Albert I (1158 – 24 June 1195), called the Proud (), a member of the

House of Wettin The House of Wettin () was a dynasty which included Saxon monarch, kings, Prince Elector, prince-electors, dukes, and counts, who once ruled territories in the present-day German federated states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynas ...

, was the

Margrave of Meissen This article lists the margraves of Margraviate of Meissen, Meissen, a March (territorial entity), march and territorial state on the eastern border of the Holy Roman Empire. History King Henry the Fowler, on his 928–29 campaign against the S ...

from 1190 until his death.

Life

Albert was the eldest son of Margrave Otto the Rich (1156–1190) with his consort Hedwig of Brandenburg, a daughter of the

Ascanian The House of Ascania () 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 Askanien'' in ...

margrave

Albert the Bear Albert the Bear (; 1100 – 18 November 1170) was the first margrave of Brandenburg from 1157 to his death and was briefly duke of Saxony between 1138 and 1142. Life Albert was the only son of Otto, Count of Ballenstedt, and Eilika of Sa ...

. In 1186 in

Ústí nad Labem Ústí nad Labem (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 91,000 inhabitants and is the capital of the Ústí nad Labem Region. It is a major industrial centre and, besides being an active river port, is an important railway junction. ...

he married the Přemyslid princess Sophia, a daughter of Duke Frederick of Bohemia. His father did not intend to let Albert succeed him in

Meissen Meissen ( ), is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden and 75 km (46 mi) west of Bautzen on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, th ...

, openly preferring his younger brother

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 w ...

. Albert did not accept this and started a war against his father and brother. In 1188, he even took his father prisoner. Under the orders 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 dynast ...

emperor

Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 115 ...

, he had to set him free but in 1190 he was able to obtain the margravial title upon Otto's death. Albert accompanied Barbarossa's son Henry VI on his campaign to

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

; nevertheless, he quickly abandoned the Imperial forces and returned to Meissen when his brother tried to regain the margraviate.Heinrich Theodor Flathe: ''Albrecht I. der Stolze''. In: ''

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB; ) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences between 1875 and 1912 in 56 volumes, printed in Lei ...

'' (ADB). Band 1, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig, 1875, p. 276 Theodoric, with the support of his father-in-law Landgrave Hermann of Thuringia, took up arms and defeated Albert's forces in a battle near Röblingen. The Margrave, in disguise as a monk, narrowly escaped to

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

and tried in vain to gain the support of furious Emperor Henry. The fratricidal war ended when Albert suddenly died in June 1195, presumably poisoned, with no children to succeed him. He was buried in the

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

monastery of Altzella, established by his father in 1162. Meissen, with its rich mines, was seized by

Emperor Henry VI Henry VI (German: ''Heinrich VI.''; November 1165 – 28 September 1197), a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was King of Germany (King of the Romans) from 1169 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1191 until his death. From 1194 he was also King of Sic ...

as a princeless

Imperial Estate An Imperial Estate (; , plural: ') was an entity or an individual of the Holy Roman Empire with representation and the right to vote in the Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire), Imperial Diet ('). Rulers of these Estates were able to exercise signi ...

. Not until 1198, Theodoric finally came into possession of his inheritance, following Henry's death in 1197.

Ancestors

Notes and references

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Albert 01 of Meissen, Margrave 1158 births 1195 deaths Margraves of Meissen House of Wettin Burials at Altzella Abbey

Life

Ancestors

See also

Notes and references

External links