- Frederick I, Margrave of Meissen
Frederick I, called the Brave or the Bitten (German Friedrich der Freidige or Friedrich der Gebissene; 1257,
Eisenach –16 November 1323 , Eisenach) wasmargrave of Meissen andlandgrave of Thuringia .Life
Friedrich was the son of Albert the Degenerate and
Margaret of Germany . According to legend, his mother, fleeing her philandering husband in 1270, was overcome by the pain of parting and bit Frederick on the cheek: therefore he became known as "the Bitten".After the death of
Conradin in 1268, he became the legitimate heir to theHohenstaufen claims, and claimed theKingdom of Sicily , briefly taking the titles ofKing of Jerusalem and Sicily andDuke of Swabia . (While not descended from the Kings of Jerusalem, his grandfatherFrederick II, Holy Roman Emperor , had claimed the kingdom for himself.) However, these claims met with little favor.Swabia , pawned by Conradin before his last expedition, was disintegrating as a territorial unit. He went unrecognized inOutremer , andCharles of Anjou was deeply entrenched in power in Southern Italy. Margrave Frederick proposed an invasion ofItaly in 1269, and attracted some support from the LombardGhibellines , but his plans were never carried out, and he played no further part in Italian affairs. From 1280, he wascount palatine of Saxony .Because his father preferred their half-brother Apitz, Frederick and his brother
Diezmann waged war upon him. Frederick was captured in 1281, but after a long war his father recognized the rights of the brothers in 1289. After the death of their cousinFrederick Tuta (1291), both brothers took possession of his lands and Frederick received theMargraviate of Meissen , leaving to their father only theMargraviate of Landsberg . However, KingAdolf of Nassau-Weilburg thought that Meissen and the Eastern March should return to the crown after Tuta's death, and boughtThuringia from the debt-laden Albert. The brothers were again called to arms in the defense of their inheritance, but had to give up the land. Frederick stayed away from home until the death of Adolf returned his land to him. By now his father had also been reconciled with him. Soon afterwards, however, King Albert I claimed Thuringia and was supported by the cities, which longed to become independent ("reichsunmittelbar "). The landgrave's family was besieged on the Wartburg by theEisenach forces; however, Frederick succeeded in liberating them. But only the victory atLucka on31 May 1307 gave the two brothers relief, and before the king could gather new forces, he died.After Diezmann's death (1307) the vassals rendered
homage to Frederick only, because Albert had renounced rule for an annuity. Only the cities were still opposed to Frederick. ButErfurt was subjected by force, and he was also reconciled with Emperor Henry VII, to whom Frederick had originally refused to submit. In 1310, the Emperor granted him his lands as fiefs. However, the fight withBrandenburg still continued and when Frederick was captured by Margrave Waldemar, he had to buy his freedom with 32,000 marks of silver and the cession ofLower Lusatia in the "Treaty of Tangermünde" of 1312. The feuds were renewed in 1316, but ended in 1317 with the "Magdeburg Peace". Through the extinction of theAscanian house, Frederick regained all lost lands except for Landsberg and Lower Lusatia. Now he was able to install a general "Landfrieden " (peace).Paralyzed by a stroke since 1321, Frederick died on 16 November 1323. His bones were later moved from Eisenach to Grimmenstein Castle in Gotha and after its demolition were buried in
Friedenstein Castle; however, his tomb was erected inReinhardsbrunn . In 1285, he married Agnes, the daughter of CountMeinhard II of Gorizia-Tyrol and Elisabeth of Bavaria, widowed mother of Conradin, and after her death he married Elizabeth of Arnshaugk, the daughter of his stepmother, in 1303. Only two children survived him, Elizabeth, who was married toHenry II, Landgrave of Hesse , in 1322, and Frederick, his successor.Family
Frederick married
Agnes of Gorizia-Tyrol (d.14 May 1293 ) in 1286, daughter ofMeinhard, Duke of Carinthia and Elisabeth of Bavaria. They had one son:
#Frederick the Lame (9 May 1293 –13 January 1315 ,Zwenkau ), married Anna (d.22 November 1327 ,Wismar ), daughter ofAlbert II, Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg He married
Elizabeth of Lobdeburg-Arnshaugk (1286 –22 August 1359 , Gotha) on24 August 1300 and they had two children:#Elizabeth (1306 – 1368), married
Henry II, Landgrave of Hesse , in 1322
#Frederick the SeriousReferences
* [http://susi.e-technik.uni-ulm.de:8080/Meyers2/seite/werk/meyers/band/6/seite/0706/meyers_b6_s0706.html At Meyers Konversationslexikon, 1880]
* Wegele: "Friedrich der Freidige etc. und die Wettiner seiner Zeit". Nördlingen, 1870
* [http://www.mdr.de/geschichte/personen/128645.html Friedrich der Freidige]
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