Theodoric I (11 March 1162 – 18 February 1221), called the Oppressed (''Dietrich der Bedrängte''), 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 1198 until his death. He was the second son of Otto II, Margrave of Meissen and Hedwig of Brandenburg.

Biography

Theodoric, called in German Dietrich, the younger son of Otto II, Margrave of Meissen, fell out with his brother, Albert the Proud, after his mother persuaded his father to change the succession so that Theodoric was given the Margraviate of Meissen and Albrecht (although the older son) the margraviate of Weissenfels. Albert took his father prisoner to try to make him return the succession to the way it had been. After Otto obtained his release by an order of the emperor Frederick I, he had only just renewed the war when he died in 1190. Albert then took back the Meissen margraviate from his brother. Theodoric attempted to regain the margraviate, supported by ''Landgraf'' Hermann I of

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

, his father-in-law. In 1195, however, Theodoric left on a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

.Heinrich Theodor Flathe: ''Dietrich der Bedrängte''. 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). Volume 5, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1877, p. 186-187

Albrecht's Death

After Albrecht's death in 1195, leaving no children, Meissen, with its rich mines, was seized by the emperor Henry VI as a vacant fief of the empire. Dietrich finally came into possession of his inheritance two years later on Henry's death. At the time of the struggle between the two rival kings Philip of Swabia and

Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV (1175 – 19 May 1218) was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1209 until his death in 1218. Otto spent most of his early life in England and France. He was a follower of his uncle Richard the Lionheart, who made him Count of Poitou in 1196 ...

, Phillip gave Dietrich the tenure of the

march March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...

of Meißen again. After that time, Dietrich was on Phillip's side and remained true to the Staufer even after Phillip was murdered in 1208. Dietrich became caught up in dangerous disagreements with the city of

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 the Meißen nobility. After a fruitless

siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

of Leipzig, in 1217 he agreed to a settlement but then took over the city by trickery, had the city walls taken down and built three castles of his own within the city, full of his own men.

Death

Margrave Dietrich died on 18 February 1221, possibly poisoned by his doctor, instigated into doing so by the people of Leipzig and the dissatisfied nobility. He left behind a widow, Jutta of Thuringia, daughter of

Hermann I, Landgrave of Thuringia Hermann I (died 25 April 1217), Landgrave of Thuringia and (as Hermann III) Count Palatine of Saxony, called ''the Hard'', was the second son of Louis II, Landgrave of Thuringia (''the Iron''), and Judith of Hohenstaufen, the sister of Emperor ...

. Some of his children had already died.

Marriages and issue

Children from his marriage to Jutta of Thuringia, daughter of

: # Hedwig (d. 1249) married Count Dietrich V of Cleves (1185–1260) # Otto (d. before 1215) # Sophia (d. 1280) married Count Henry of Henneberg-Schleusingen (d. 1262) # Jutta married Mestwin II, Duke of Pomerania #

Henry the Illustrious Henry III, called Henry the Illustrious (''Heinrich der Erlauchte'') (c. 1215 – 15 February 1288) from the House of Wettin was List of Margraves of Meissen, Margrave of Meissen and last March of Lusatia, Margrave of Lusatia (as Henry IV) from ...

(1218–1288) Margrave of Meissen Children from extramarital liaisons: # Konrad # Dietrich, (d. 1272), bishop of Naumburg # Heinrich

References

Sources

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Margrave Of Meissen, Dietrich 1162 births 1221 deaths Margraves of Meissen Place of birth unknown Place of death unknown Christians of the Crusade of 1197