The Margraviate of Landsberg (german: Mark Landsberg) was a

march March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Marc ...

of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

that existed from the 13th to the 14th century under the rule of the Wettin dynasty. It was named after Landsberg Castle in present-day

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...

Geography

The territory located in the historic Osterland region comprised the westernmost part of the

March of Lusatia The March or Margraviate of Lusatia (german: Mark(grafschaft) Lausitz) was as an eastern border march of the Holy Roman Empire in the lands settled by Polabian Slavs. It arose in 965 in the course of the partition of the vast ''Marca Geronis''. R ...

(

Saxon Eastern March The Saxon Eastern March (german: Sächsische Ostmark) was a march of the Holy Roman Empire from the 10th until the 12th century. The term "eastern march" stems from the Latin term ''marchia Orientalis'' and originally could refer to either a march ...

) between the rivers

Saale The Saale (), also known as the Saxon Saale (german: Sächsische Saale) and Thuringian Saale (german: Thüringische Saale), is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Fränkische Saale, ...

and

Mulde The Mulde () is a river in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Elbe and is long. The river is formed by the confluence, near Colditz, of the Zwickauer Mulde (running through Zwickau) and the Freiberger Mulde (with ...

. It comprised the margravial fortress of Landsberg and the nearby town of

Delitzsch Delitzsch (; Slavic: ''delč'' or ''delcz'' for hill) is a town in Saxony in Germany, 20 km north of Leipzig and 30 km east of Halle (Saale). With 24,850 inhabitants at the end of 2015, it is the largest town in the district of Nordsach ...

, as well as the adjacent

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 ...

area formerly part of the

Margraviate of Meissen The Margravate of Meissen (german: Markgrafschaft Meißen) was a medieval principality in the area of the modern German state of Saxony. It originally was a frontier march In medieval Europe, a march or mark was, in broad terms, any kind of bor ...

. It stretched down to the former County of

Groitzsch Groitzsch () is a town in the Leipzig district, in Saxony, Germany. Geography and transport The town is situated at the southern edge of the Leipzig Bay east of the White Elster river on the confluence of Schwennigke and Schnauder rivers, 20&n ...

in the south, and up to

Sangerhausen Sangerhausen () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, central Germany, capital of the district of Mansfeld-Südharz. It is situated southeast of the Harz, approx. east of Nordhausen, and west of Halle (Saale). About 26,000 people live in Sangerhausen ( ...

in the west, including the town of

Weißenfels Weißenfels (; often written in English as Weissenfels) is the largest town of the Burgenlandkreis district, in southern Saxony-Anhalt, central Germany. It is situated on the river Saale, approximately south of Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Halle. His ...

which became the margravial residence. It also comprised the castle of

Grimma Grimma ( hsb, Grima) is a town in Saxony, Central Germany, on the left bank of the Mulde, southeast of Leipzig. Founded in 1170, it is part of the Leipzig district. Location The town is in northern Saxony, southeast of Leipzig and south o ...

and the former Pleissnerland town of

Zwickau Zwickau (; is, with around 87,500 inhabitants (2020), the fourth-largest city of Saxony after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz and it is the seat of the Zwickau District. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ' ...

History

Upon the death of Margrave Conrad in 1156, the Wettin domains of Meissen and Lusatia were re-arranged. Conrad's younger son Margrave Theodoric I of Lusatia had Landsberg Castle erected until 1174 and began to style himself a "Margrave of Landsberg". However, an

Imperial State An Imperial State or Imperial Estate ( la, Status Imperii; german: Reichsstand, plural: ') was a part of the Holy Roman Empire with representation and the right to vote in the Imperial Diet ('). Rulers of these Estates were able to exercise si ...

in its own right was not established until in 1261, when Margrave

Henry the Illustrious Henry III, called Henry the Illustrious (''Heinrich der Erlauchte'') (c. 1215 – 15 February 1288) from the House of Wettin was Margrave of Meissen and last Margrave of Lusatia (as Henry IV) from 1221 until his death; from 1242 also Landgrav ...

(against legal provisions) split off the western Landsberg territory from the March of Lusatia as a separate margraviate for his second son

Theodoric Theodoric is a Germanic given name. First attested as a Gothic name in the 5th century, it became widespread in the Germanic-speaking world, not least due to its most famous bearer, Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. Overview The name ...

. After Dietrich's son

Frederick Tuta Frederick Tuta (1269 – 16 August 1291), a member of the House of Wettin, was Margrave of Landsberg from 1285 and Margrave of Lusatia from 1288 until his death. He also served as regent of the Margraviate of Meissen. The origin and meanin ...

had died without male heirs in 1291, his uncle Margrave Albert II of Meissen sold it to the

Ascanian 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 ...

margrave Otto IV of Brandenburg. In 1327 the

Welf Welf is a Germanic first name that may refer to: *Welf (father of Judith), 9th century Frankish count, father-in-law of Louis the Pious *Welf I, d. bef. 876, count of Alpgau and Linzgau *Welf II, Count of Swabia, died 1030, supposed descendant of W ...

duke Magnus I of Brunswick-Lüneburg inherited Landsberg by marrying

Sophia of Brandenburg-Stendal Sophia of Brandenburg (1300–1356) was a daughter of Margrave Henry I (1256–1318) and his wife Agnes of Bavaria (1276–1345). In 1327, she married Duke Magnus "the Pious" of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1304–1369), Duke of Brunswick-Lüneb ...

, the sister of the last Ascanian margrave Henry II and also the niece of the German king Louis IV, who had seized the Brandenburg possessions in 1320. Duke Magnus sold Landsberg to Margrave Frederick II of Meissen in 1347, and in this way the former margraviate finally fell back to the House of Wettin.

Margraves

House of Wettin The House of Wettin () is a dynasty of German kings, prince-electors, dukes, and counts that once ruled territories in the present-day German states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynasty is one of the oldest in Europe, and its ori ...

, 1265–1285, son of Margrave

, 1285–1291, son, also Margrave of Lusatia from 1288 Fell to

Albert II, Margrave of Meissen Albert II, the Degenerate (de: ''Albrecht II der Entartete'') (1240 – 20 November 1314) was a Margrave of Meissen, Landgrave of Thuringia and Count Palatine of Saxony. He was a member of the House of Wettin. He was the eldest son of Henry II ...

, sold to

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

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 ...

*1291-1298: Conrad, Otto IV ''of the Arrow'', Henry I ''Lackland'', Otto V ''the Tall'', Albert III *1298-1300: Conrad, Otto IV ''of the Arrow'', Henry I ''Lackland'', Albert III, Herman I ''the Tall'' *1300-1304: Conrad, Otto IV ''of the Arrow'', Henry I ''Lackland'', Herman I ''the Tall'' *1304-1308: Otto IV ''of the Arrow'', Henry I ''Lackland'', Herman I ''the Tall'' *1308-1317: Henry I ''Lackland'', Valdemar I ''the Great'', John V ''the Illustrious'' *1317-1319: Valdemar I ''the Great'' *1319-1320: Henry II ''the Child'' *1320-1347: Sophia, married to:

House of Welf The House of Welf (also Guelf or Guelph) is a European dynasty that has included many German and British monarchs from the 11th to 20th century and Emperor Ivan VI of Russia in the 18th century. The originally Franconia, Franconian family from ...

*1327-1347:

Magnus I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg Magnus I (1304–1369), called the Pious (Latin ''Pius''), was duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. The son of Albert the Fat, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Magnus was still a minor when his father died in 1318; he and his brother Ernest were put under t ...

, 1327-1347, by marriage to

Sold to

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 ...

References

At Meyers Konversationslexikon, 1888

{{coord missing, Germany Landsber 1260s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1261 establishments in Europe 1340s disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1347 disestablishments in Europe Landsberg States and territories established in 1156