Old Saxony | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6th century–804 | |||||||||
 The later stem duchy of Saxony (c. 1000 AD), which was based in the Saxons' traditional homeland bounded by the rivers Ems, Eider and Elbe | |||||||||
| Status | Tribal territory of the Saxons Early medieval duchy | ||||||||
| Capital | Marklo[1] | ||||||||
| Common languages | Old Saxon | ||||||||
| Religion | Germanic Paganism | ||||||||
| Government | Tribal confederation | ||||||||
| Historical era | Early Middle Ages | ||||||||
• Hadugato, first documented duke | 6th century | ||||||||
• End of the Saxon Wars | 804 | ||||||||
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Old Saxony was the homeland of the Saxons during the Early Middle Ages. It corresponds roughly to the modern German states of Lower Saxony, eastern part of modern North Rhine-Westphalia state (Westphalia), Nordalbingia (Holstein, southern part of Schleswig-Holstein) and western Saxony-Anhalt (Eastphalia), which all lie in northwestern Germany. It had four provinces: Nordalbingia, Eastphalia, Westphalia and Angria (or Angaria), these provinces, in turn, were divided into smaller territories, the gaue, which are equivalent to modern Districts of Germany (Kreise), and were equivalent to the English shires (modern counties).
It should not be confused with the modern German state of Saxony, which is in eastern Germany, adjoining the northwest border of the Czech Republic.