Thietmar names Theodoric as a member of the tribe of the
Buzici (
de tribu, quae Buzici dicitur) and as a relative on his father's side of
Rikdag,
Margrave of Meissen (r. 979 – 985). Several possible fathers have been identified for him, but there is no conclusive evidence for any of them: • Dedi, count in the
Hassegau (count in 940, died 957), one of the retainers of
Otto I, a descendant of
Burchard, Duke of Thuringia. Proposed by Friedrich Kurze (1886), based on the name
Buzici (
Buzo as short form
Burchard, i.e. the
Buzici would be the
Burchardings). •
Burchard III, Duke of Swabia (born 906 or 915, died 973), proposed by Reinhard Wenskus (1976) and later Stefan Pätzold (1997), also based on the interpretation of
Buzici as a derived from the name
Burchard. •
Burchard II, Duke of Swabia (died 926): the association with
Liesgau is connected to this hypothesis, as a Swabian count named Burchard is attested for Liesgau in 965 (known as
Burchard IV. im Hassegau, brother of Dedi I of Hassegau). This Burchard is suggested as the son of Burchard II and an older brother of Theodoric. • Folcmar (Volkmar) count in the
Harzgau (died before 961) (suggestion mentioned in
Lexikon des Mittelalters.) Depending on who is assumed to be Theodoric's father, it is reasonable to assume a date of birth for Theodoric in the 910s, 920s or 930s. The year of his death has been proposed as 975/6, because it is known that his son Dedo in this year took his own mother hostage in the context of a feud (presumably against his father). Theodoric's wife is named as one Jutta or Judith of Merseburg in early modern historiography. ==References==