Between Marklo and Merseburg: Assemblies and Their Sites in Saxony from the Beginning of Christianization to the Time of the Ottonian Kings

Abstract

Abstract Are there any continuities between the places of assemblies in Saxony before the Frankish conquest and after? What do we know about the sites and their locations, use, and function for the Saxons and the kings of the east-Frankish realm during the 10th century? This paper shows the spatial differences between the western part of Saxonia and the eastern regions and highlights chronological changes evident between the reign of the Carolingians and their successors, the Ottonian kings, which were of Saxon origin. … solam pene famam sequens in hac parte [de origine statuque gentis], nimia vetustate omnem fere certitudinem obscurante. “… I have to follow mostly the legends in this part [on the origins of the elder Saxons] because the distant time is darkening any certainty.” Widukind of Corvey, Res Gestae Saxonicae, book I, chapter 2