Bernard II of Haldensleben (or Bernhard) (died 1051) was the Margrave of the Nordmark from 1018 until his death. He was the grandson of Dietrich of Haldensleben and a rival of the counts of Walbeck, one of whom, Werner, succeeded him in the march following his deposition.

In 1016–1017, his father, Bernard I (1009-1018), feuded with Gero, Archbishop of Magdeburg, and consequently with the Emperor Henry II over the ambitions of the Magdeburger church.^[1] The Emperor intervened and forced Bernard I to pay Gero 500 lbs of silver in compensation for the assault his men had made on the city of Magdeburg.^[2] Bernard I was treated as an equal of his legal lord, the Duke of Saxony. Then Bernard II, in a 1028 letter of the Emperor Conrad II concerning the slaves of the church of Verden, which was located in the provinces "to whom we [Conrad] have committed [to the Bernards] the rule."^[3]

He married a daughter of Vladimir the Great, Grand Prince of Kiev. He was succeeded as margrave by his eldest son William, in 1051.^[4] His second son, Conrad, succeeded to Haldensleben. He also left daughters, Theutberga, Oda, and perhaps Othelindis, wife of Dirk III, Count of Holland. His illegitimate son by a Slav mistress, Otto, tried to succeed his brother, but was defeated and killed in battle.

Sources

• Reuter, Timothy. Germany in the Early Middle Ages 800–1056. New York: Longman, 1991.

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