Siegfried I of Ballenstedt ( – 9 March 1113), was the son of
Adalbert II of Ballenstedt, and 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 ''Schloss ...
. He was
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 ord ...
of the
Rhineland
The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section.
Term
Historically, the Rhinelands ...
(r.1095/7-1113), and
count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
of Weimar-Orlamünde (r.1112-1113).
Life
Siegfried was born around 1075. He was the son of
Adalbert II of Ballenstedt and
Adelaide of Weimar-Orlamünde
Adelaide of Weimar-Orlamünde ( - 28 March 1100) was the daughter of Otto I of Meissen and a member of the family of the counts of Weimar and Orlamünde. She married successively, Adalbert II of Ballenstedt, count palatine Herman II, and Henry o ...
, daughter of
Otto I of Meissen and his wife,
Adela of Louvain. Siegfried's father, Adalbert, was murdered by
Egeno II of Konradsburg in 1080, and Siegfried's brother,
Otto the Rich, succeeded him as count of Ballenstedt. Siegfried inherited his father's property in Nordthüringengau.
After Adalbert's death, Siegfried's mother remarried twice, to two successive
counts 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 ord ...
of the
Rhineland
The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section.
Term
Historically, the Rhinelands ...
: first,
Hermann II (d.1085), and then
Henry of Laach
Henry of Laach (in German: ''Heinrich von Laach'') was the first count palatine of the Rhine (1085/1087–1095). Henry was the son of Herman I, count of Gleiberg. Henry was a follower of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor. He had lands in the southeast ...
(d.1095). After Henry's death, Siegfried claimed his title of
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 ord ...
of the Rhineland (r.1095/7-1113).
Influenced by the
First Crusade
The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic ru ...
, Siegfried is thought to have travelled to
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. In 1112 he is also said to have completed the foundation of
Maria Laach Abbey
Maria Laach Abbey (in German: ''Abtei Maria Laach'', in Latin: ''Abbatia Maria Lacensis'' or ''Abbatia Maria ad Lacum'') is a Benedictine abbey situated on the southwestern shore of the Laacher See (Lake Laach), near Andernach, in the Eifel re ...
, begun in 1093 by his mother, Adelaide, and his stepfather, Henry of Laach.
In 1112
Ulric II of Weimar-Orlamünde died without heirs. By virtue of his mother, Adelaide's, kinship, Siegfried then claimed Ulric's title. This led Siegfried into conflict with Emperor
Henry V Henry V may refer to:
People
* Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026)
* Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125)
* Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161)
* Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227)
* Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...
. Imperial partisans attacked Siegfried at the
Teufelsmauer
The Teufelsmauer (''Devil's Wall'') is a rock formation made of hard sandstones of the Upper Cretaceous in the northern part of the Harz Foreland in central Germany. This wall of rock runs from Blankenburg (Harz) via Weddersleben and Rieder ...
in the Harz on 21 February 1113. Siegfried survived the attack, but died of his injuries on 9 March 1113.
Marriage and children
Siegfried married
Gertrude, a daughter of
Henry, Margrave of Frisia
Henry the Fat ( – 1101), also known as Henry of Nordheim or Northeim, was Count in Rittigau (part of Liesgau) and Eichsfeld from 1083 onwards, and was the Margrave of Frisia from 14 April 1099 until he was murdered in 1101. He was the father of ...
, with whom he had three children:
[Dendorfer, 'Si(e)gfrid,' p. 345.]
* Siegfried II of Weimar-Orlamünde (1107-1124)
* Adela of Weimar-Orlamünde, married Conrad I of Peilstein
* William of Weimar-Orlamünde (1112-1140)
References
* Gerold Meyer von Knonau, 'Sigfrid (Graf von Ballenstedt), Pfalzgraf von Lothringen,' in ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'', vol. 34 (Leipzig, 1892), pp. 257f.
J. Dendorfer, ‘Si(e)gfrid (Graf von Ballenstedt, Pfalzgraf von Lothringen),’in ''Neue Deutsche Biographie'', vol 24 (Berlin, 2010), , pp. 345f.
* A. Thiele, ''Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte Band I, Teilband 1 Deutsche Kaiser-, Königs-, Herzogs- und Grafenhäuser I''
* L. Partenheimer, ''Albrecht der Bär. Gründer der Mark Brandenburg und des Fürstentums Anhalt''
* Loud, Graham A.; Schenk, Jochen, eds. (2017). ''The Origins of the German Principalities, 1100-1350: Essays by German Historians''. Routledge.
*
Notes
{{Authority control
11th-century deaths
People from Ballenstedt
House of Ascania
Counts of Germany
Counts of Weimar-Orlamünde
Counts Palatine of the Rhine