Albert I, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst

Albert I, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst (died 17 August 1316), was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst.

He was the eldest son of Siegfried I, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst by his wife Katharina, daughter of Birger jarl and sister of Kings Waldemar and Magnus III of Sweden.

Life

In 1290 after his father abdicated amd become a preacher monk (German: _de. "Predigermönch"), Albert inherited the principality of Anhalt-Zerbst and the towns of Dessau and Köthen. He later obtained the part of Zerbst which was still in the hands of the Margraves of Brandenburg as a fiefdom. Albert was the first member of the House of Ascania who entered in 1295 in the "Burg" Köthen.

Together with the Abbot Konrad of Nienburg he abolished the use of the Wendish language in 1293, usual by that time in the states of Anhalt. Also, he participated in the siege of the Schloss Herlingsberg against Henry I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Grubenhagen in 1291.

After the murder of Albert I of Habsburg in 1308 he was suggested by his brother-in-law Waldemar, Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal as a new German King, but without success.

Marriages and issue

Albert's first marriage was to Liutgard (b. ca.1251 - d. aft. 28 February 1289), daughter of Gerhard I, Count Holstein-Itzehoe and widow of John I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. They had two sons:
#Siegfried II (d. ca. 1307/1316), a canon in Coswig.
#Henry (d. bef. 2 March 1317), a canon in Coswig.

In 1300 Albert married secondly with Agnes (d. 4 June 1330), daughter of Conrad, Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal. Through her father she was a great-great-granddaughter of Otto I, Margrave of Brandenburg, older brother of Bernhard, Count of Anhalt, Albert's great-grandfather. In consequence, she was his third cousin once removed. They had five children:
#Albert II, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst (d. 17 July 1362).
#Agnes (d. 1352), married bef. 2 September 1324 to Ulrich II, Count of Lindau-Ruppin.
#Waldemar I, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst (d. 7 January 1368).
#Judith, married bef. 1337 to Albert I, Count of Regenstein.
#Matilda (d. ca. 1342), married in 1339 to Bernhard III, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg.