Eckard I, Margrave of Meissen, is of noble east Thuringian stock, the eldest son of Margrave Gunther of Merseburg.

In 985, the young King Otto III of Germany had appointed him to succeed Margrave Rikdag in Meissen, following severe Saxon setbacks against the Slavic Lutici tribes.

He was later elected Duke of Thuringia by the magnates of the region, an event which has been taken as evidence of the principle of tribal ducal election.

Eckard is high in the favor of the Emperor Otto III, who has rewarded him handsomely by converting many of his benefices (fiefs) into proprietas (allods).

In Otto's conflict with his rival cousin Duke Henry II of Bavaria, Eckard's military responsibilities as holder of the Meissen march consists primarily of containment of the neighboring Polish and Bohemian duchies.

Duke Boleslaus II of Bohemia had allied with Duke Henry and had taken the occasion to occupy the Albrechtsburg in 984; he nevertheless had had to withdraw the next year, after Otto III had prevailed.

Margrave Eckard had had to restore Thiadric, Bishop of Prague to his see after his expulsion by Boleslaus II of Bohemia.

When in January 1002 Otto III dies without issue and the German princes meet at Frohse (today part of Schönebeck) to elect a new king, Eckard even aims at the German crown, because the late emperor's Ottonian relative Henry of Bavaria, son of Duke Henry II, who is the preeminent candidate, meets with strong opposition.

Eckard is at this time the most obvious Saxon candidate, but the nobles are opposed to him.

They only agree to meet again at the Kaiserpfalz of Werla and to support no candidate before then.