Dedi (or Dedo) (1004 – October 1075) was the Margrave of the Saxon Ostmark (also called

Lower Lusatia Lower Lusatia (; ; ; szl, Dolnŏ Łużyca; ; ) is a historical region in Central Europe, stretching from the southeast of the German state of Brandenburg to the southwest of Lubusz Voivodeship in Poland. Like adjacent Upper Lusatia in the sou ...

) from 1046 and a claimant for the title of

Margrave of Meissen This article lists the margraves of Meissen, a march and territorial state on the eastern border of the Holy Roman Empire. History King Henry the Fowler, on his 928-29 campaign against the Slavic Glomacze tribes, had a fortress erected on a ...

from 1069. He was the second son of

Dietrich II of Wettin Theodoric II (german: Dietrich; – 19 November 1034) was Margrave of Lusatia from 1032 to 1034, the first of the Wettin dynasty. Life He was the only son of Count Dedo I, Count of Wettin ( – 1009) and his wife Thietburga, a daughter of Count ...

and Matilda, daughter of

Eckard I of Meissen Eckard I (''Ekkehard'';Rarely ''Ekkard'' or ''Eckhard''. Contemporary Latin variants to his name include ''Ekkihardus'', ''Eggihardus'', ''Eggihartus'', ''Heckihardus'', ''Egihhartus'', and ''Ekgihardus''. – 30 April 1002) was Margrave of Meiss ...

Life

Dedi inherited the Ostmark from its last dynast, the childless Odo II, because he had married his sister, Oda (died before 1068). Oda was herself the widow of

William III of Weimar William III of Weimar (''Wilhelmi Thuringorum praetor''; died 16 April 1039) was count of Weimar from 1003 and of the Eichsfeld from 1022. He was the youngest son of Count William II of Weimar. Family

* His first marriage was to Bertha. * ...

and mother of

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

and

Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', '' Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded f ...

, margraves of Meissen successively. When Otto his stepson died, Dedi married his widow, Adela of Louvain, and in her name claimed the Meissen March. Otto died in 1067 and was succeeded by Egbert I, but Dedi married his widow in 1069 and rebelled. In claiming the Meissen March through his wife, Dedi was challenging the royal prerogative in the marches. With him in his revolt was Albert II of Ballenstedt, who raided the monastery of Nienburg, a foundation of the family of Dedi's first wife. Adela of Louvain for her part aggressively supported her husband, so much so that

Lambert of Hersfeld Lambert of Hersfeld (also called Lampert; – 1082/85) was a medieval chronicler. His work represents a major source for the history of the German kingdom of Henry IV and the incipient Investiture Controversy in the eleventh century. Life What ...

was compelled to call her a (rough meaning "raging wife"). Adalbert of Bremen, one of the regents of the young king Henry IV, frustrated the Thuringian rebels and preserved the peace in Thuringia and Meissen. Dedi was confined to Lusatia, where he was succeeded by his eldest son, Dedi II.

Marriages and issue

Dedi and Oda had: * Dedi II *

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, who married Ernest, Margrave of Austria. Dedi and Adela of Brabant, daughter of

Lambert II, Count of Louvain Lambert II (died Tournai, 19 June 1054) was count of Leuven between 1033 and 1054. Lambert was the son of Lambert I of Louvain (d. 1015). According to thVita Gudilae(recorded between 1048–1051) he followed his brother Henry I of Louvain. Lamb ...

, had: *

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

, who later ruled both Lusatia and Meissen *Conrad, who died in battle with the

Wends Wends ( ang, Winedas ; non, Vindar; german: Wenden , ; da, vendere; sv, vender; pl, Wendowie, cz, Wendové) is a historical name for Slavs living near Germanic settlement areas. It refers not to a homogeneous people, but to various peopl ...

Notes

Sources

* Thompson, James Westfall. ''Feudal Germany, Volume II''. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1928. *Bernhardt, John W. ''Itinerant Kingship and Royal Monasteries in Early Medieval Germany, c. 936–1075''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. *74 {{Authority control House of Wettin Margraves of the Saxon Ostmark Margraves of Meissen 1004 births 1075 deaths