bishopric was founded at Erfurt; and under Charlemagne the Thuringian mark was the base of active operations against the heathen Sorbs. In 839 the title of duke of Thuringia (ducatus Toringubæ) appears; but that of landgrave seems to have superseded it; neither dignity implied sovereignty over the whole district. Otto the Illustrious, duke of Saxony (880), added Thuringia to his duchy, but the union was not permanent. About the beginning of the 12th century Louis the Springer, builder of the Wartburg, rose to eminence among the Thuringian nobles; and about 1130 his son, also Louis, was appointed landgrave by the emperor Lothair I. Thuringia now began to be a united land under one prince; and the landgraves, who acquired the Saxon palatinate on the fall of Henry the Lion of Saxony in 1180, rose to considerable power. The last landgrave of this line was Henry Raspe (1242–1247), brother and successor of Louis the Saint. His death was followed by a devastating war of succes sion between his niece Sophia, duchess of Brabant, and Henry the Illustrious, margrave of Meissen (1221–1288), whose mother Jutta was a Thuringian princess. Peace was finally established in 1263: Sophia received Hesse, and Henry took the rest of Thuringia, the general history of which thenceforth merged in that of Meissen, and later of Saxony, although it maintained its separate name. Thuringia was included in the administrative circle of Upper Saxony (vol. xxi. p. 352, note 3). For its subsequent fate, and the rise of the present Thuringian states, see under Saxony, (vol. xxi. p. 353 sq.)
The most striking natural feature of Thuringia is the Thuringian Forest (Thüringerwald), a range or system of hills, extending in an irregular line from the neighbourhood of Eisenach in the north west to the Lobensteiner Kulm on the Bavarian frontier on the south-east, and forming the southern boundary of Thuringia, separating it from Franconia. On the south-east it is continued directly by the Frankenwald Mountains to the Fichtelgebirge, which is in immediate connexion with the Erzgebirge, while on the north-east it approaches the Harz Mountains, and thus takes its place in the great Sudetic chain of central Germany. The length of the Thuringian chain is 70 miles, and its breadth varies from 8 to 25 miles. It nowhere rises into peaks, and only a few of its rounded summits reach the height of 3000 feet; the successive hills melt into each other in gentle undulations, forming a con tinuous and easily traced comb, and only the north-west slopes are precipitous, and seamed with winding gorges. This mountain range encloses many charming and romantic valleys and glens; the most prominent feature of its picturesque scenery is formed by the fine forests, chiefly of pines and firs, which clothe most of the hills. The north-west part of the system is the loftier and the more densely wooded, as well as the more beautiful; the highest summits here are the Grosser Beerberg (3225 feet), Schneekopf (3179), and the Inselberg (2957), all in the duchy of Gotha. The south-east part of the Thuringian Forest is the more populous and industrial; the chief summits are the Kieferle (2851 feet) at Steinheid, the Blessberg (2834 feet) near Schalkau, the Wurzelberg (2746 feet) near Oelze, and the Wetzstein (2719) near Lehesten. The crest of the Thuringian Forest, from the Werra to the Saale, is traversed by the Rennsteig or Rainsteig, a broad path of unknown antiquity, though it is believed to be referred to in a letter of Pope Gregory III. dated 738. The name means probably "frontier-path "; and the path marks in fact the boundary between Thuringia and Franconia. It may be also regarded as part of the boundary line between North and South Germany, for dialect, customs, local names and costume are different on the two sides.
THURINGORUM LEX.See Salic Law.
THURLES, an ancient market-town of Ireland, in the county of Tipperary, and the seat of the Catholic archdiocese of Cashel, is pleasantly situated on the Suir, and on the Great Southern and Western Railway, 46 miles east of Limerick, 29 west from Kilkenny, and 87 south west of Dublin. The cathedral of St Patrick is a beautiful building, erected at a cost of £45,000. The town is the seat of other important Catholic establishments, including an Ursuline convent, in which is a large boarding-school for young ladies; a Presentation convent; St Patrick's Catholic college (1829) for ecclesiastical students, where was held in 1850 the synod of Thurles, composed of all the Catholic bishops of Ireland; and an establishment of Christian Brothers, who devote themselves to the instruction of boys on the Lancastrian method. The town has a considerable agricultural and retail trade. The population was 5008 in 1871, and 4850 in 1881.
Originally the town was called Durlas O Fogarty. In the 10th century it was the scene of the defeat of the Irish by the Danes. A preceptory was founded here by the Knights Templars, who possessed themselves of a castle erected early in the 13th century. A castle was subsequently erected by James Butler, first lord palatine of Tipperary, of which till recently a tower still remained.