 to bring his fourth son (from his second marriage), Charles
18252-405: The north of the Ore Mountains, west of Chemnitz and around Zwickau lies the Ore Mountain Basin which is only really known geologically. Here there are deposits of stone coal where mining has already been abandoned. A similar but smaller basin with abandoned coal deposits, the Döhlen Basin , is located southwest of Dresden on the northern edge of the Ore Mountains. It forms the transition to
18408-428: The purposes of learning. Aachen was also a centre for information and gossip being pulled in from across the Empire by courtiers and churchmen alike. Of course, despite being the centre of Charlemagne's government, until his later years, his court moved often and made use of other palaces at Frankfurt, Ingelheim and Nijmegen. The use of such structures would signal the beginnings of the palace system of government used by
18564-588: The range. The highest elevation on the Saxon side is the 1,215-metre-high Fichtelberg , which was the highest mountain in East Germany . The Ore Mountains contain about thirty summits with a height over 1,000 m above sea level (NN) , but not all are clearly defined mountains. Most of them occur around the Klínovec and the Fichtelberg. About a third of them are located on the Saxon side of
18720-399: The region. During his reign as Emperor he used Aachen, Ingelheim, Frankfurt, and Mainz which were almost always the locations for general assemblies held 'two or three [times] a year in the period 896–28...' and while he was not an immobile ruler, his reign has certainly been described as more static. In this way the palace system can also been seen as a tool of continuity in governance. After
18876-417: The regional kingdoms), Romanorum sive Francorum imperium ("empire of the Romans and Franks"), Romanum imperium ("Roman empire"), or even imperium christianum ("Christian empire"). Though Charles Martel chose not to take the title of king (as his son Pepin III would) or emperor (as his grandson Charlemagne ), he was the absolute ruler of virtually all of today's continental Western Europe north of
19032-416: The reign of Charlemagne. This is because the stirrup was not known to the Franks until the late eighth century and soldiers on horseback would therefore have used swords and lances for striking and not charging. Carolingian military success rested primarily on siege technologies and excellent logistics. However, large numbers of horses were used by the Frankish military during the age of Charlemagne. This
19188-445: The silver coinage of the realm, controlling its composition and value. The name of the emperor, not of the minter, appeared on the coins. Charlemagne worked to suppress mints in northern Germany on the Baltic Sea . The Frankish kingdom was subdivided by Charlemagne into three separate areas to make administration easier. These were the inner "core" of the kingdom ( Austrasia , Neustria , and Burgundy ) which were supervised directly by
19344-529: The sons of powerful men, holding ‘benefices’ and forming a contingent in the royal army. They also went on ad hoc missions. Around 780 Charlemagne reformed the local system of administering justice and created the scabini , professional experts on the law. Every count had the help of seven of these scabini, who were supposed to know every national law so that all men could be judged according to it. Judges were also banned from taking bribes and were supposed to use sworn inquests to establish facts. In 802, all law
19500-646: The southern edge of the Dresden Basin . North of the Ore Mountains the landscape gradually transitions into the Saxon Lowland and Saxon Elbeland . Its cultural-geographical transition to Saxon Switzerland in the area of the Müglitz and Gottleuba valleys is not sharply defined. The highest mountain in the Ore Mountains is the Klínovec (German: Keilberg ), at 1,244 metres, in the Bohemian part of
19656-537: The splintering of the Empire the palace system continued to be used by succeeding Carolingian rulers with Charles the Bald centring his power at Compiègne where the palace chapel was dedicated to the Virgin Mary in 877, something remarked on as a sign of continuity with Aachen's Mother of God chapel. For Louis the German, Frankfurt has been deemed his own 'neo-Aachen' and Charles the Fat's palace at Sélestat in Alsace
19812-502: The state, however, was prohibited by the Prince-electors under threat of severe punishment or even death. Towards the end of the 19th century, mining slowly declined again. Drainage costs increased, from the mid-19th century, led to a steady decrease in yield, despite sinking of deeper galleries ( Erbstollen ) and the expansion of ditch and tunnel ( Rösche ) systems for supplying the necessary water for overshot wheels from
19968-423: The territory already held by Louis remained his, the territory of the former Kingdom of Burgundy was granted to his third son Charles of Burgundy , and the remaining territory for which there was no traditional name was granted to his second son Lothar II , whose realm was named Lotharingia . Louis II, dissatisfied with having received no additional territory upon his father's death, allied with his uncle Louis
20124-536: The third century BC and the first century AD. Demand for tin created a large and thriving network amongst Mediterranean cultures of Classical times . By the Medieval period, Iberia's and Germany's deposits lost importance and were largely forgotten while Devon and Cornwall began dominating the European tin market. From the time of the first wave of settlement, the history of the Ore Mountains has been heavily influenced by its economic development, especially that of
20280-474: The unprofitability of the entire Ore Mountain silver mining industry. This situation was not altered even by short-term discoveries of rich deposits in various mines nor the state's purchase of all the Freiberg mines and their incorporation into the state-owned enterprise, Oberdirektion der Königlichen Erzbergwerke , founded in 1886. In 1913, the last silver mines closed and the company was disbanded. Mining in
20436-484: The upper reaches of the mountains. Since a large part of the precipitation falls as snow , in many years a thick and permanent layer of snow remains until April. The ridges of the Ore Mountains are one of the snowiest areas in the German Central Uplands . Foehn winds, and also the so-called Bohemian Wind may occur during certain specific southerly weather conditions. As a result of the climate and
20592-519: The uranium production facilities were commandeered for the development of nuclear weapons. After the American atomic bomb was dropped on Japan in 1945, Soviet experts searched for evidence of the German nuclear energy project to support Soviet atomic bomb development . Shortly thereafter, the processing of uranium ore for the Soviet Union began in the Ore Mountains under the code name SAG Wismut ,
20748-407: The vassal of Lothar, Louis' eldest son. The rebellion was quickly put down by Louis, and by 818 Bernard of Italy was captured and punished - the punishment of death was commuted to blinding. However, the trauma of the procedure ending up killing him two days later. Italy was brought back into Imperial control. In 822 Louis' show of penance for Bernard's death greatly reduced his prestige as Emperor to
20904-399: The vicinity of newly discovered ore deposits. Typical examples are the towns of Marienberg , Oberwiesenthal , Gottesgab ( Boží Dar ), Sebastiansberg ( Hora Sv. Šebestiána ) and Platten ( Horní Blatná ). Economically, however, only silver and tin ores were used. From that time, the wealth of Saxony was built on the silver mines of the Ore Mountains. As a metal used for coinage, silver
21060-480: The west, basalt as remnants in the Plešivec (Pleßberg), Scheibenberg , Bärenstein , Pöhlberg , Velký Špičák ( Großer Spitzberg or Schmiedeberger Spitzberg ), Jelení hora ( Haßberg ) and Geisingberg as well as gneisses and rhyolite ( Kahleberg ) in the east. The soils consist of rapidly leaching grus . In the western and central areas of the mountains it is formed from weathered granite. Phyllite results in
21216-421: The works of Carolingian historians such as Matthew Innes, Rosamond McKitterick, and Stuart Airlie suggest that the use of palaces were important in the evolution of Carolingian governance and Janet Nelson has argued that "palaces are places from which power emanates and is exercised..." and the importance of palaces to Carolingian administration, learning, and legitimacy has been widely argued. The royal household
21372-531: The year before. When Eckard was assassinated in 1002, however, Mieszko's son, the Polish king Bolesław I Chrobry , took the occasion to conquer the margravial lands east of the Elbe and demanded the surrender of Meissen. The following German–Polish War ended with the 1018 Peace of Bautzen , whereby Meissen had to cede the Milceni region (later Upper Lusatia ) to Poland. In 1031 however, King Conrad II of Germany
21528-464: Was a way to show social status and political agency. Many regional and ethnic identities were maintained and would later become significant in a political role. Regarding laws, ethnic identity helped decide which codes applied to which populations, however these systems were not definitive representations of ethnicity as these systems were somewhat fluid. Evidence from Carolingian estate surveys and polyptychs appears to suggest that female life expectancy
21684-458: Was able to reconquer the Milceni lands, which were returned to Meissen. In 1046, Count Otto of Weimar-Orlamünde became margrave, followed by Egbert II of the Brunonids upon his death in 1067. Egbert II entered into a longstanding conflict with Emperor Henry IV , because of which he had to renounce the Milceni lands to Duke Vratislaus II of Bohemia in 1076, and was finally deposed during
21840-470: Was also under the command of an autonomous governor, Gerold , until his death in 796. While Charles still had overall authority in these areas they were fairly autonomous with their own chancery and minting facilities. The annual meeting, the Placitum Generalis or Marchfield, was held every year (between March and May) at a place appointed by the king. It was called for three reasons: to gather
21996-503: Was an attempt to organize the kingdom, church, and nobility around him, however, its efficacy was directly dependent upon the efficiency, loyalty and support of his subjects. Almost every year between the accession of Charles Martel and the conclusion of the wars with the Saxons Frankish forces went on campaign or expedition, often into enemy territory. Charlemagne would, for many years, gather an assembly around Easter and launch
22152-408: Was an ecclesiastic and one secular. Their status as high officials was thought to safeguard them from the temptation of taking bribes. They made four journeys a year in their local missaticum , each lasting a month, and were responsible for making the royal will and capitularies known, judging cases and occasionally raising armies. The Vassi Dominici . These were the king’s vassals and were usually
22308-440: Was an itinerant body (until c. 802) which moved around the kingdom making sure good government was upheld in the localities. The most important positions were the chaplain (who was responsible for all ecclesiastical affairs in the kingdom), and the count of the palace ( Count palatine ) who had supreme control over the household. It also included more minor officials e.g. chamberlain, seneschal, and marshal. The household sometimes led
22464-411: Was because horses provided a quick, long-distance method of transporting troops , which was critical to building and maintaining such a large empire. The importance of horses to the Carolingian military is revealed through the Revised version of the Royal Frankish Annals. The annals mention that whilst Charlemagne was on campaign in 791 "there broke out such a pestilence among the horses [...] that barely
22620-407: Was designed specifically to imitate Aachen. The palace system as an idea for Carolingian central administration and governance has been challenged by historian F. L. Ganshof, who argued that the palaces of the Carolingians "contained nothing resembling the specialised services and departments available at the same period to the Byzantine emperor or the caliph of Baghdad." However, further reading in
22776-409: Was elected King of Western Francia (France), Ranulf II became King of Aquitaine , Italy went to Count Berengar of Friuli , Upper Burgundy to Rudolph I , and Lower Burgundy to Louis the Blind , the son of Boso of Arles, King of Lower Burgundy and maternal grandson of Emperor Louis II . The other part of Lotharingia became the duchy of Burgundy. The study of demographics in the early Middle Ages
22932-408: Was finally granted to King Carloman of Bavaria, but a stroke forced him to abdicate Italy to his brother Charles the Fat and Bavaria to Louis of Saxony. Also in 879, Boso of Vienne founded the Kingdom of Lower Burgundy in Provence . In 881, Charles the Fat was crowned emperor while Louis III of Saxony and Louis III of Francia died the following year. Saxony and Bavaria were united with Charles
23088-410: Was grouped with the western part of major units 421 and 423 to form a new major unit, the Western Ore Mountains ( Westerzgebirge ), the eastern part of major units 421 and 423 became the Central Ore Mountains ( Mittelerzgebirge ) and major units 422 and 424 became the Eastern Ore Mountains ( Osterzgebirge ). The current division therefore looks as follows: The geographic unit of the Southern Slopes of
23244-416: Was lower than that of men in this period, with analyses recording high ratios of males to females. However, it is possible this is due to a recording bias. The government, administration, and organization of the Carolingian Empire were forged in the court of Charlemagne in the decades around the year 800. In this year, Charlemagne was crowned emperor and adapted his existing royal administration to live up to
23400-406: Was minted on site in the mountain towns into money. The Joachimsthaler coins, minted in the valley of Joachimsthal , became famous and gave their name to the medieval coin known as the Thaler from which the word " dollar " is derived. After the end of the Hussite Wars , the economy in Bohemia, which had been disrupted by the conflict, recovered. In the 16th century the Ore Mountains became
23556-490: Was perceived by the court as being cowardly and incompetent. The following year his nephew Arnulf of Carinthia , the illegitimate son of King Carloman of Bavaria, raised the standard of rebellion. Instead of fighting the insurrection, Charles fled to Neidingen and died the following year in 888, leaving a divided entity and a disorderly succession. The Empire of the Carolingians was divided: Arnulf maintained Carinthia , Bavaria, Lorraine and modern Germany; Count Odo of Paris
23712-431: Was regularly cut off from the outside world. The upper Ore Mountains was therefore nicknamed Saxon Siberia already in the 18th century. The fault block mountain range that climbs from northwest to southeast, and which enables prolonged rain to fall as orographic rain when weather systems drive in from the west and northwest, gives rise to twice as much precipitation as in the lowlands which exceeds 1,100 mm on
23868-477: Was temporarily occupied by Bohemian forces from 936 onwards. The town beneath the fortress grew, however, eventually becoming one of the most important cities in the vast Marca Geronis , covering the Slavic lands east of the Saxon stem duchy . King Henry, and later on his son and successor Otto I , continued the Slavic campaigns into the lands of the Polabian Milceni tribes around Bautzen ( Budissin ), with their gained territory being gradually incorporated into
24024-416: Was the largest western territory since the fall of Rome , but historians have come to suspect the depth of the emperor's influence and control. Legally, the Carolingian emperor exercised the bannum , the right to rule and command, over all of his territories. Also, he had supreme jurisdiction in judicial matters, made legislation, led the army, and protected both the Church and the poor. His administration
24180-405: Was to legitimise Lothar and his brothers' rule by deposing and excommunicating Louis. By 835, peace was made within the family, and Louis was restored to the Imperial throne at the church of St. Stephen in Metz. When Pepin died in 838, Louis crowned Charles king of Aquitaine, whilst the nobility elected Pepin's son Pepin II , a conflict which was not resolved until 860 with Pepin's death. When Louis
24336-520: Was written down and amended (the Salic law was also amended in both 798 and 802, although even Einhard admits in section 29 that this was imperfect). Judges were supposed to have a copy of both the Salic law code and the Ripuarian law code. Most people in the Carolingian Empire lived under a legal code that directly copied from Roman law . Coinage had a strong association with the Roman Empire, and Charlemagne took up its regulation with his other imperial duties. The Carolingians exercised controls over
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