Editing Dithmarschen (section)

===High Middle Ages===
[[File:Lämmer und Mutter.JPG|thumb|200px|Landscape with ewes and lambs]]

In [[Middle Ages|medieval times]] the [[marsh]]land villages of Dithmarschen enjoyed remarkable autonomy. Neighbouring princes often tried to bring Dithmarschen under their control.

After 1180 Prince-Archbishop [[Siegfried, Count of Anhalt|Siegfried]] ceded Dithmarschen, which was supposed to belong to his [[Archdiocese of Bremen|Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen]], to his brother [[Bernhard, Count of Anhalt|Bernhard III]], Duke of the [[Saxe-Wittenberg|younger Duchy of Saxony]]. In his new position of Duke of Saxony he held the [[Land of Hadeln]], opposite of Dithmarschen on the southern bank of the river [[Elbe]]. [[Adolf III of Holstein|Adolf III of Schauenburg]], [[Count of Holstein]], at enmity with the [[Ascanian]]s, had de facto taken a loose possession of Dithmarschen. It fell to Bernhard to regain the territory, but he failed, only forcing Adolf to accept his overlordship of Dithmarschen.

Prince-Archbishop [[Hartwig of Uthlede|Hartwig II]] prepared a campaign into Dithmarschen, which, while religiously belonging to the [[Archdiocese of Bremen]], and represented by its subsidiary [[cathedral chapter|chapter]] at [[Hamburg Concathedral]], rejected secular overlordship from Bremen. He persuaded Adolf III to waive his claim to Dithmarschen, in return for being paid regular dues to be levied from the Ditmarsians after subjugation. In 1187 and 1188 Hartwig and his ally [[Maurice, Count of Oldenburg|Maurice I, Count of Oldenburg]], heading their troops, invaded Dithmarschen. The free peasants promised to pay him dues, only to ridicule and renounce Hartwig, once he and his soldiers had left. The Ditmarsians gained support from [[Valdemar of Denmark (bishop)|Valdemar]], steward of the [[Duchy of Schleswig]] and [[Bishop of Schleswig]]. Hartwig, owing dues to Adolf III and the soldiers' pay to Maurice I, was trapped and could not afford to wage a second war.

In 1192 the Bremian Chapter elected Valdemar as its new Prince-Archbishop. Valdemar welcomed his election, hoping his new position could be helpful in his dispute with [[Valdemar II of Denmark|Duke Valdemar]] of [[Duchy of Schleswig|Schleswig]] and his elder brother [[Canute VI of Denmark]]. Before entering the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen he won the support of Dithmarschen.