The March of the Nordgau or the Bavarian Nordgau (German: Bayerischer Nordgau) is a margraviate in the north of the duchy of Bavaria in the High Middle Ages.
It covers the region roughly covered by the modern Upper Palatinate along the river Main.
The chief cities of the Nordgau are the Frankish cities Nuremberg and Bamberg and, especially after 1061, Eger in the Egerland part of the Nordgau.The Nordgau is occupied by the Franks in Merovingian times.
The great fortress of Wogastisburg os built at the insistence of Saint Boniface by Charles Martel.
Charlemagne enters the Nordgau through Bavaria in 788 and brings the Franks into contact with the Bohemians permanently.
For this reason, the Nordgau has been called the Bohemian March on occasion, although this term is also reserved for the March of Moravia.
The Nordgau is first separated from Bavaria in 938, following the death of Duke Arnulf in 937.
Otto I appoints one Berthold, already empowered in the districts of Radenzgau and Volkfeld in East Franconia, to administer the region as a distinct march.
There has been some confusion over whether or not the Nordgau was separated from Bavaria at this date or only as late as 976, in consequence of the revolt of Duke Henry II.In 1004, Henry II, Duke of Bavaria and King of Germany, deposes Henry of Schweinfurt from the Nordgau and gives the temporal authority of the region over to the Bishopric of Bamberg, which he heavily favors throughout his career.
However, the margravial title survives in a succession of families in the region.
Henry's descendants use the title "Margrave of Schweinfurt" and the Ratpotonen eventually receivesthe title by royal grant, passing it down as "Margrave of Vohburg" to their descendants.Throughout the 11th and 12th centuries, the Nordgau is a pathway for invading armies from Bohemia and Hungary and for the countering armies of the Holy Roman Empire.
