Hermann Billung

Hermann Billung (900 or 912 – 27 March 973) was a prominent German noble from Saxony in the East Frankish Kingdom, who was a notable military commander and count, serving as royal governor of the Duchy of Saxony during the reign of king and emperor Otto I (936-973). As such, he was entrusted with the defense of Saxon eastern regions and borders towards the neighboring Polabian Slavs. He became the founder of the House of Billung, that had a prominent role in the medieval history of northern German lands.

In older historiography, it was sometimes assumed that he was not only the royal governor, but also the Duke of Saxony, while his military commands and frontier endeavors in Slavic lands were seen as the establishment of a northeastern march (frontier region), named by later historians as the Billung March. Newer scholarly analyses have shown that such assumptions were lacking confirmation in reliable primary sources, since Hermann newer became the Saxon duke, nor did in his time exist an effective frontier province (march) in Slavic regions to the northeast of Saxon borders, across the lower Elbe river.