Berthold III ( – 14 December 1188), a member of the Bavarian

House of Andechs The House of Andechs was a feudal line of German princes in the 12th and 13th centuries. The counts of Dießen-Andechs (1100 to 1180) obtained territories in northern Dalmatia on the Adriatic seacoast, where they became Margraves of Istria and ult ...

, was

Margrave of Istria The March of Istria (or Margraviate of Istria ) was originally a Carolingian frontier march covering the Istrian peninsula and surrounding territory conquered by Charlemagne's son Pepin of Italy in 789. After 1364, it was the name of the Istria ...

(as Berthold I) from 1173 until his death. He was the son of Count

Berthold II of Andechs Berthold or Berchtold is a Germanic given name and surname. It is derived from two elements, ''berht'' meaning "bright" and ''wald'' meaning "(to) rule". It may refer to: *Bertholdt Hoover, a fictional List_of_Attack_on_Titan_characters, character ...

, ruler over Dießen in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

Plassenburg Plassenburg is a castle in the city of Kulmbach in Bavaria. It is one of the most impressive castles in Germany and a symbol of the city. It was first mentioned in 1135. The Plassenberg family were ministerial of the counts of Andechs (later ...

Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper Fr ...

and

Stein Stein is a German, Yiddish and Norwegian word meaning "stone" and "pip" or "kernel". It stems from the same Germanic root as the English word stone. It may refer to: Places In Austria * Stein, a neighbourhood of Krems an der Donau, Lower Aust ...

in Carniola, and his first wife Sophia, a daughter of Margrave Poppo II of Istria. His brother Otto became Prince-Bishop of Brixen in 1165. A loyal supporter of the

Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...

emperor Frederick Barbarossa, Count Berthold rose to one of the most important nobles, holding extended estates in Bavaria as well as in Franconia and in Carniola south of the

Eastern Alps Eastern Alps is the name given to the eastern half of the Alps, usually defined as the area east of a line from Lake Constance and the Alpine Rhine valley up to the Splügen Pass at the Alpine divide and down the Liro River to Lake Como in t ...

. In 1173, he was appointed Margrave of Istria, succeeding Engelbert III, the last Margrave from the

House of Sponheim The House of Sponheim or Spanheim was a medieval German noble family, which originated in Rhenish Franconia. They were immediate Counts of Sponheim until 1437 and Dukes of Carinthia from 1122 until 1269. Its cadet branches ruled in the Imperial ...

and cousin of his mother Sophia. When in 1180 Emperor Frederick deposed the

Welf Welf is a Germanic first name that may refer to: *Welf (father of Judith), 9th century Frankish count, father-in-law of Louis the Pious *Welf I, d. bef. 876, count of Alpgau and Linzgau *Welf II, Count of Swabia, died 1030, supposed descendant of W ...

duke

Henry the Lion Henry the Lion (german: Heinrich der Löwe; 1129/1131 – 6 August 1195) was a member of the Welf dynasty who ruled as the duke of Saxony and Bavaria from 1142 and 1156, respectively, until 1180. Henry was one of the most powerful German p ...

, he vested Berthold's son, Count Berthold IV, with the title of a

Duke of Merania The Duchy of Merania, it, Ducato di Merania, sl, Vojvodina Meranija, hr, Vojvodina Meranije was a fiefdom of the Holy Roman Empire from 1152 until 1248. The dukes of Merania were recognised as princes of the Empire enjoying imperial immediacy ...

, thereby elevating the House of Andechs to

princely A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

status.

Marriage and issue

Berthold III was married twice. In 1152 he married Hedwig of

Wittelsbach The House of Wittelsbach () is a German dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including Bavaria, the Palatinate, Holland and Zeeland, Sweden (with Finland), Denmark, Norway, Hungary (with Romania), Bohemia, the Electorate ...

, daughter of the Bavarian

Count palatine A count palatine (Latin ''comes palatinus''), also count of the palace or palsgrave (from German ''Pfalzgraf''), was originally an official attached to a royal or imperial palace or household and later a nobleman of a rank above that of an or ...

Otto IV of Scheyern and

Heilika of Pettendorf-Lengenfeld Heilika of Pettendorf-Lengenfeld (also known as ''Eilika''; – 14 September 1170; buried in Ensdorf Abbey) was by marriage Countess Palatine of Bavaria. She was one of the two daughters of the edelfrei Lord Frederick III of Pettendorf-Len ...

-Hopfenohe. They had: #

Berthold IV, Duke of Merania Berthold IV (c. 1159 – 12 August 1204), a member of the House of Andechs, was Margrave of Istria and Carniola (as Berthold II). By about 1180/82 he assumed the title of Duke of Merania, referring to the Adriatic seacoast of Kvarner which his ...

(1153–1204) # Sophia (died 1218). Married Poppo VI, Count of Henneberg (died c. 1190) # Kunigunde (died after 1207), married Eberhard, Count of Eberstein #

Matilda Matilda or Mathilda may refer to: Animals * Matilda (chicken) (1990–2006), World's Oldest Living Chicken record holder * Matilda (horse) (1824–1846), British Thoroughbred racehorse * Matilda, a dog of the professional wrestling tag-team The ...

, Countess of Pisino (died 1245), married Berthold, Margrave of Vohburg. In c. 1190 married secondly

Engelbert III, Count of Gorizia Engelbert III, Count of Gorizia (died 1220) was a member of the Meinhardiner dynasty. He ruled the County of Gorizia from 1191 until his death. Engelbert's father was Engelbert II, Count Palatine of Carinthia and Count of Gorizia. His mother w ...

(died 1217/1220). # ''unidentified'' daughter, married

Ampud II Ampud, also Ampod ( la, Ampudinus; died after 1199) was a baron in the Kingdom of Hungary in the late 12th century, who served as ''ispán'' of Szolnok County in 1199. Career Ampud was born into an influential noble family, which possessed landh ...

, ''

ispán The ispánRady 2000, p. 19.''Stephen Werbőczy: The Customary Law of the Renowned Kingdom of Hungary in Three Parts (1517)'', p. 450. or countEngel 2001, p. 40.Curta 2006, p. 355. ( hu, ispán, la, comes or comes parochialis, and sk, župan)Kirs ...

'' of Szolnok County (fl. 1199) His second wife was Luitgard of Denmark, daughter of king Sweyn III of Denmark and

Adela of Meissen Adela of Meissen (also ''Adelheid'' or ''Adele'') (died 23 October 1181) was a Danish Queen consort, spouse of King Sweyn III of Denmark. She was the daughter of Conrad, Margrave of Meissen, and Luitgard of Ravenstein. Adela was born in Meiss ...

. They had: # Poppo,

Bishop of Bamberg This is a list of bishops and archbishops of the Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg and Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bamberg in Germany. __TOC__ Bishops, 1007–1245 * Eberhard I 1007-1040 * Suidger von Morsleben 1040-1046 (Later Pope Clement II) * Hartw ...

(died December 2, 1245) # Berta, Abbess in Gerbstadt (died 1190)

References

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berthold 01 of Istria 12th-century births 1188 deaths Year of birth uncertain House of Andechs Margraves of Istria