TIETMARO of MERSEBURG. - Born on 25 July 975 from Siegfried, count of Walbeck, died at Merseburg on 10 December 1018.
He entered at a very young age the monastery of Quedlinburg and began his studies there; then he moved to that of Magdeburg. In 1002 he received the title of prior of the monastery founded by his grandfather at Walbeck; in 1004 he was ordained priest. The relations of his family with the royal court facilitated his election as bishop of Merseburg (1009), where he remained until his death.
He wrote from 1012 to 1015 a *Chronicon* in 8 books, which he revised and expanded from 1016 to 1018. His work follows, as sources, the *Annales* of Hildesheim and Quedlinburg; but it owes its importance to Tietmaro’s personal contribution, since he composed it as a kind of diary of events that occurred at the royal court, which he frequented; moreover, he could also obtain information from the noble families related and allied to his own. His chronicle thus constitutes one of the important sources for the history of Germany.