Albert III, Margrave of Brandenburg-Salzwedel ( – between 19 November and 4 December 1300) was a Margrave of

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

. He was a member of the Brandenburg-Salzwedel branch of the

House of Ascania 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, Principality of Anhalt, Anhalt. The Ascanians are named after Ascania (or Ascaria) Castle, known as ' ...

, which existed from 1266 to 1317. He was a son of

Otto III Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was the Holy Roman emperor and King of Italy from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was c ...

and his wife, Beatrice (or ) of Bohemia. As a son of Otto, he was entitled to use the title of

Margrave Margrave was originally the Middle Ages, medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or a monarchy, kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain Feudal ...

and he did sign some official documents, but he was never more than a co-ruler. The real power was wielded by his cousin Otto IV "with the arrow". Albert III administered the

Lordship of Stargard The Lordship of Stargard (German: ''Herrschaft Stargard'', ''Stargarder Land'' or ''Land Stargard'') was a county first set up in the 13th century as the ''terra Stargardiensis'' and first documented in the area of the border between Brandenburg, ...

, which Brandenburg had acquired from Pomerania in 1236. Albert III was from 1284 the sole ruler of Stargard and

Lychen Lychen (), also known as ''Flößerstadt'' (raftsman city), is a town in the Uckermark district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated southeast of Neustrelitz, and east of Fürstenberg/Havel. This is the town where the thumbtack was created. ...

. After his sons Otto and John died (around 1299), Albert III sold Stargard to his son-in-law

Henry II Henry II may refer to: Kings * Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014 *Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154 *Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...

of Mecklenburg. The 1304 Treaty of Vietmannsdorf confirmed Henry II as Lord a Stargard and enshrined that it was held as a

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

from Brandenburg. In 1299, a year before his death, he founded 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 ("Gate to Heaven") in Lychen. Albert III died on 3 December 1300 and was initially buried at Lehnin Abbey. In 1309, his body was transferred to the ''Coeli Porta'' monastery. It was subsequently lost.

Marriage and issue

Albert III married in 1268 to Matilda (d. 1300), a daughter of King

Christopher I of Denmark Christopher I () (1219 – 29 May 1259) was King of Denmark between 1252 and 1259. He was the son of Valdemar II of Denmark by his second wife, Berengaria of Portugal. He succeeded his brothers Eric IV of Denmark, Eric IV Plovpenning and Abel of D ...

. They had the following children: * Otto (before 1276 – 1299) * John (d. 1299) *

Beatrix Beatrix is a Latin feminine given name, most likely derived from ''Viatrix'', a feminine form of the Late Latin name ''Viator'' which meant "voyager, traveller" and later influenced in spelling by association with the Latin word ''beatus'' or "ble ...

(d. 22 September 1314), married Lord

of Mecklenburg *

Margaret Margaret is a feminine given name, which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Iranian languages, Old Iranian. It has been an English language, English name since the 11th century, and remained popular thro ...

(died in 1315, without issue), married: :# in 1291 to King

Przemysł II Przemysł II ( also given in English and Latin language, Latin as ''Premyslas'' or ''Premislaus'' or in Polish as '; 14 October 1257 – 8 February 1296) was the Duke of Poznań from 1257–1279, of Greater Poland from 1279 to 1296, of Kraków fr ...

of Poland (1257–1296) :# in 1302 to Duke Albert III of Saxe-Lauenburg (d. 1309), co-ruler of Saxe-Lauenburg Margraves of Brandenburg House of Ascania 1250s births 1300 deaths 13th-century German nobility {{Germany-margrave-stub