WittenbergWittenberg (ˈwɪtənbɜːrɡ,_ˈvɪt- , ˈvɪtn̩bɛʁk; Low Saxon: Wittenbarg; meaning White Mountain; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (Luther City Wittenberg)), is the fourth-largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of Berlin, and has a population of 46,008 (2018). Wittenberg is famous for its close connection with Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation, for which it received the honorific Lutherstadt.
FranconiaFranconia (Franken, ˈfʁaŋkŋ̍; Franconian: Franggn ˈfrɑŋɡŋ̍; Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: Fränkisch). While several Germanic dialects are referred to as Franconian (including Dutch), only the East Franconian dialects are also colloquially referred to as "Franconian", and only the East Franconian dialect area is regarded as Franconia.
Charles the FatCharles III (839 – 13 January 888), also known as Charles the Fat, was the emperor of the Carolingian Empire from 881 to 888. A member of the Carolingian dynasty, Charles was the youngest son of Louis the German and Hemma, and a great-grandson of Charlemagne. He was the last Carolingian emperor of legitimate birth and the last to rule a united kingdom of the Franks. Over his lifetime, Charles became ruler of the various kingdoms of Charlemagne's former empire.
Imperial immediacyImperial immediacy (Reichsfreiheit or Reichsunmittelbarkeit) was a privileged constitutional and political status rooted in German feudal law under which the Imperial estates of the Holy Roman Empire such as Imperial cities, prince-bishoprics and secular principalities, and individuals such as the Imperial knights, were declared free from the authority of any local lord and placed under the direct ("immediate", in the sense of "without an intermediary") authority of the Holy Roman Emperor, and later of the
HalberstadtHalberstadt (Eastphalian: Halverstidde) is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the capital of Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town center, which was largely destroyed by Allied bombings in the late stages of World War II after local Nazi leaders refused to surrender. The town was rebuilt in the following decades. In World War I Halberstadt was the site of a German military airbase and aircraft-manufacturing facilities.
NiklotNiklot or Nyklot (1090 – August 1160) was a chief or prince of the Slavic Obotrites and an ancestor of the House of Mecklenburg. He became chief of the Obotrite confederacy, including the Kissini and the Circipani, between the years 1130 and 1131. He remained in this position until his death in 1160. At the same time he was Lord of (Herr zu) Schwerin, Quetzin and Malchow. For nearly 30 years he resisted Saxon princes, especially Henry the Lion during the Wendish Crusade.
Wendish CrusadeThe Wendish Crusade (Wendenkreuzzug) was a military campaign in 1147, one of the Northern Crusades and a part of the Second Crusade, led primarily by the Kingdom of Germany within the Holy Roman Empire and directed against the Polabian Slavs (or "Wends"). The Wends were made up of the Slavic tribes of Abrotrites, Rani, Liutizians, Wagarians, and Pomeranians who lived east of the River Elbe in present-day northeast Germany and Poland. The lands inhabited by the Wends were rich in resources, which played a factor in the motivations of those who participated in the crusade.
Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificumGesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum (Medieval Latin for "Deeds of the Bishops of Hamburg") is a historical treatise written between 1073 and 1076 by Adam of Bremen, who made additions (scholia) to the text until his death (possibly 1081; before 1085). It is one of the most important sources of the medieval history of Northern Europe, and the oldest textual source reporting the discovery of coastal North America.
Ernestine duchiesThe Ernestine duchies (Ernestinische Herzogtümer), also known as the Saxon duchies (Sächsische Herzogtümer, although the Albertine appanage duchies of Weissenfels, Merseburg and Zeitz were also "Saxon duchies" and adjacent to several Ernestine ones), were a group of small states whose number varied and which were largely located in the present-day German state of Thuringia and governed by dukes of the Ernestine line of the House of Wettin.
