Wilhelm II, the Rich (23 April 1371 – 13 March 1425) was the second son of Margrave Frederick ''the Strict'' of Meissen and

Catherine of Henneberg Catherine of Henneberg (german: Katharina von Henneberg ; c. 1334, in Schleusingen – 15 July 1397, in Meissen) was a Countess of Henneberg by birth and from 1347 by marriage Margravine of Meissen, Landgravine of Thuringia, etc. She was the wi ...

. Under the

Division of Chemnitz The Division of Chemnitz settled the succession in the Landgraviate of Thuringia. After the death of Frederick the Severe, Margrave of Meissen and Landgrave of Thuringia, the five heirs of the House of Wettin decided to divide the country. On 13 ...

of 1382, he received the

Osterland Osterland (''terra orientalis'') is a historical region in Germany. It was situated between the Elbe and Saale rivers to the north of Pleissnerland which it later absorbed and it included the city of Leipzig. The name derives from the previous ...

and Landsberg jointly with his brothers,

Frederick I, Elector of Saxony Frederick I, the Belligerent or the Warlike (german: Friedrich der Streitbare; 11 April 1370 – 4 January 1428), a member of the House of Wettin, ruled as Margrave of Meissen from 1407 and Elector of Saxony (as Frederick I) from 1423 until ...

and George (d. 1402). When Margrave William I "the one-eyed" died in 1407, William and Frederick also inherited a part of

Meissen Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrecht ...

. Under the 1410 Treaty of Naumburg, however, the brothers agreed to a fresh division of the Meissen territory. They agreed to divide the Osterland between themselves. They did so in 1411; William received the larger part of the Osterland, including

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

, which Frederick had managed to obtain instead of

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a popu ...

. William fought at his brother's side in the

Hussite The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation. The Hussit ...

war in

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

. He is rumoured to have been married to Amelia of Mazovia. According to Karlheinz Blaschke, however, he remained unmarried. He died on 13 March 1425.

References

Ancestors

References and sources

* House of Wettin Margraves of Meissen 1371 births 1425 deaths 14th-century German nobility 15th-century German nobility {{Germany-margrave-stub