Henry I, Count of Anhalt (ca. 1170 – 1252) was a German prince of the House of Ascania and Count of Anhalt

Anhalt

Anhalt was a sovereign county in Germany, located between the Harz Mountains and the river Elbe in Middle Germany. It now forms part of the state of Saxony-Anhalt.- Dukes of Anhalt :...

.

He was the oldest son of Bernhard III

Bernhard, Count of Anhalt

Bernhard, 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...

, Duke of Saxony and Count of Anhalt, by his wife Brigitte a daughter of Canute V of Denmark

Canute V of Denmark

Canute V of Denmark was a Swedish prince and King of Denmark from 1146 to 1157, as co-regent in shifting alliances with his Sweyn III and Valdemar I. Canute was killed at the so-called Bloodfeast of Roskilde in 1157. Nothing certain is known about his person and character.-Biography:Canute was...

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After the death of his father in 1212, the surviving sons of the late duke divided his lands according to the laws of the House of Ascania: Henry received Anhalt and the younger Albert

Albert I, Duke of Saxony

Albert I was a Duke of Saxony, Angria, and Westphalia; Lord of Nordalbingia; Count of Anhalt; and Prince-elector and Archmarshal of the Holy Roman Empire...

 the Saxon duchy. In 1218 Henry was raised to the rank of prince (German: Fürst).

Henry's most famous ministerialis

Ministerialis

Ministerialis ; a post-classical Latin word, used in English, meaning originally servitor, agent, in a broad range of senses...

 (bondsman) was Eike von Repgow

Eike von Repgow

Eike von Repgow from Repgow, now Reppichau in Saxony-Anhalt), was a medieval German administrator who compiled the Sachsenspiegel in the Thirteenth Century.-The Sachsenspiegel:...

 from Reppichau

Reppichau

Reppichau is a village and a former municipality in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the municipality Osternienburger Land. It is the birthplace of Eike von Repgow....

, who compiled the Sachsenspiegel

Sachsenspiegel

The Sachsenspiegel is the most important law book and legal code of the German Middle Ages. Written ca...

, the most important legal code of the German Middle Ages

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

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Henry also was a renowned Minnesänger. At the beginning of 14th century, five of his Minnelieder (love songs) were copied into the Codex Manesse

Codex Manesse

The Codex Manesse, Manesse Codex, or Große Heidelberger Liederhandschrift is a Liederhandschrift , the single most comprehensive source of Middle High German Minnesang poetry, written and illustrated between ca. 1304 when the main part was completed, and ca...

, an exceptionally beautiful collection. In this source, he is erroneously referred to as a "duke".

Before his death, Henry divided Anhalt between his sons: Henry inherited Aschersleben

Aschersleben

Aschersleben is a town in the Salzlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated approx. 22 km east of Quedlinburg, and 45 km northwest of Halle .-Pre-20th century:...

, Bernhard received Bernburg

Bernburg

Bernburg is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, capital of the district of Salzlandkreis. It is situated on the river Saale, approx. 30 km downstream from Halle. The town is dominated by its huge Renaissance castle featuring a museum as well as a popular, recently updated bear pit in its...

, and Siegfried took Zerbst

Zerbst

Zerbst is a town in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until the administrative reform of 2007, Zerbst was the capital of the Anhalt-Zerbst district. Since the 1 January 2010 local government reform, Zerbst has about 24,000 inhabitants.It is not clear when was it founded;...

. His other surviving sons, Hermann and Magnus, were ordained priests.

Marriage and issue

Ca. 1211 Henry married Irmgard (b. ca. 1197 - d. ca. 1244), daughter of Hermann I, Landgrave of Thuringia and second cousin of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor

Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor

Frederick II , was one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem, were enormous...

 through her paternal grandmother Judith of Swabia

Judith of Swabia

Judith-Maria of Swabia was a German princess, a member of the Ottonian dynasty and by her two marriages Queen of Hungary and Duchess of Poland renamed Sophia in 1089....

. They had eleven children:

1. Henry II, Prince of Anhalt-Aschersleben
   Henry II, Prince of Anhalt-Aschersleben
   Henry II, Prince of Anhalt-Aschersleben was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Aschersleben....
   
    (b. 1215 - d. 12 June 1266).
2. Judith (d. aft. 14 May 1277), married by 10 March 1233 to Lord Nicholas I of Werle.
3. Sophie (d. 23 November 1272), first married to Duke Otto I of Merania
   Otto I, Duke of Merania
   Otto I was Duke of Andechs and Merania and was born, in 1180, to Berthold IV von Dießen, Duke of Andechs and Merania, and Agnes of Rochlitz. He was also Otto II, Count Palatine of Burgundy by his marriage to Beatrice II of Burgundy....
   
   , secondly to Count Siegfried of Regenstein, and thirdly to Otto of Hadmersleben.
4. Bernhard I, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg
   Bernhard I, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg
   Bernhard I, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Bernburg....
   
    (b. ca. 1218 - d. 1287).
5. Albert (d. ca. 1245), a Franciscan monk.
6. Hermann (d. 1289), a canon in Halberstadt.
7. Magnus (d. aft. 18 June 1264), a canon in Magdeburg.
8. Otto (d. aft. 19 July 1246), a canon in Magdeburg.
9. Siegfried I, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
   Siegfried I, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
   Siegfried I, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Zerbst....
   
    (b. ca. 1230 - d. Köthen, 25 March 1298).
10. Hedwig (d. 21 December 1259), married on 8 May 1242 to Duke Boleslaw II of Silesia and Liegnitz-Glogau.
11. Gertrud (d. 1275), Abbess of Gernrode
    Gernrode
    Gernrode is a town and a former municipality in Germany, in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt. The town was first mentioned in 961 and became a city in 1539. Since 1 January 2011, it is part of the town Quedlinburg...
    
     (1260-1275).