John I (1249 – 30 July 1285) ruled as duke of Saxony from 1260 until 1282. John was the elder son of Duke

Albert I of Saxony en, Frederick Augustus Albert Anthony Ferdinand Joseph Charles Maria Baptist Nepomuk William Xavier George Fidelis , image = Albert of Saxony by Nicola Perscheid c1900.jpg , image_size = , caption = Photograph by Nicola Persch ...

and his third wife Helen, a daughter of

Otto the Child 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 ...

. John and his younger brother Albert II jointly ruled 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 ...

after the death of their father Albert I in 1260. In 1269, 1272, and 1282 the brothers gradually divided their land within the three territorially unconnected Saxon areas (one called

Land of Hadeln Land Hadeln is a historic landscape and former administrative district in Northern Germany with its seat in Otterndorf on the Lower Elbe, the lower reaches of the River Elbe, in the Elbe-Weser Triangle between the estuaries of the Elbe and Wes ...

around

Otterndorf Otterndorf () is a town on the coast of the North Sea in the federal state of Lower Saxony, Germany, and is part of the collective municipality (''Samtgemeinde'') of Land Hadeln. The town, located in the administrative district (''Landkreis'') of ...

, another around Lauenburg upon Elbe and the third around Wittenberg), thus preparing a partition. As part of this arrangement John I became Burgrave of

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...

in 1269. In the imperial election in 1273, Albert II represented the jointly ruling brothers. In 1270, John married

Ingeborg Birgersdotter of Småland Ingeborg Birgersdotter ( - 30 June 1302), was a Duchess consort of Saxony, married to John I, Duke of Saxony. She was the daughter of the Swedish regent Birger Jarl and Princess Ingeborg Eriksdotter of Sweden. Ingeborg Birgersdotter has been fal ...

(*c. 1253–30 June 1302*, Mölln), a daughter or grandchild of

Birger jarl Birger Jarl, also known as ''Birger Magnusson'' (21 October 1266), was a Swedish statesman, ''jarl'', and a member of the House of Bjelbo, who played a pivotal role in the consolidation of Sweden. Birger also led the Second Swedish Crusade, w ...

. They had eight children, among them the following: * Helen (c. 1272–1337), married firstly to Count Günther IX of Schwarzburg-Blankenburg (*?–1289*), secondly to

Adolph VI, Count of Holstein-Schauenburg Adolph VI, Count of Holstein-Schauenburg (1256–1315) was the ruling Count of Holstein-Pinneberg and Schaumburg from 1290 until his death. He was the third son of Gerhard I and Elisabeth of Mecklenburg and was married to Helen of Saxe-Lauenburg, ...

* Elisabeth (c. 1274– before 1306), married to

Valdemar IV, Duke of Schleswig Valdemar IV Eriksøn (born c. 1262, died 1312) was Duke of Schleswig from 1283 until his death in 1312. He was the eldest son of Duke Eric I of Schleswig and Margaret of Rugia. Early life At the death of his father Duke Eric I in 1272, Valdemar ...

John II John II may refer to: People * John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (1455–1499) * John II Casimir Vasa of Poland (1609–1672) * John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch (died 1302) * John II Doukas of Thessaly (1303–1318) * John II Komnenos (1087–1 ...

(c. 1275–22 April 1321) * Eric I (1280/1282–1359/1361) * Albert III (c. 1281–October 1308) * Sophia (died on 13 December 1319), prioress in

Plötzkau Plötzkau is a municipality in the district of Salzlandkreis, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Rus ...

John I resigned in 1282 in favour of his three minor sons Eric I,

and Albert III. Later John I entered the Franciscan monastery in Wittenberg, becoming its

warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically identic ...

(guardian), which position he held until he died. John I's sons and their uncle Albert II continued the joint rule in Saxony. John died in

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 o ...

.Cordula Bornefeld, "Die Herzöge von Sachsen-Lauenburg", in: ''Die Fürsten des Landes: Herzöge und Grafen von Schleswig, Holstein und Lauenburg'' e slevigske hertuger; German Carsten Porskrog Rasmussen (ed.) on behalf of the Gesellschaft für Schleswig-Holsteinische Geschichte, Neumünster: Wachholtz, 2008, pp. 373–389, here p. 375.

Notes

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:John I, Duke Of Saxony 1249 births 1285 deaths John 01 John 01 John 01