Dedi (1004 – October 1075) was the Margrave of the Saxon Ostmark (also called Lower Lusatia) from 1046 and a claimant for the title of Margrave of Meissen from 1069. He was the second son of Dietrich II of Wettin and Matilda, daughter of Eckard I of Meissen.

Dedi inherited the Ostmark from its last dynast, the childless Odo II

Odo II, Margrave of the Saxon Ostmark

Odo II was the only son of Thietmar, Margrave of the Saxon Ostmark. He succeeded his father in January 1030. All that is known of him is that he left no issue, dying most likely prior to achieving majority. He was succeeded by his brother-in-law, Dedo...

, because he had married his sister, Oda (died before 1068). Oda was herself the widow of William III of Weimar and mother of William

William, Margrave of Meissen

William IV was the count of Weimar and Orlamünde after the death of his father, William III. In 1046, Eckard II, Margrave of Meissen, died and willed his margraviate to the Emperor Henry III. The emperor received it and promptly granted it to William, who, through the second marriage of his mother...

 and Otto

Otto I, Margrave of Meissen

Otto I was the Margrave of Meissen from 1062 until his death, the second margrave of the family of the counts of Weimar and Orlamünde. He was a younger son of Weimar III of Weimar and Oda, daughter of Thietmar, Margrave of the Saxon Ostmark. He inherited Orlamünde from his father in 1039 and...

, margraves of Meissen successively. When Otto his stepson died, Dedi married his widow, Adela of Louvain, and in her name claimed the Meissen March.

Otto died in 1067 and was succeeded by Egbert I

Egbert I, Margrave of Meissen

Egbert I was the Margrave of Meissen from 1067 until his early death the next year. Egbert was the Count of Brunswick from about 1038, when his father, Liudolf, Margrave of Frisia, died. His mother was Gertrude, the sister of Pope Leo IX.Egbert was the scion of the influential Eastphalian family...

, but Dedi married his widow in 1069 and rebelled. In claiming the Meissen March through his wife, Dedi was challenging the royal prerogative in the marches. With him in his revolt was Albert II of Ballenstedt

Adalbert II, Count of Ballenstedt

Adalbert II, Count of Ballenstedt from the House of Ascania, the 23rd Great-Grandfather of Elizabeth II, was Graf in Saxony and Vogt of Nienburg Abbey.-Biography:...

, who raided the monastery of Nienburg

Nienburg

There are two towns named Nienburg in Germany.*Nienburg, Lower Saxony*Nienburg, Saxony-AnhaltThe Name Nienburg means "Neue Burg" ....

, a foundation of the family of Dedi's first wife. Adela of Louvain for her part aggressively supported her husband, so much so that Lambert of Hersfeld

Lambert of Hersfeld

Lambert of Hersfeld was a medieval chronicler, probably a Thuringian by birth. His work represents a major source for the history of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire in the eleventh century....

 was compelled to call her a saevissima uxor.(rough meaning "raging wife") Adalbert of Bremen, one of the regents of the young king Henry IV

Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor

Henry IV was King of the Romans from 1056 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 until his forced abdication in 1105. He was the third emperor of the Salian dynasty and one of the most powerful and important figures of the 11th century...

, frustrated the Thuringian rebels and preserved the peace in Thuringia and Meissen. Dedi was confined to Lusatia, where he was succeeded by his eldest son, Dedi II

Dedi II, Margrave of Lusatia

Dedi II , called the Younger , was the eldest son of Dedi I, Margrave of the Saxon Ostmark, and his first wife, Oda. He was given the title Margrave of Lower Lusatia, but was assassinated while relieving himself at night before 26 October 1069, predeceasing his father.-Sources:*Foundation for...

.

Dedi left a daughter, Adelheid, by his first wife Oda, who married Ernest, Margrave of Austria

Ernest, Margrave of Austria

Ernest the Brave was the Babenberg margrave of Austria from 1055 to his death, following his father Adalbert.He increased the territory of Austria by amalgamating the Bohemian and Hungarian marches into Austria. In his time, the colonisation of the Waldviertel was begun by his ministeriales, the...

. By Adela of Louvain, Dedi had two sons: Henry, who later ruled both Lusatia and Meissen, and Conrad, who died in battle with the 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...

.

Sources

• Thompson, James Westfall
  James Westfall Thompson
  James Westfall Thompson was an American historian specializing in the history of medieval and early modern Europe, particularly of the Holy Roman Empire and France...
  
  . Feudal Germany, Volume II. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1928.
• Bernhardt, John W. Itinerant Kingship and Royal Monasteries in Early Medieval Germany, c. 936–1075. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.