Siegfried, Count of Anhalt
Encyclopedia
Siegfried 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
. Afterwards he became Prince-Bishop of Brandenburg (1173-1179). In 1179 he succeeded in taking over the Bremian See, getting it upgraded to a Prince-Archbishopric of imperial immediacy in 1180, thus becoming Prince-Archbishop of Bremen. He was a strong advocate of Ascanian clan interests.
as a secular canon. His father's donations of rural possessions to the monastery in 1151 are probably related to providing Siegfried a princely livelihood within the monastery. Siegfried appears for the first time as a witness in a document of 19 September 1154 in Halle upon Saale alongside his father and brothers. They altogether testified, that Bremen's Archbishop Hartwig I confirmed to have received a donation of Siegfried's paternal grandmother Eilika
in Paulinzell. In 1155 Siegfried, his parents, brothers and sisters attended the inauguration ceremony of the abbey of the monastery in Leitzkau. The following years he officiated as canon
in Magdeburg.
, where the possessions were located, with the Duke himself being a vassal of the Emperor. Hartwig Count of Stade, as Hartwig I Archbishop of Bremen, was the last male representative of the comital family of Stade. When he died in 1168, the County of Stade was reverted. The Bremian Chapter, which had elected Hartwig for Archbishop in expectancy for the County, claimed it would be a fief of the Bremian See. Henry the Lion
of the House of Guelph, replied with a twofold claim: (1) he would be the heir, giving some obscure arguments on his relation to Stade's comital family; (2) the then Archbishop Adalbero of Bremen allegedly had promised Henry's mother Wulfhild to enfeoff her with the County, a very dubious claim. In fact Henry, then 14 years old, simply wanted to increase his realm. Therefore Henry occupied the County of Stade with his troops.
Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, Westphalia and Angria
and of Bavaria
, was an ambitious man, striving for more independence and rejecting the imperial overlordship. He gained strong allies through marriage with Matilda Plantagenêt
, the daughter of Henry II of England
and Eleanor of Aquitaine
and sister of Richard Lionheart, and by way of alliance with Prince Pribislav
of Mecklenburg
and Duke Casimir I
of Pomerania
.
Henry's paternal cousin Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, House of Hohenstaufen, steadily had to assert himself against his princely vassals and the Roman Catholic Church
. Frederick refused to receive the rank as Emperor like a papal fief, which is why he conflicted with Pope Alexander III
.
Siegfried's Ascanian clan, domiciled at the middle Elbe
river and then led by Albert the Bear, a maternal cousin of Henry the Lion, also strove for more power and territories to conquer westwards from Saxon and eastwards from Slavic
rulers. Nevertheless, the Ascanians by far were not as successful as Henry the Lion. Siegfried's brothers held different territories conquered by their father and them:
elected two rival Archbishops. The capitulars, opposing Henry the Lion and his claim to the County of Stade, voted for Siegfried, while the Guelphic party elected Otbertus, the dean
of the Chapter.
Henry's loyal vassal, Gunzelin of Hagen, first Count of Schwerin, took martial actions against anti-Guelphic partisans, provoking an upheaval in Bremen. The Guelphic party won and Siegfried had to flee to Oldenburg
. Frederick I declared the elections null and void on the Diet
(1169) in Bamberg
. Anyway Frederick I did not like Siegfried's loyalty to Pope Alexander III, with whom Frederick was quarrelling. Frederick I aligned himself with Henry the Lion, in order to ascertain his loyalty, and appointed the Bremian capitular provost
Baldwin I to the see, Alexander III confirmed that. Baldwin was an aged and compliant man. Baldwin ceded the County of Stade to Henry and alienated many other archiepiscopal estates
. By the end of 1168 Ascanians and Guelphs confronted in skirmishes.
Siegfried now used to call himself Bishop Elect of Bremen. Through the influence of his friend, Wichmann of Seeburg, Archbishop of Magdeburg, in 1173 the Brandenburgian Chapter elected Siegfried the new Prince-Bishop of Brandenburg, succeeding the late Wilmar. Not much is known about Siegfried's period in office. Several times he stayed with Wichmann or Alexander III.
, Frederick I lost his Italian campaign, blaming it on Henry the Lion, who had refused to support him. Henry was busy extending and defending his own reign against the quarrelling clan of the Ascanians. Wichmann visited Frederick I in Italy in order to fathom in how far Siegfried's claim to the Bremian See could be enforced – e.g. in the scope of the Peace of Venice. Frederick I declared Baldwin's investiture as Archbishop and all his alienations of archiepiscopal possessions to be invalid. When in 1178 Baldwin received the official notification of his dismissal, he died. In 1179 Siegfried attended the Third Council of the Lateran
in Rome
, while the Bremian Chapter elected another Guelphic partisan, Berthold, for Archbishop. Both Frederick I and Alexander III originally wanted to confirm this knowledgeable man in his new position. But when in 1179 Berthold arrived in Rome to gain his papal confirmation, Alexander III declared Berthold's election null and void.
Inferior in warfare, many of Henry's enemies litigated him in lawsuits. Henry absented at the trials, to which he had been summoned. Thus the Diet
decided to bring Henry before a judge, using military violence ( 1180-1181). Frederick I Barbarossa and his allies, many of them vassals and former supporters of Duke Henry the Lion, had defeated him. In 1180 Frederick I Barbarossa stripped Henry the Lion of his duchies. In 1182 he and his wife went into exile.
In 1180 at the Diet in Gelnhausen
, the attending princes and Frederick I Barbarossa decided to partition Saxony in some dozens of territories of imperial immediacy, allotting each territory to that one of his allies, who had conquered them before from Henry the Lion and his remaining supporters. Otto I wielded his influence at the Diet. His and Siegfried's brother Bernhard, one of the most steadfast warriors against Henry the Lion, was provided with the later on so-called younger Duchy of Saxony (1180 - 1296), thus becoming Bernhard III, Duke of Saxony. In 1260, with effect from 1296 on, its later rulers split the younger Duchy into the Duchies of Saxe-Wittenberg
and Saxe-Lauenburg , the latter belonging in religious respect to the archdiocese of Bremen.
The Gelnhausen Diet (1180) confirmed Siegfried as Archbishop upgraded part of the diocesan territory to form the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen
of imperial immediacy. Thus the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen became one of the successor states of the old Duchy of Saxony, holding only a small part of its former territory. Since the deposed Henry the Lion had entrenched in his last Saxon stronghold, the city of Stade
, Otto I and Bernhard III militarily supported their brother Siegfried to de facto gain the power in all the Prince-Archbishopric.
, south of the river Elbe
right opposite of Ditmarsh on the north bank. Adolf III of Schauenburg
, Count of Holstein, at enmity with the Ascanians, had taken de facto possession of Ditmarsh. So it was up to Bernhard to regain the territory, but he failed, he could only force Adolf to accept his overlordship in Ditmarsh.
In 1181 Siegfried waived to further levy fees from merchants for building ships. In the pertaining document he recognised the burgher
s of the city of Bremen as universitas civitas. He granted new privileges to the cities of Bremen and Stade. He participated in the foundations of the monastery in Osterholz
(1182) and Heiligenrode (1180/1183; a part of today's Stuhr
).
In 1182 Frederick I consigned Siegfried with the task to pick up the seven-year-old Princess Ingeborg, the sister of Canute VI of Denmark
at the Danish court, and to escort her to her designate bridegroom Duke Frederick of Swabia
, Frederick I's son. The Danish-imperial relations were difficult and therefore Canute granted his sister only a poor endowment. The marriage never materialised.
Siegfried continued and promoted the interior colonisation by settling wasteland and draining and diking marshes, as in Oberneuland (1181; a part of today's Bremen
), Stuhr
(1183), Osten
and the marshes along the river Oste
.
In 1183 some canons of Bremen's Cathedral
formed a conspiracy against Siegfried, blaming him at Pope Lucius III
to be a too secular clerk. The scholastic
Henry of Bremen
exonerated Siegfried, thus he stayed in office. Siegfried could win most of the diocesan clergy and Bremen's burghers through generous and pious donations.
In 1184 Siegfried died prematurely and was buried in a church in Bremen.
Albert I of Brandenburg
Albert the Bear was the first Margrave of Brandenburg from 1157 to his death and was briefly Duke of Saxony between 1138 and 1142.-Life:...
, 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
Episcopal See
An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...
. Afterwards he became Prince-Bishop of Brandenburg (1173-1179). In 1179 he succeeded in taking over the Bremian See, getting it upgraded to a Prince-Archbishopric of imperial immediacy in 1180, thus becoming Prince-Archbishop of Bremen. He was a strong advocate of Ascanian clan interests.
Before Ascending the See
Probably before 1147 Siegfried joined the monastery of Our Lady in MagdeburgMagdeburg
Magdeburg , 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....
as a secular canon. His father's donations of rural possessions to the monastery in 1151 are probably related to providing Siegfried a princely livelihood within the monastery. Siegfried appears for the first time as a witness in a document of 19 September 1154 in Halle upon Saale alongside his father and brothers. They altogether testified, that Bremen's Archbishop Hartwig I confirmed to have received a donation of Siegfried's paternal grandmother 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:*...
in Paulinzell. In 1155 Siegfried, his parents, brothers and sisters attended the inauguration ceremony of the abbey of the monastery in Leitzkau. The following years he officiated as canon
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
in Magdeburg.
Historical background
The Archdiocese of Bremen and its respective incumbent was one of the players in the struggle for feudal positions. The Archbishop had no princely rank under the emperor, but held all the possessions, privileges, etc., that belonged to the See as mediate tenant, meaning a vassal of the Duchy of SaxonyDuchy of Saxony
The medieval Duchy of Saxony was a late Early Middle Ages "Carolingian stem duchy" covering the greater part of Northern Germany. It covered the area of the modern German states of Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt and most of Schleswig-Holstein...
, where the possessions were located, with the Duke himself being a vassal of the Emperor. Hartwig Count of Stade, as Hartwig I Archbishop of Bremen, was the last male representative of the comital family of Stade. When he died in 1168, the County of Stade was reverted. The Bremian Chapter, which had elected Hartwig for Archbishop in expectancy for the County, claimed it would be a fief of the Bremian See. 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....
of the House of Guelph, replied with a twofold claim: (1) he would be the heir, giving some obscure arguments on his relation to Stade's comital family; (2) the then Archbishop Adalbero of Bremen allegedly had promised Henry's mother Wulfhild to enfeoff her with the County, a very dubious claim. In fact Henry, then 14 years old, simply wanted to increase his realm. Therefore Henry occupied the County of Stade with his troops.
Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, Westphalia and Angria
Duchy of Saxony
The medieval Duchy of Saxony was a late Early Middle Ages "Carolingian stem duchy" covering the greater part of Northern Germany. It covered the area of the modern German states of Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt and most of Schleswig-Holstein...
and of Bavaria
Duchy of Bavaria
The Duchy of Bavaria was the only one of the stem duchies from the earliest days of East Francia and the Kingdom of Germany to preserve both its name and most of its territorial extent....
, was an ambitious man, striving for more independence and rejecting the imperial overlordship. He gained strong allies through marriage with Matilda Plantagenêt
Matilda of England, Duchess of Saxony
Matilda of England was the eldest daughter of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Through her marriage with Henry the Lion, she was Duchess of Saxony and later of Bavaria.-Early life:...
, the daughter of Henry II of England
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
and Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages. As well as being Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right, she was queen consort of France and of England...
and sister of Richard Lionheart, and by way of alliance with Prince Pribislav
Pribislav of Mecklenburg
Pribislav was an Obotrite prince and the first Prince of Mecklenburg .Pribislav was one of three sons of the Obotrite chieftain Niklot, who was killed in 1160 during a joint campaign by Duke Henry the Lion of Saxony and King Valdemar the Great of Denmark...
of Mecklenburg
Mecklenburg
Mecklenburg is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern...
and Duke Casimir I
Casimir I, Duke of Pomerania
Casimir I was duke of Pomerania since his uncle Ratibor I's death in 1155/56. A son of Wartislaw I, he co-ruled Pomerania with his older brother Bogislaw I, receiving Pomerania-Demmin as his share just as Bogislaw received Pomerania-Stettin, and ruling the remainder in common.After the lost 1164...
of Pomerania
Duchy of Pomerania
The Duchy of Pomerania was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania ....
.
Henry's paternal cousin Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, House of Hohenstaufen, steadily had to assert himself against his princely vassals and the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
. Frederick refused to receive the rank as Emperor like a papal fief, which is why he conflicted with Pope Alexander III
Pope Alexander III
Pope Alexander III , born Rolando of Siena, was Pope from 1159 to 1181. He is noted in history for laying the foundation stone for the Notre Dame de Paris.-Church career:...
.
Siegfried's Ascanian clan, domiciled at the middle Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
river and then led by Albert the Bear, a maternal cousin of Henry the Lion, also strove for more power and territories to conquer westwards from Saxon and eastwards from Slavic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
rulers. Nevertheless, the Ascanians by far were not as successful as Henry the Lion. Siegfried's brothers held different territories conquered by their father and them:
- OttoOtto 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...
of Anhalt, became as Otto I Margrave of BrandenburgMargraviate of BrandenburgThe 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....
after Albert the Bear died - Hermann of Anhalt, became Count of Weimar-Orlamünde
- Siegfried of Anhalt
- Heinrich of Anhalt, canon at Magdeburg's CathedralCathedral of MagdeburgThe Protestant Cathedral of Magdeburg , officially called the Cathedral of Saints Catherine and Maurice , is the oldest Gothic cathedral in Germany. It is the proto-cathedral of the former Prince-Archbishopric of Magdeburg. Today it's the principal church of the Evangelical Church in Central Germany...
- Albert of Anhalt, became Count of BallenstedtBallenstedtBallenstedt 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...
- Dietrich of Anhalt, became Count of Werben
- BernhardBernhard, 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...
of Anhalt, inherited the Ascanian allodially owned County of AnhaltAnhaltAnhalt 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 :...
,
The first struggle for the Bremian See
In 1168, after the death of Bremen's Archbishop Hartwig I, the Bremian cathedral chapterCathedral chapter
In accordance with canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese in his stead. These councils are made up of canons and dignitaries; in the Roman Catholic church their...
elected two rival Archbishops. The capitulars, opposing Henry the Lion and his claim to the County of Stade, voted for Siegfried, while the Guelphic party elected Otbertus, the dean
Dean (religion)
A dean, in a church context, is a cleric holding certain positions of authority within a religious hierarchy. The title is used mainly in the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church.-Anglican Communion:...
of the Chapter.
Henry's loyal vassal, Gunzelin of Hagen, first Count of Schwerin, took martial actions against anti-Guelphic partisans, provoking an upheaval in Bremen. The Guelphic party won and Siegfried had to flee to Oldenburg
Oldenburg
Oldenburg is an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the western part of the state between the cities of Bremen and Groningen, Netherlands, at the Hunte river. It has a population of 160,279 which makes it the fourth biggest city in Lower Saxony after Hanover, Braunschweig...
. Frederick I declared the elections null and void on the Diet
Reichstag (Holy Roman Empire)
The Imperial Diet was the Diet, or general assembly, of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire.During the period of the Empire, which lasted formally until 1806, the Diet was not a parliament in today's sense; instead, it was an assembly of the various estates of the realm...
(1169) in Bamberg
Bamberg
Bamberg is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz, close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg is one of the few cities in Germany that was not destroyed by World War II bombings because of a nearby Artillery Factory that prevented planes from...
. Anyway Frederick I did not like Siegfried's loyalty to Pope Alexander III, with whom Frederick was quarrelling. Frederick I aligned himself with Henry the Lion, in order to ascertain his loyalty, and appointed the Bremian capitular provost
Provost (religion)
A provost is a senior official in a number of Christian churches.-Historical Development:The word praepositus was originally applied to any ecclesiastical ruler or dignitary...
Baldwin I to the see, Alexander III confirmed that. Baldwin was an aged and compliant man. Baldwin ceded the County of Stade to Henry and alienated many other archiepiscopal estates
Estate (law)
An estate is the net worth of a person at any point in time. It is the sum of a person's assets - legal rights, interests and entitlements to property of any kind - less all liabilities at that time. The issue is of special legal significance on a question of bankruptcy and death of the person...
. By the end of 1168 Ascanians and Guelphs confronted in skirmishes.
Siegfried as prince-bishop of Brandenburg
Fighting again for the Bremian See
In 1176, at the Battle of LegnanoBattle of Legnano
The Battle of Legnano was fought on May 29, 1176, between the forces of the Holy Roman Empire, led by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, and the Lombard League.-The Lombard League:...
, Frederick I lost his Italian campaign, blaming it on Henry the Lion, who had refused to support him. Henry was busy extending and defending his own reign against the quarrelling clan of the Ascanians. Wichmann visited Frederick I in Italy in order to fathom in how far Siegfried's claim to the Bremian See could be enforced – e.g. in the scope of the Peace of Venice. Frederick I declared Baldwin's investiture as Archbishop and all his alienations of archiepiscopal possessions to be invalid. When in 1178 Baldwin received the official notification of his dismissal, he died. In 1179 Siegfried attended the Third Council of the Lateran
Third Council of the Lateran
The Third Council of the Lateran met in March 1179 as the eleventh ecumenical council. Pope Alexander III presided and 302 bishops attended.By agreement reached at the Peace of Venice in 1177 the bitter conflict between Alexander III and Emperor Frederick I was brought to an end...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, while the Bremian Chapter elected another Guelphic partisan, Berthold, for Archbishop. Both Frederick I and Alexander III originally wanted to confirm this knowledgeable man in his new position. But when in 1179 Berthold arrived in Rome to gain his papal confirmation, Alexander III declared Berthold's election null and void.
Inferior in warfare, many of Henry's enemies litigated him in lawsuits. Henry absented at the trials, to which he had been summoned. Thus the Diet
Reichstag (Holy Roman Empire)
The Imperial Diet was the Diet, or general assembly, of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire.During the period of the Empire, which lasted formally until 1806, the Diet was not a parliament in today's sense; instead, it was an assembly of the various estates of the realm...
decided to bring Henry before a judge, using military violence ( 1180-1181). Frederick I Barbarossa and his allies, many of them vassals and former supporters of Duke Henry the Lion, had defeated him. In 1180 Frederick I Barbarossa stripped Henry the Lion of his duchies. In 1182 he and his wife went into exile.
In 1180 at the Diet in Gelnhausen
Gelnhausen
Gelnhausen is a town and the capital of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located approx. 40 kilometers east of Frankfurt am Main, between the Vogelsberg mountains and the Spessart range at the river Kinzig...
, the attending princes and Frederick I Barbarossa decided to partition Saxony in some dozens of territories of imperial immediacy, allotting each territory to that one of his allies, who had conquered them before from Henry the Lion and his remaining supporters. Otto I wielded his influence at the Diet. His and Siegfried's brother Bernhard, one of the most steadfast warriors against Henry the Lion, was provided with the later on so-called younger Duchy of Saxony (1180 - 1296), thus becoming Bernhard III, Duke of Saxony. In 1260, with effect from 1296 on, its later rulers split the younger Duchy into the Duchies of Saxe-Wittenberg
Saxe-Wittenberg
The Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg was a medieval duchy of the Holy Roman Empire centered at Wittenberg, which emerged after the dissolution of the stem duchy of Saxony. As the precursor of the Saxon Electorate, the Ascanian Wittenberg dukes prevailed in obtaining the Saxon electoral dignity.-Ascanian...
and Saxe-Lauenburg , the latter belonging in religious respect to the archdiocese of Bremen.
The Gelnhausen Diet (1180) confirmed Siegfried as Archbishop upgraded part of the diocesan territory to form the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen
Archbishopric of Bremen
The Archdiocese of Bremen was a historical Roman Catholic diocese and formed from 1180 to 1648 an ecclesiastical state , named Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen within the Holy Roman Empire...
of imperial immediacy. Thus the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen became one of the successor states of the old Duchy of Saxony, holding only a small part of its former territory. Since the deposed Henry the Lion had entrenched in his last Saxon stronghold, the city of Stade
Stade
Stade is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany and part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region . It is the seat of the district named after it...
, Otto I and Bernhard III militarily supported their brother Siegfried to de facto gain the power in all the Prince-Archbishopric.
Siegfried as Prince-Archbishop of Bremen
After Alexander III had deposed Berthold (later Prince-Bishop of Metz), Siegfried did not lay down, but managed to get his election of 1168 confirmed in 1180. He ceded Ditmarsh, which supposed to belong to the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen, to his brother Bernhard. In his new position of Duke of Saxony he held the Land of Hadeln around OtterndorfOtterndorf
Otterndorf is a town on the coast of the North Sea in the region of Lower Saxony, Germany, and is part of the Samtgemeinde Land Hadeln . The town is at the mouth of the river Medem on part of the Elbe delta in the district Cuxhaven...
, south of the river Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
right opposite of Ditmarsh on the north bank. Adolf III of Schauenburg
Adolf III of Holstein
Adolf III, Count of Schauenburg and Holstein was the ruler of the Counties of Schauenburg and Holstein. He is particularly remembered for his establishment of a new settlement for traders on the banks of the Alster near the Neue Burg in Hamburg.- Descent :Adolf III was the only son of Count Adolf...
, Count of Holstein, at enmity with the Ascanians, had taken de facto possession of Ditmarsh. So it was up to Bernhard to regain the territory, but he failed, he could only force Adolf to accept his overlordship in Ditmarsh.
In 1181 Siegfried waived to further levy fees from merchants for building ships. In the pertaining document he recognised the burgher
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
s of the city of Bremen as universitas civitas. He granted new privileges to the cities of Bremen and Stade. He participated in the foundations of the monastery in Osterholz
Osterholz-Scharmbeck
Osterholz-Scharmbeck is a town and the capital of the district of Osterholz, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Osterholz-Scharmbeck is situated in between the cities of Bremen and Bremerhaven.-Neighbouring places:* Bremen * Delmenhorst...
(1182) and Heiligenrode (1180/1183; a part of today's Stuhr
Stuhr
Stuhr is a municipality in the district of Diepholz, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 7 km southwest of Bremen....
).
In 1182 Frederick I consigned Siegfried with the task to pick up the seven-year-old Princess Ingeborg, the sister of Canute VI of Denmark
Canute VI of Denmark
Canute VI was King of Denmark . Canute VI was the eldest son of King Valdemar I and Sophia of Polotsk.-Life:...
at the Danish court, and to escort her to her designate bridegroom Duke Frederick of Swabia
Frederick VI, Duke of Swabia
Frederick VI of Hohenstaufen was duke of Swabia from 1170 to his death at the siege of Acre. He was the third son of Frederick I Barbarossa and Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy and brother of Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor...
, Frederick I's son. The Danish-imperial relations were difficult and therefore Canute granted his sister only a poor endowment. The marriage never materialised.
Siegfried continued and promoted the interior colonisation by settling wasteland and draining and diking marshes, as in Oberneuland (1181; a part of today's Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
), Stuhr
Stuhr
Stuhr is a municipality in the district of Diepholz, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 7 km southwest of Bremen....
(1183), Osten
Osten
Osten is a municipality in the district of Cuxhaven, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Oste. Osten also means "East" in German.Osten belonged to the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen, established in 1180...
and the marshes along the river Oste
Oste
The Oste is a river in northern Lower Saxony, Germany with a length of 153 km, left tributary of the Elbe. It flows through the districts of Harburg, Rotenburg, Stade and Cuxhaven and empties into the Elbe river near Otterndorf. Its drainage area is 1.711 km² and the decline between the...
.
In 1183 some canons of Bremen's Cathedral
Bremen Cathedral
Bremen Cathedral , dedicated to St. Peter, is a church situated in the market square in the center of Bremen, in northern Germany. The cathedral belongs to the Bremian Evangelical Church, a member of the Protestant umbrella organisation named Evangelical Church in Germany...
formed a conspiracy against Siegfried, blaming him at Pope Lucius III
Pope Lucius III
Pope Lucius III , born Ubaldo, was pope from 1 September 1181 to his death.A native of the independent republic of Lucca, he was born ca. 1100 as Ubaldo, son of Orlando. He is commonly referred to as a member of the aristocratic family of Allucingoli, but this is not proven...
to be a too secular clerk. The scholastic
Scholasticism
Scholasticism is a method of critical thought which dominated teaching by the academics of medieval universities in Europe from about 1100–1500, and a program of employing that method in articulating and defending orthodoxy in an increasingly pluralistic context...
Henry of Bremen
Henry of Bremen
Henry of Bremen was a 13th century Archbishop of Gniezno.He was German in origin. His resignation from the office in 1271 opened the way for a Pole to be appointed....
exonerated Siegfried, thus he stayed in office. Siegfried could win most of the diocesan clergy and Bremen's burghers through generous and pious donations.
In 1184 Siegfried died prematurely and was buried in a church in Bremen.