Eckard II (born ca. 985; died 24 January 1046) was the margrave of Meissen from 1038 until his death, succeeding his brother, Herman I

Herman I, Margrave of Meissen

Herman I was the Margrave of Meissen from 1009 until his death. He was the eldest son of Eckard I of Meissen and Swanehilde.Herman married Regelinda, daughter of Boleslaus I of Poland. In 1007, he was created Count of Bautzen. He and his brother Eckard II feuded with their uncle Gunzelin in what...

. His line was descended from Eckard I

Eckard I, Margrave of Meissen

Eckard I was Margrave of Meissen from 985 until his death, the first margrave of the Ekkehardinger family that dominated Meissen until the extinction of the line in 1046.-Life:...

. He was the last of his dynasty, with his death the Ekkehardinger margraves died out.

As guardian of the eastern frontiers against Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 and Bohemia

Bohemia

Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...

, he was often serving Conrad II or Henry III against these menaces, including the Bohemian Achilles, Duke Bretislaus I

Bretislaus I of Bohemia

Bretislaus I , known as Bohemian Achilles, of the house of the Přemyslids, was the duke of Bohemia from 1035 till death.-Youth:...

. This last, allied with Peter Urseolo of Hungary, who was raiding Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

, made great gains in Lusatia

Lusatia

Lusatia is a historical region in Central Europe. It stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Elbe valley in the west, today located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in the Lower Silesian and Lubusz voivodeships of western Poland...

 and Poland such that the emperor feared him. Eckard took part in both of Henry's campaigns, for he was Henry's loyalest and most trusted ally, in 1040 and 1041: the first unsuccessful, the latter a victory which forced a peace treaty. Eckard remained one of Henry's closest advisors until his death during a Saxon

Saxony

The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....

 epidemic

Epidemic

In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...

 of 1046. He bequeathed his exceptional wealth and his title and land to Henry, who bestowed the margravate on William, count of Orlamünde

Orlamünde

Orlamünde is a town in the Saale-Holzland district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated at the confluence of the rivers Saale and Orla, 17 km south of Jena. It was the centre of a county, often united to Weimar, in the Early Middle Ages....

.

Sources

• Gwatkin, H.M., Whitney, J. P. (ed) et al. The Cambridge Medieval History: Volume III. Cambridge University Press
  Cambridge University Press
  Cambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
  
  , 1926.