Albrecht I (Saxony)

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Albrecht of Saxony

Albert I, Duke of Saxony , Albert I. (* around 1175 , † 7. October 1260 or 8. November 1261 buried in Lehnin ) from the family of Askanier was Duke of Saxony-Wittenberg , Engern , Westphalia and lord of Northern Albingia , elector and arch marshal of the Holy Roman Empire and Count of Ascania.

Life

Albrecht was born as the son of Duke Bernhard and Judith of Poland, daughter of Duke Mieszko III. , After his brother I. Heinrich born.

After the death of his father, Albrecht inherited the ducal dignity of Saxony and founded the ducal-Saxon line of the Ascanians in 1212 , which split into the branches of Saxony-Lauenburg and Saxony-Wittenberg in 1260 . After the death of his father Bernhard III. his older brother Heinrich I received the Ascanian hereditary lands and became Count of Anhalt .

Albrecht I supported Emperor Otto IV in his fight against the Hohenstaufen and especially fought their patron and supporter Archbishop Albrecht of Magdeburg , to whom he lost Staßfurt , among others . In 1217 he went for the last time, together with Emperor Otto IV and Margrave Albrecht II of Brandenburg († 1220), across the Elbe against Archbishop Albrecht of Magdeburg, without achieving any notable success.

On the occasion of his coronation in Aachen on July 25, 1215, the future emperor Friedrich II committed himself to carry out a crusade. However, internal disputes in Germany prevented his participation. However, he equipped an army and in 1217 placed it under Albrecht I's command. This then conquered the Damiette fortress on the Mediterranean Sea (see Damiette Crusade ). This wanted to have a basis for the reconquest of Palestine, but this did not happen.

In 1218 King Friedrich II confirmed his fiefs , rights and bailiffs . In 1219 he moved to Livonia on the occasion of a crusade . The aim was to prevent the Latvians from allying themselves with the Russians . In doing so, Albrecht proved to be a capable warrior with strategic skills.

When Archbishop Albrecht of Magdeburg traveled to Italy to see the emperor in 1221, Albrecht I took advantage of the favorable situation to the detriment of his underage relatives from Brandenburg, Johann I and Otto III. out. This led to a deep rift between him and his older brother Heinrich von Anhalt , the child guardian. Together with Frederick II, he was in Italy several times and was elected Duke of Albingen in 1226 . This new title, he was in the wars of Schauenburger against Denmark drawn and mingled in the battle of Bornhöved on 22 July 1227 alongside Adolf IV. Of Schauenburg , together with Lübeck , Hamburg and the Archbishop Gebhard von Bremen , active into the war. An Ascanian relative from the Weimar-Orlamünde line also fought on the Danish side. As a result, the Danish superpower position collapsed and Albrecht I was able to win Lauenburg including the city of Mölln . Until then, he had only held sovereignty over the largely autonomous country of Hadeln on the Lower Elbe . In addition, he secured the Saxon sovereignty claims over Wagrien ( Ostholstein ), Lübeck, Schwerin , and Dannenberg . He also won the Bailiwicks of Hitzacker , Bergedorf and the Sachsenwald from the Welfs . However , these possessions were only confirmed to him by Emperor Friedrich II at the court assembly in Worms in 1231 .

From 1227 to 1230 he was regent of the margraviate of Meißen and traveled to Jerusalem with Frederick II in 1228/29 .

In the years 1231/32 he brokered peace between the emperor and his son Henry VII and, together with other imperial princes, achieved the important statute in favorem principum as the new basis for territorial rule.

In 1240/41 he was in Italy again. With the death of Count Baderich II (1250) Albrecht received the Count of Belzig to the duchy . He also took care of the economic interests of his country. On January 2, 1248, he issued a customs roll for trade between the cities of Hamburg and Lübeck and Salzwedel and promised escort security, which brought him a lot of income. He also founded the Franciscan monastery (gray monastery) and the associated Franciscan church (armory barracks on Arsenalsplatz) around 1250, which later became the burial place of his deceased relatives and served as the court church until 1306.

Since Albrecht I was in possession of the spa rights as arch marshal of the Holy Roman Empire, he attended the royal assembly in Braunschweig in 1252 in order to recognize the anti-king Wilhelm of Holland . In this position he intervened in imperial affairs in 1231 when the Pope, who was striving for secular power, tried through his prelate to incite the princes against Emperor Frederick II. At the following Reichstag in Frankfurt in 1234, Albrecht I managed to have the heretic courts withdrawn from fanatics and transferred to ordinary jurisdiction.

In 1257 he elected Alfonso X of Castile . Albrecht also won count rights and possessions in Engern .

After his death in 1260, his sons Johann I and Albrecht II divided his land, according to the principles of the Ascan family, which only introduced primogeniture in 1727 . The Duchy of Saxony was then divided into the duchies of Saxony-Wittenberg and Saxony-Lauenburg .

Marriages and offspring

  1. Marriage 1222 Agnes of Austria (* 1206; † 29 August 1226) daughter of Duke Leopold VI.
    • Bernhard († after 1238)
    • Judith
      1. ⚭ November 17, 1239 King Eric of Denmark (* 1216; † 1250)
      2. ⚭ Burchard VII of Querfurt- Rosenburg
    • Anna Marie († January 7, 1245) ⚭ Duke Barnim I of Pomerania
    • Brigitte (Jutta) († April 4, 1266), (engaged to Otto von Braunschweig) ⚭ before 1255 Margrave Johann I of Brandenburg [founder of the Johannine line]
    • Mathilde (Mechthild) († July 28, 1266) ⚭ around 1241 Count Johann I von Holstein
  2. Married in 1238 with Agnes von Thuringia (* 1205; † 1246), the daughter of Landgrave Hermann I.
  3. Married in 1247 with Helene von Braunschweig (* 1231; † September 6, 1273), daughter of Duke Otto I.
    • Helena (1247 - June 12, 1309)
      1. ⚭ 1266 Heinrich I Duke of Breslau
      2. ⚭ 1275 Friedrich III. Burgrave of Nuremberg
    • Elisabeth († before February 2, 1306)
      1. ⚭ 1250 Johann I. Count of Holstein
      2. ⚭ 1265 Conrad I, Count of Brehna
    • Johann I (* after 1248; † July 30, 1285 in Wittenberg ), Duke of Saxony-Lauenburg
      1. ⚭ 1257 Swedish Princess Ingeborg * 1247; † 1302, daughter of King Eric III "XI" † February 2, 1250
      2. ⚭ Catharina † 1258, daughter of Jarl Sune von Bjälbo and Helena, daughter of King Sverkers II
    • Albrecht II (* 1250; † 25 August 1298), 1260 Duke of Saxony-Wittenberg ⚭ 1273 Agnes (Hagne † 1322 in Wittenberg), daughter of the Roman-German King Rudolf von Habsburg
    • Rudolf († after 1269) ⚭ Anna, daughter of Count Palatine Ludwig of Bavaria

ancestry

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Albrecht I (Brandenburg) (1100–1170)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Bernhard III. (Saxony) (1140-1212)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sophie von Winzenburg (1105–1160)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Albrecht I (Saxony) (1175–1261)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Bolesław III. Crooked mouth
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mieszko III. (1126–1202)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Salome von Berg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Judith of Poland (1154–1202)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Béla II (Hungary) (1110–1141)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Elisabeth of Hungary (1128–1155)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Helen of Serbia (1109–1146)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


literature

predecessor Office successor
Bernhard III. Duke of Saxony
1212–1260 		Albrecht II.
personal data
SURNAME Albrecht I.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Albert I.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Duke of Saxony-Wittenberg, Engern, Westphalia, Lord of Northern Albingia, Elector and Archmarschall of the Holy Roman Empire and Count of Anhalt
DATE OF BIRTH around 1175
DATE OF DEATH October 7, 1260 or November 8, 1261
Place of death buried Lehnin Monastery