The Medieval Elbe
Slavs and Germans on the Frontier

Wichmann

Wid III.23


III.23. With the king campaigning against Mainz, dux Hermann was administering Saxony. Since a new army from Saxony was supposed to be sent to reinforce the old, Thiadric and Wichmann the Younger were put in charge of it. Reaching the borders of the Franks, surrounded suddenly by Liudolf and dux Conrad, they were forced into a certain deserted fortress. When they [Liudolf and Conrad] advanced to storm it, their standardbearer lost an arm in front of the gate by a thrown wheel. With this, the battle was ended, and a truce of three days was granted for their return to Saxony.

Analysis

Hermann Billung was one of Otto's leading supporters in Saxony, and often tasked with campaigns on the eastern frontier.  Liudolf and Conrad refer to the two ringleaders of the 953-954 revolt, Otto the Great's son and son-in-law.  It is unclear who the Thiadric is in this passage.