Dietrich the distressed
Dietrich , called the oppressed (* 1162 ; † February 18, 1221 ), was Margrave of Meißen from 1198 and as Dietrich III from 1210 . Margrave of Lusatia .
Life
He was the second son of Margrave Otto “the rich” of Meissen and Hedwig von Ballenstedt , daughter of Margrave Albrecht I of Brandenburg . He therefore belonged to the aristocratic Wettin family .
His mother had persuaded his father to change the line of succession against the usual practice, according to which Dietrich Meissen and the margrave dignity , while his older brother Albrecht the proud , should only receive lands around Weißenfels . Albrecht rebelled against it from 1188 and forced his father by force of arms to recognize him as the primary heir. When his father died in 1190, Albrecht followed him as Margrave of Meißen.
Dietrich found support from Landgrave Hermann I of Thuringia , to whose underage daughter Jutta he became engaged and with whose help he won Weißenfels from his brother in 1194. When his brother Albert died in 1195, Emperor Heinrich VI enfeoffed. not Dietrich with the margraviate of Meißen, but moved in the march with its rich mines as a fallen fiefdom . Dietrich then, together with his father-in-law, joined the emperor's crusade to Palestine , which was broken off when the emperor died in 1197.
After his return, Dietrich supported the new King Philip of Swabia in the controversy for the throne against the opposing king Otto of Braunschweig and was again enfeoffed with the Mark of Meissen in 1198 in thanks. Since then Dietrich has been on Philip's side and remained on the side of the Staufers even after his murder in 1208 .
In 1206 he settled a dispute between the Burgrave of Dohna , who had built a castle called Thorun in an area claimed by the Bishop of Meißen , and the bishop. The certificate created in the process mentions the name Dresden for the first time . It is also associated with the still puzzling grounds of Osterland Castle near Oschatz and the Romanesque predecessor of Grillenburg Castle in the Tharandt Forest . In 1210 he was enfeoffed with the Ostmark / Lausitz on behalf of Emperor Otto IV after the Dedonid line of the Wettins had died out and after the payment of 10,000 silver marks at Landsberg Castle .
He promoted the founding and expansion of cities in his territories and improved the state administration by dividing it into bailiwicks . He led feuds against the Meissen nobility and the city of Leipzig , which he tried to incorporate into his possession. After the fruitless siege of Leipzig in 1216 he recognized the rights of the city, but was able to capture the city in the following year by means of cunning, had the city walls razed and built three castles and garrisons within them to strengthen his rule.
Margrave Dietrich died on February 18, 1221. It is speculated whether his personal physician poisoned him at the instigation of the Leipzig people or the discontented nobility.
Marriage and offspring
He married Jutta von Thuringia (1184–1235), daughter of Landgrave Hermann I of Thuringia. Some of his children died young, eight children of Dietrich can be proven:
- Hedwig († 1249) ⚭ Count Dietrich IV. Von Kleve (* 1185; † 1260);
- Otto († before 1215);
- Sophia († 1280) ⚭ Count Heinrich von Henneberg-Schleusingen († 1262);
- Konrad (illegitimate son), monk in the Petersberg monastery in Erfurt;
- Jutta;
- Heinrich the Illustrious (* around 1215; † 1288), 1221 Margrave of Meissen and Lusatia, 1247 also Count Palatine of Saxony and Landgrave of Thuringia;
- Dietrich (illegitimate son, * around 1190; † 1272), Bishop of Naumburg;
- Heinrich (illegitimate son, † 1259), provost of the cathedral in Meissen.
Burial place
Dietrich the oppressed died in 1221 and was buried in the house monastery of the Wettins in Altzella . Today his grave slab can be found again in the choir, next to the one for Otto the Rich and his wife, the monastery donor Hedwig. In 1288 Dietrich's son Heinrich the Illustrious was also buried here. Heinrich the Illustrious can be assumed to have commissioned the grave slab cycle in Altzella, as the monuments of the donors and ancestors can be dated to his time.
literature
- Helga Wäß: The figure grave plate Dietrich von Meißen. In: Helga Wäß: Form and Perception of Central German Memory Sculpture in the 14th Century. Volume 2: Catalog of selected objects from the High Middle Ages to the beginning of the 15th century. Bristol, Berlin a. a. 2006, ISBN 3-86504-159-0 , p. 30 and cat. No. 8 with ill., See p. 27 ff. With the monuments of the parents etc. (At the same time: Göttingen, Universität, dissertation, 2001).
- Heinrich Theodor Flathe : Dietrich the oppressed . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 5, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1877, p. 186 f.
- Herbert Helbig : Dietrich the distressed. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1957, ISBN 3-428-00184-2 , p. 680 f. ( Digitized version ).
Web links
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Albrecht I. |
Margrave of Meissen 1198–1221 |
Henry III. |
| Konrad II. |
Margrave of Lusatia 1210–1221 |
Henry III. |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Dietrich the distressed |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Dietrich III. (from 1210) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Margrave of Meissen |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1162 |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 18, 1221 |