Albert I, Margrave of Meissen

Albert I (1158 – 24 June 1195), called the Proud (German: Albrecht der Stolze), a member of the House of Wettin, was the Margrave of Meissen from 1190 until his death.

Albert I
Margrave of Meissen
Depiction of Albert's tomb slab (1692)
Reign	18 February 1190 – 1195
Predecessor	Otto II
Successor	Emperor Henry VI
Born	1158
Died	24 June 1195 Krummenhennersdorf, Meissen
Buried	Altzella Abbey
Noble family	House of Wettin
Spouse(s)	Sophie, daughter of Frederick, Duke of Bohemia
Father	Otto II, Margrave of Meissen
Mother	Hedwig of Brandenburg

Life

Albert was the eldest son of Margrave Otto the Rich (1156–1190) with his consort Hedwig of Brandenburg, a daughter of the Ascanian margrave Albert the Bear. In 1186 in Ústí nad Labem he married the Přemyslid princess Sophia, a daughter of Duke Frederick of Bohemia.

Otto the Rich and his son and Albert; Fürstenzug, Dresden

His father did not intend to let Albert succeed him in Meissen, openly preferring his younger brother Theodoric. 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 emperor Frederick Barbarossa, 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; nevertheless, he quickly abandoned the Imperial forces and returned to Meissen when his brother tried to regain the margraviate.[1][2] 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 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 monastery of Altzella, established by his father in 1162. Meissen, with its rich mines, was seized by Emperor Henry VI as a princeless Imperial Estate. Not until 1198, Theodoric finally came into possession of his inheritance, following Henry's death in 1197.[2]

Ancestors

Ancestors of Albert I, Margrave of Meissen

16. Dietrich II of Wettin 8. Thimo the Brave, Count of Wettin 17. Mathilde of Meissen 4. Conrad, Margrave of Meissen 18. Otto of Nordheim 9. Ida of Nordheim 19. Richenza of Swabia 2. Otto II, Margrave of Meissen 20. Adalbert of Elchingen 10. Adalbert of Ravenstein 21. Ne of Achalm 5. Luitgard of Ravenstein 22. Frederick I, Duke of Swabia 11. Bertha of Hohenstaufen 23. Agnes of Germany 1. Albert I, Margrave of Meissen 24. Adalbert II, Count of Ballenstedt 12. Otto, Count of Ballenstedt 25. Adelheid of Meissen 6. Albert the Bear 26. Magnus, Duke of Saxony 13. Eilika of Saxony 27. Sophia of Hungary 3. Hedwig of Brandenburg 28. Meginhard IV of Formbach 14. Hermann I, Count of Winzenburg 29. Matilda of Reinhausen 7. Sophie of Winzenburg 15. Hedwig

See also

• List of Margraves of Meißen
• Wettin (dynasty)

Notes and references

1. Herbert Helbig (1953), "Albrecht I. der Stolze", Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB) (in German), 1, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, p. 168; (full text online)
2. Heinrich Theodor Flathe: Albrecht I. der Stolze. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Band 1, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig, 1875, p. 276 (in German)

External links

Albert I, Margrave of Meissen House of Wettin Born: 1158 Died: 24 June 1195
Preceded by Otto II	Margrave of Meissen 1190–1195	Succeeded by Theodoric I