Albert I of Brandenburg
Encyclopedia
Life
Albert was the only son of Otto, Count of BallenstedtOtto, Count of Ballenstedt
Otto, Count of Ballenstedt, called Otto the Rich , was the first Ascanian prince to call himself count of Anhalt, and was also briefly named duke of Saxony...
, and Eilika
Eilika of Saxony
Eilika of Saxony was the younger daughter of Magnus, Duke of Saxony and Sophia , daughter of Béla I of Hungary. After the death of her father, she became the heiress of Werben and Palatinate of Saxony. She was married Count Otto of Ballenstedt and was mother of Albrecht der Bär.-External links:*...
, daughter of Magnus Billung
Magnus, Duke of Saxony
Magnus was the duke of Saxony from 1072 to 1106. Eldest son and successor of Ordulf and Wulfhild of Norway, he was the last member of the House of Billung.-Rebellion:...
, Duke of Saxony
Rulers of Saxony
This article lists Dukes, Electors, and Kings ruling over different territories named Saxony from the beginning of the Saxon Duchy in the 9th century to the end of the Saxon Kingdom in 1918.-Dukes of Saxony:...
. He inherited the valuable estates in northern Saxony of his father in 1123, and on his mother's death, in 1142, succeeded to one-half of the lands of the house of Billung
Billung
The House of Billung was a dynasty of Saxon noblemen in the 9th through 12th centuries.The first known member of the house was Count Wichmann, mentioned as a Billung in 811...
. Albert was a loyal vassal
Vassal
A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...
of his relation, Lothar I, Duke of Saxony
Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor
Lothair III of Supplinburg , was Duke of Saxony , King of Germany , and Holy Roman Emperor from 1133 to 1137. The son of Count Gebhard of Supplinburg, his reign was troubled by the constant intriguing of Frederick I, Duke of Swabia and Duke Conrad of Franconia...
, from whom, about 1123, he received the Margraviate of Lusatia
Lusatia
Lusatia is a historical region in Central Europe. It stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Elbe valley in the west, today located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in the Lower Silesian and Lubusz voivodeships of western Poland...
, to the east; after Lothar became King of the Germans, he accompanied him on a disastrous expedition to Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
in 1126, when he suffered a short imprisonment.
Albert's entanglements in Saxony stemmed from his desire to expand his inherited estates there. After the death of his brother-in-law, Henry II, margrave of a small area on the Elbe called the Saxon Northern March
Northern March
The Northern March or North March was created out of the division of the vast Marca Geronis in 965. It initially comprised the northern third of the Marca and was part of the territorial organisation of areas conquered from the Wends...
, in 1128, Albert, disappointed at not receiving this fief himself, attacked Udo, the heir, and was consequently deprived of Lusatia by Lothar. In spite of this, he went to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in 1132 in the train of the king, and his services there were rewarded in 1134 by the investiture of the Northern March, which was again without a ruler.
Once he was firmly established in the Northern March, Albert's covetous eye lay also on the thinly populated lands to the north and east. Three years he was occupied in campaigns against the Slavic Wends
Wends
Wends is a historic name for West Slavs living near Germanic settlement areas. It does not refer to a homogeneous people, but to various peoples, tribes or groups depending on where and when it is used...
, who as pagans were considered fair game, and whose subjugation to Christianity was the aim of the Wendish Crusade
Wendish Crusade
The Wendish Crusade was an 1147 campaign, one of the Northern Crusades and also a part of the Second Crusade, led primarily by the Kingdom of Germany inside the Holy Roman Empire and directed against the Polabian Slavs ....
of 1147 in which Albert took part; diplomatic measures were more successful, and by an arrangement made with the last of the Wendish princes of Brandenburg, Pribislav of the Hevelli, Albert secured this district when the prince died in 1150. Taking the title "Margrave of Brandenburg", he pressed the "crusade" against the Wends, extended the area of his mark, encouraged German migration, established bishoprics under his protection, and so became the founder of the Margraviate of Brandenburg
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....
in 1157, which his heirs — the House of Ascania — held until the line died out in 1320.
Conrad III of Germany
Conrad III was the first King of Germany of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. He was the son of Frederick I, Duke of Swabia, and Agnes, a daughter of the Salian Emperor Henry IV.-Life and reign:...
, the Hohenstaufen King of the Germans, deprived Albert's cousin and nemesis, Henry the Proud
Henry X, Duke of Bavaria
thumb|right|Henry X in a much later engraving.Henry the Proud was the Duke of Bavaria , Duke of Saxony , and Margrave of Tuscany .-Life and reign:...
of his Saxon duchy, which was awarded to Albert if he could take it. After some initial success in his efforts to take possession, Albert was driven from Saxony, and also from his Northern march by Henry, and compelled to take refuge in south Germany. When peace was made with Henry in 1142, Albert renounced the Saxon duchy and received the Counties of Weimar
Weimar
Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...
and Orlamünde
Orlamünde
Orlamünde is a town in the Saale-Holzland district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated at the confluence of the rivers Saale and Orla, 17 km south of Jena. It was the centre of a county, often united to Weimar, in the Early Middle Ages....
. It was possibly at this time that Albert was made Arch-Chamberlain of the Empire, an office which afterwards gave the Margraves of Brandenburg the rights of a prince-elector
Prince-elector
The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an...
.
In 1158 a feud with Henry's son, Henry the Lion
Henry the Lion
Henry the Lion was a member of the Welf dynasty and Duke of Saxony, as Henry III, from 1142, and Duke of Bavaria, as Henry XII, from 1156, which duchies he held until 1180....
, Duke of Saxony, was interrupted by a pilgrimage to the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
. In 1162 Albert accompanied Emperor Frederick Barbarossa
Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick I Barbarossa was a German Holy Roman Emperor. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1155, and finally crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV, on 18 June 1155, and two years later in 1157 the term...
to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, where he distinguished himself at the storming of Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
.
In 1164 Albert joined a league of princes formed against Henry the Lion, and peace being made in 1169, Albert divided his territories among his six sons. He died on 13 November 1170, possibly in Stendal
Stendal
Stendal is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of Stendal District and unofficial capital of the Altmark. Its population in 2001 was 38,900. It is located some west of Berlin and around east of Hanover...
, and was buried at Ballenstedt
Ballenstedt
Ballenstedt is a town in the Harz district, in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is situated at the northern rim of the Harz mountain range, about 10 km southeast of Quedlinburg. The municipality includes the villages of Badeborn and Oppenrode...
.
Cognomen
Albert's personal qualities won for him the cognomenCognomen
The cognomen nōmen "name") was the third name of a citizen of Ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. The cognomen started as a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditary. Hereditary cognomina were used to augment the second name in order to identify a particular branch within...
of the Bear
Bear
Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...
, "not from his looks or qualities, for he was a tall handsome man, but from the cognisance on his shield, an able man, had a quick eye as well as a strong hand, and could pick what way was straightest among crooked things, was the shining figure and the great man of the North in his day, got much in the North and kept it, got Brandenburg for one there, a conspicuous country ever since," says Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle was a Scottish satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher during the Victorian era.He called economics "the dismal science", wrote articles for the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, and became a controversial social commentator.Coming from a strict Calvinist family, Carlyle was...
, who called Albert "a restless, much-managing, wide-warring man." He is also called by later writers "the Handsome."
Family and children
- Otto I, Margrave of BrandenburgOtto I, Margrave of BrandenburgOtto I was the second Margrave of Brandenburg, from 1170 until his death.-Life:Otto I was born into the House of Ascania as the eldest son of Albert I , who founded the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1157, and his wife Sophie von Winzenburg...
(1126/1128–7 March 1184) - Count Hermann I of Orlamünde (died 1176)
- SiegfriedSiegfried, Count of AnhaltSiegfried of Anhalt was born as the third son of Sophie of Winzenburg and her husband Albert the Bear, then Count of Anhalt, of the House of Ascania. He was educated as a Roman Catholic clerk. In 1168 he was elected Archbishop of Bremen, but failed to gain control of the See...
(died 24 October 1184), Bishop of Brandenburg from 1173–1180, Prince-Archbishop of Bremen, the first ranked prince, from 1180–1184 - Heinrich (died 1185), a canon in MagdeburgMagdeburgMagdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....
- Count Albert of Ballenstedt (died after 6 December 1172)
- Count Dietrich of Werben (died after 5 September 1183)
- Count Bernhard of AnhaltBernhard, Count of AnhaltBernhard, Count of Anhalt was a German prince of the House of Ascania, Count of Anhalt and Ballenstedt, and Lord of Bernburg through his paternal inheritance...
(1140–9 February 1212), Duke of Saxony from 1180-1212 as Bernard III - HedwigHedwig of BrandenburgHedwig of Brandenburg was a Margravine of Brandenburg by birth and by marriage Margravine of Meissen.- Life :Hedwig was born in 1140 as a daughter of Albert I of Brandenburg and his wife, Sophie of Winzenburg...
(d. 1203), married to Otto II, Margrave of MeissenOtto II, Margrave of MeissenOtto II was the Margrave of Meissen from 1157 until his death in 1190. His father was Conrad the Great and his son was Dietrich I, Margrave of Meissen. He is a direct patrilineal ancestor of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, King Albert II of Belgium and Simeon II of Bulgaria.... - Daughter, married c. 1152 to Vladislav of Bohemia
- Adelheid (died 1162), a nun in LamspringeLamspringeLamspringe is a village and a municipality in the district of Hildesheim, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 20 km south of Hildesheim....
- Gertrude, married in 1155 to Duke Diepold of Moravia
- Sybille (died c. 1170), Abbess of QuedlinburgQuedlinburg AbbeyQuedlinburg Abbey was a house of secular canonesses in Quedlinburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was founded in 936 on the initiative of Saint Mathilda, the widow of Henry the Fowler, as his memorial...
- Eilika
Ancestry
External links
- Thomas Carlyle, History of Friedrich ii Chapter iv: Albert the Bear
- The History Files: Rulers of Brandenburg