Henry I ( 1170 – 1252), a member of the
House of Ascania
The House of Ascania (german: Askanier) was a dynasty of German rulers. It is also known as the House of Anhalt, which refers to its longest-held possession, Anhalt.
The Ascanians are named after Ascania (or Ascaria) Castle, known as ''Schlos ...
, was
Count of Anhalt from 1212 and the first ruling Anhalt
prince
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. ...
from 1218 until his death.
Life
He was the oldest son of Count
Bernhard of Anhalt probably by his first wife Judith (or Jutta) of Poland, a daughter of
Mieszko III the Old. Bernhard was enfeoffed with the
Duchy of Saxony
The Duchy of Saxony ( nds, Hartogdom Sassen, german: Herzogtum Sachsen) was originally the area settled by the Saxons in the late Early Middle Ages, when they were subdued by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 772 and incorporated into the C ...
by Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa
Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt ...
after the deposition of the
Welf 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 ...
in 1180. After his death in 1212, his surviving sons divided his lands according to the laws of the House of Ascania: Henry received the old Ascanian
allodial
Allodial title constitutes ownership of real property (land, buildings, and fixtures) that is independent of any superior landlord. Allodial title is related to the concept of land held "in allodium", or land ownership by occupancy and defens ...
possessions in the Saxon
Schwabengau around
Ballenstedt
Ballenstedt is a town in the Harz district, in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.
Geography
It is situated at the northern rim of the Harz mountain range, about 10 km (6 mi) southeast of Quedlinburg. The municipal area comprises the vil ...
, where he established the Principality of Anhalt; while his younger brother
Albert inherited the Saxon ducal title and retained several unconnected
Eastphalian estates around the towns of
Wittenberg
Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the River Elbe, north of ...
and
Belzig (later
Saxe-Wittenberg
The Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg () was a medieval duchy of the Holy Roman Empire centered at Wittenberg, which emerged after the dissolution of the stem duchy of Saxony. The Ascanian dukes prevailed in obtaining the Saxon electoral dignity unt ...
) as well as the northern lordship of
Lauenburg.
Henry initially was a loyal supporter of the Hohenstaufen heir
Frederick II, though later he temporarily switched sides to his Welf rival, Emperor
Otto IV, was at feud with the
Archbishops of Magdeburg
The Archbishopric of Magdeburg was a Roman Catholic archdiocese (969–1552) and Prince-Archbishopric (1180–1680) of the Holy Roman Empire centered on the city of Magdeburg on the Elbe River.
Planned since 955 and established in 968, the R ...
, and campaigned the estates of
Nienburg Abbey. From about 1215, he began to style himself "prince" (''princeps'', german: Fürst), and by Otto's death in 1218 was officially elevated to that rank attending the ''
Hoftag'' diets of Emperor Frederick II. From 1220 Henry acted as a guardian for the minor sons of his Ascanian cousin, the late Margrave
Albert II of Brandenburg, rivalling with both the Magdeburg archbishop
Albert I of Käfernburg and his brother, Duke Albert of Saxony.
Henry backed Emperor Frederick II during the rebellion of his son
Henry (VII) in 1234 as well as on his
Italian campaigns against the
Lombard League, participating in the 1238
Siege of Brescia
The siege of Brescia occurred in 1238. After his victory the previous year at the battle of Cortenuova, Emperor Frederick sought to bring about the unconditional surrender of the city of Milan and its allies. Assembling his army in Verona in ...
. Back in Germany, he became involved in the conflict between the Magdeburg archbishop
Wilbrand von Käfernburg
Wilbrand von Kevernburg (also known as Wulbrand or Hildebrand; c. 1180 – 5 April 1253) was the Archbishop of Magdeburg between 1235 and 1253.
Life
Wilbrand was the son of Prince Günter II of Schwarzburg-Käfernburg, by his father's second mar ...
with his Ascanian cousins, the
Margraves of Brandenburg
This article lists the Margraves and Electors of Brandenburg during the period of time that Brandenburg was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire.
The Mark, or ''March'', of Brandenburg was one of the primary constituent states of the Hol ...
, whereby the Nienburg estates were devastated by the troops of Margrave
Otto III
Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was Holy Roman Emperor from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of the Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu.
Otto III was crowned as King of ...
in 1242. Both sides reconciled in 1245, mediated by Duke
Otto I of Brunswick
Otto is a masculine German given name and a Otto (surname), 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 ...
who married his daughter Matilda, a niece of the Brandenburg margraves, off to Prince Henry's eldest son,
Henry II.
Before his death, about 1245, Henry retired and divided the Anhalt principality between his sons: Henry II inherited
Aschersleben, Bernhard received
Bernburg, and Siegfried took
Zerbst. His youngest surviving sons, Hermann and Magnus, were ordained priests. The House of Ascania ruled the
Duchy of Anhalt until 1918.
Literary patron and poet
Henry's most famous ''
ministerialis
The ''ministeriales'' (singular: ''ministerialis'') were a class of people raised up from serfdom and placed in positions of power and responsibility in the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire.
The word and its German translations, ''Minis ...
'' (bondsman) was
Eike von Repgow, a Saxon noble from
Reppichau
Reppichau is a village and a former municipality in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the municipality Osternienburger Land. It is the birthplace of Eike of Repgow
Eike of Repgow ...
, who compiled the ''
Sachsenspiegel'', the most important legal code of the
German Middle Ages
The Kingdom of Germany or German Kingdom ( la, regnum Teutonicorum "kingdom of the Germans", "German kingdom", "kingdom of Germany") was the mostly Germanic-speaking East Frankish kingdom, which was formed by the Treaty of Verdun in 843, espec ...
. The prince also was a renowned ''
Minnesänger
(; "love song") was a tradition of lyric- and song-writing in Germany and Austria that flourished in the Middle High German period. This period of medieval German literature began in the 12th century and continued into the 14th. People who wr ...
''. At the beginning of the 14th century, five of his ''Minnelieder'' (love songs) were copied into the
Codex Manesse
The Codex Manesse (also Große Heidelberger Liederhandschrift or Pariser Handschrift) is a ''Liederhandschrift'' (manuscript containing songs), the single most comprehensive source of Middle High German ''Minnesang'' poetry, written and illustrat ...
, an exceptionally beautiful collection. In this source, he is erroneously referred to as "Duke" (''Herzog'').
Marriage and issue
About the year 1211 Henry married Irmgard (born c. 1197 – died c. 1244), daughter of the
Ludovingian
The Ludovingians or Ludowingians (german: Ludowinger) were the ruling dynasty of Thuringia and Hesse during the 11th to 13th centuries.
Their progenitor was Louis the Bearded who was descended from a noble family whose genealogy cannot be pre ...
landgrave
Hermann I of Thuringia and a second cousin 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 dynas ...
emperor
Frederick II through her paternal grandmother
Judith of Swabia
Judith of Swabia ( hu, Sváb Judit, pl, Judyta Szwabska, Judyta Salicka; Summer 1054 – 14 March ca. 1105?), a member of the Salian dynasty, was the youngest daughter of Emperor Henry III from his second marriage with Agnes of Poitou. By her t ...
. They had eleven children:
#
Henry II, Prince of Anhalt-Aschersleben
Henry II, Prince of Anhalt-Aschersleben (1215 – 12 June 1266) was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Aschersleben.
He was the eldest son of Henry I, Count of Anhalt (who was raised to the rank of pri ...
(born 1215 – died 12 June 1266)
#Judith (died after 14 May 1277), married by 10 March 1233 to Lord
Nicholas I of Werle
#Sophie (died 23 November 1272), first married to
Duke Otto I of Merania, secondly to Count Siegfried of Regenstein, and thirdly to Otto of Hadmersleben
#
Bernhard I, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg (born c. 1218 – died 1287)
#Albert (died c. 1245), a Franciscan friar
#Hermann (died 1289), a canon in Halberstadt
#Magnus (died after 18 June 1264), a canon in Magdeburg
#Otto (died after 19 July 1246), a canon in Magdeburg
#
Siegfried I, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst (born c. 1230 – died Köthen, 25 March 1298)
#Hedwig (died 21 December 1259), married on 8 May 1242 to
Duke Boleslaw II of Silesia and Liegnitz-Glogau
#Gertrud (died 1275), Abbess of
Gernrode (1260–1275).
Ancestors
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry 01, Count of Anhalt
Counts of Anhalt
Princes of Anhalt
1170s births
1252 deaths
Year of birth uncertain
Minnesingers
13th-century German poets