Albert the Bear (German: Albrecht der Bär; c. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. 1100–18 November 1170) was the first Margrave of Brandenburg (as Albert I) from 1157 to his death and was briefly Duke of Saxony between 1138 and 1142. Events 326 - The old St Peter's Basilica is consecrated 1302 - Pope Boniface VIII issues the Papal bull This article lists the Margraves and Electors of Brandenburg during the period of time that Brandenburg was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire This article lists Dukes Electors and Kings ruling over territories named Saxony from the beginning of the Saxon Duchy in the 9th century to the end of the Saxon Kingdom in 1918

Contents 1 Life 2 Cognomen 3 Family and children 4 External links

Life

Albert was the only son of Otto, Count of Ballenstedt, and Eilika, daughter of Magnus Billung, Duke of Saxony. Otto Count of Ballenstedt, called Otto the Rich (died 9 February 1123) was the first Ascanian prince to call himself count of Anhalt, and was also briefly Eilika of Saxony (c 1080 &ndash 16 January 1142) was the younger daughter of Magnus Duke of Saxony and Sophia (married 1071 daughter of Béla Magnus (c 1045 &ndash 23 August 1106) was the Duke of Saxony from 1072 to 1106 This article lists Dukes Electors and Kings ruling over territories named Saxony from the beginning of the Saxon Duchy in the 9th century to the end of the Saxon Kingdom in 1918 He inherited the valuable estates in northern Saxony of his father in 1123, and on his mother's death, in 1142, succeeded to one-half of the lands of the house of Billung. The House of Billung was a Dynasty of Saxon noblemen in the 9th through 12th centuries Albert was a loyal vassal of his relation, Lothar I, Duke of Saxony, from whom, about 1123, he received the Margraviate of Lusatia, to the east; after Lothar became King of the Germans, he accompanied him on a disastrous expedition to Bohemia in 1126, when he suffered a short imprisonment. A vassal (also called feodary or fedary) in the terminology that both preceded and accompanied the feudalism of Medieval Europe, Lothair III of Supplinburg (1075 &ndash 1137 was Duke of Saxony (1106 King of Germany (1125 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1133 to 1137 Upper and Lower Lusatia Upper Lusatia ( Oberlausitz or Hornja Łužica) is today part of the German state of Saxony except for a small part east of This article lists the German monarchs, ruling over the territory of Germany from the creation of a separate Eastern Frankish Kingdom in 843 until the end of monarchy Bohemia (Čechy; Bohemia Czechy is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands, currently the

Albert's entanglements in Saxony stemmed from his desire to expand his inherited estates there. After the death of his brother-in-law, Henry II, margrave of a small area on the Elbe called the Saxon Northern March, in 1128, Albert, disappointed at not receiving this fief himself, attacked Udo, the heir, and was consequently deprived of Lusatia by Lothar. The Northern March or North March (Nordmark was created out of the division of the vast Marca Geronis in 965 In spite of this, he went to Italy in 1132 in the train of the king, and his services there were rewarded in 1134 by the investiture of the Northern March, which was again without a ruler. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest

Once he was firmly established in the Northern March, Albert's covetous eye lay also on the thinly populated lands to the north and east. Three years he was occupied in campaigns against the Slavic Wends, who as pagans were considered fair game, and whose subjugation to Christianity was the aim of the Wendish Crusade of 1147 in which Albert took part; diplomatic measures were more successful, and by an arrangement made with the last of the Wendish princes of Brandenburg, Pribislav of the Hevelli, Albert secured this district when the prince died in 1150. The Wendish Crusade (Wendenkreuzzug was an 1147 campaign one of the Northern Crusades and also a part of the Second Crusade, led primarily by the Kingdom of Pribislav Henry (Pribislaw-Heinrich c 1075 &ndash 1150 was a Christian Prince and the last ruler of the Slavic Hevelli tribe in the The Hevelli or Hevellians (sometimes Havolane; Heveller or Stodoranen; Hawelanie or Stodoranie; Havolané or Stodorané) were a Taking the title "Margrave of Brandenburg", he pressed the "crusade" against the Wends, extended the area of his mark, encouraged German migration, established bishoprics under his protection, and so became the founder of the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1157, which his heirs — the House of Ascania — held until the line died out in 1320. The Margraviate of Brandenburg (Markgrafschaft Brandenburg was a major Principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 The House of Ascania (Askanier was a Dynasty of German rulers

In 1137 Conrad III, the Hohenstaufen King of the Germans, deprived Albert's cousin and nemesis, Henry the Proud of his Saxon duchy, which was awarded to Albert if he could take it. Conrad III (1093 &ndash 15 February 1152) was the first King of Germany of the Hohenstaufen dynasty Henry the Proud (c 1108 &ndash 20 October 1139) was the Duke of Bavaria ( Henry X, 1126&ndash1139 Duke of Saxony ( Henry After some initial success in his efforts to take possession, Albert was driven from Saxony, and also from his Northern march by Henry, and compelled to take refuge in south Germany. When peace was made with Henry in 1142, Albert renounced the Saxon duchyand received the Counties of Weimar and Orlamünde. Weimar (ˈvaɪmaʁ is a City in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of Thuringia (Thüringen north of the Thüringer Wald, Orlamünde is a town in the Saale-Holzland district in Thuringia, Germany. It was possibly at this time that Albert was made Arch-Chamberlain of the Empire, an office which afterwards gave the Margraves of Brandenburg the rights of a prince-elector. The Prince-Electors (or simply Electors) of the Holy Roman Empire ( German: Kurfürst ( pl

In 1158 a feud with Henry's son, Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, was interrupted by a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Henry the Lion ( German: Heinrich der Löwe; 1129 &ndash 6 August 1195) was a member of the Guelph dynasty and Duke of Saxony The Holy Land ( Arabic: الأرض المقدسة al-Arḍ ul-Muqaddasah;Ancient Aramaic: ארעא קדישא Ar'a Qaddisha; Hebrew: ארץ_הקודש In 1162 Albert accompanied Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to Italy, where he distinguished himself at the storming of Milan. Frederick I Barbarossa (1122 &ndash 10 June 1190) was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Milan (Milano Milan (listen) is one of the largest cities in Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy.

In 1164 Albert joined a league of princes formed against Henry the Lion, and peace being made in 1169, Albert divided his territories among his six sons. He died on November 13, 1170, possibly in Stendal, and was buried at Ballenstedt. Events 1002 - English king Ethelred orders the killing of all Danes in England, known today as the St Stendal (ˈʃtɛndaːl is a Town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of Stendal District and unofficial capital of the Altmark Ballenstedt is a town in Germany in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt.

Cognomen

Albert's personal qualities won for him the cognomen of the Bear, "not from his looks or qualities, for he was a tall handsome man, but from the cognisance on his shield, an able man, had a quick eye as well as a strong hand, and could pick what way was straightest among crooked things, was the shining figure and the great man of the North in his day, got much in the North and kept it, got Brandenburg for one there, a conspicuous country ever since," says Carlyle, who called Albert "a restless, much-managing, wide-warring man. The cognomen (plural cognomina) was originally the third name of an Ancient Roman in the Roman naming convention. Thomas Carlyle (4 December 1795 – 5 February 1881 was a Scottish essayist satirist and historian whose work was highly influential during the Victorian era. " He is also called by later writers "the Handsome. "

Family and children

Albert was married in 1124 to Sofie of Winzenburg (died 25 March 1160) and they had the following children:

1. Otto I, Margrave of Brandenburg (1126/1128–7 March 1184)
2. Count Hermann I of Orlamünde (died 1176)
3. Siegfried (died 24 October 1184), Bishop of Brandenburg from 1173-1180, Archbishop of Bremen from 1180-1184
4. Heinrich (died 1185), a canon in Magdeburg
5. Count Albrecht of Ballenstedt (died after 6 December 1172)
6. Count Dietrich of Werben (died after 5 September 1183)
7. Count Bernhard of Anhalt (1140–9 February 1212), Duke of Saxony from 1180-1212 as Bernard III
8. Hedwig (d. Events 1199 - Richard I is wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting France which leads to his death on April 6. Otto I (c 1128 – July 8, 1184) was the second Margrave of Brandenburg, from 1170 until his death Events 161 - Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius dies and is succeeded by co-Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus Events 69 - Second Battle of Bedriacum, forces under Antonius Primus the commander of the Danube armies loyal to Vespasian, defeat The Bishopric of Brandenburg was a Roman Catholic Diocese established by Otto the Great in 948, including the territory between the Elbe The Archdiocese of Bremen is a historical Roman Catholic diocese and a former eccesiastical state in the Holy Roman Empire. Magdeburg ( Low Saxon: Meideborg ˈmaˑɪdebɔɐx the Capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany Events 1060 - Béla I of Hungary is crowned king of Hungary 1240 - Mongol invasion of Rus: Kiev Events 1590 - Alexander Farnese 's army forces Henry IV of France to raise the siege of Paris. Events 474 - Zeno crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire. This article lists Dukes Electors and Kings ruling over territories named Saxony from the beginning of the Saxon Duchy in the 9th century to the end of the Saxon Kingdom in 1918 1203), married to Otto, Margrave of Meißen
9. Daughter, married c. 1152 to Vladislav of Bohemia
10. Adelheid (died 1162), a nun in Lamspringe
11. Gertrude, married in 1155 to Duke Diepold of Moravia
12. Sybille (died c. Lamspringe is a village and a municipality in the district of Hildesheim, in Lower Saxony, Germany. 1170), Abbess of Quedlinburg
13. Eilika

External links

• Thomas Carlyle, History of Friedrich ii Chapter iv: Albert the Bear
• The History Files: Rulers of Brandenburg

Preceded by Henry II	Duke of Saxony 1138–1142	Succeeded by Henry III
Preceded by New creation	Margrave of Brandenburg 1157–1170	Succeeded by Otto I

Quedlinburg Abbey (Stift Quedlinburg or de ''Reichsstift Quedlinburg'' was founded on the castle hill of Quedlinburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, in 936 Henry the Proud (c 1108 &ndash 20 October 1139) was the Duke of Bavaria ( Henry X, 1126&ndash1139 Duke of Saxony ( Henry This article lists Dukes Electors and Kings ruling over territories named Saxony from the beginning of the Saxon Duchy in the 9th century to the end of the Saxon Kingdom in 1918 Henry the Lion ( German: Heinrich der Löwe; 1129 &ndash 6 August 1195) was a member of the Guelph dynasty and Duke of Saxony This article lists the Margraves and Electors of Brandenburg during the period of time that Brandenburg was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire Otto I (c 1128 – July 8, 1184) was the second Margrave of Brandenburg, from 1170 until his death

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