Berthold IV, Duke of Merania
Encyclopedia
Berthold IV was the Count of Andechs (from 1172) and first Duke of Merania
Duke of Merania
The Duchy of Merania was a short-lived Estate of the Holy Roman Empire existing from 1153 until 1248. It was also called the Duchy of Dalmatia as it covered the northern Dalmatian seacoast...

 (from 1183), that is, the seacoast of Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....

 and Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...

 of the House of Andechs. In 1188 he was appointed as margrave
Margrave
A margrave or margravine was a medieval hereditary nobleman with military responsibilities in a border province of a kingdom. Border provinces usually had more exposure to military incursions from the outside, compared to interior provinces, and thus a margrave usually had larger and more active...

 of Istria and from 1180 to 1182 he was duke
Duke
A duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...

 of Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

 and Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....

.

In 1175, he was raised to the margraviate of Istria and then years later (1185) made the duke of the region called "Merania" after the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...

 (mare is Latin for "sea"). Merania encompassed the same area as the old margraviate, but its ruler now gained much prestige from his new title.

In 1186, he accompanied the Emperor Henry VI to the Kingdom of Sicily
Kingdom of Sicily
The Kingdom of Sicily was a state that existed in the south of Italy from its founding by Roger II in 1130 until 1816. It was a successor state of the County of Sicily, which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest of southern Italy...

. In 1189, he led the third division of the imperial army and was its standard-bearer
Standard-bearer
A standard-bearer is a person who bears an emblem called an ensign or standard, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used as a formal, visual symbol of a state, prince, military unit, etc.This can either be an occasional duty, often seen as an honour , or a...

 on the Third Crusade
Third Crusade
The Third Crusade , also known as the Kings' Crusade, was an attempt by European leaders to reconquer the Holy Land from Saladin...

. In 1195, he appeared as the advocate
Advocate
An advocate is a term for a professional lawyer used in several different legal systems. These include Scotland, South Africa, India, Scandinavian jurisdictions, Israel, and the British Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man...

 of Tegernsee Abbey
Tegernsee Abbey
Tegernsee Abbey or the Imperial Abbey of Tegernsee is a former Benedictine monastery in the town and district of Tegernsee in Bavaria. Both the abbey and the town that grew up around are named after the Tegernsee, the lake on the shores of which they are located...

. After Henry's death in 1197, he sided with the claimant Philip of Swabia
Philip of Swabia
Philip of Swabia was king of Germany and duke of Swabia, the rival of the emperor Otto IV.-Biography:Philip was the fifth and youngest son of Emperor Frederick I and Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy, daughter of Renaud III, count of Burgundy, and brother of the emperor Henry VI...

. At this juncture, the duke of Merania was at the height of his power and influence. He possessed lands from Franconia
Franconia
Franconia is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria, a small part of southern Thuringia, and a region in northeastern Baden-Württemberg called Tauberfranken...

 to the Adriatic.

Berthold died in 1204 and was buried in Diessen
Diessen
Diessen is a village in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is located in the municipality of Hilvarenbeek.Diessen was a separate municipality until 1997, when it was merged with Hilvarenbeek....

.

Family, Marriage and issue

He was the son of Berthold I of Istria
Berthold I of Istria
Berthold III, Count of Andechs was the Margrave of Istria as Berthold I from 1173 until 1188. He was the son of Berthold III, Count of Diessen, Plassenberg and Stein and his first wife Sophie of Istria....

 and Hedwig of Wittelsbach.

Berthold married Agnes of Rochlitz
Agnes of Rochlitz
Agnes of Rochlitz came from the Wettin family and was daughter of Dedi V, Count of Wettin and his wife, Matilda of Heinsburg. She is also known as Agnes of Wettin. Agnes married Berthold IV, Duke of Merania...

, and they had the following children:
  • Otto I, who succeeded his father
  • Ekbert, bishop of Bamberg
  • Henry, margrave of Istria
  • Hedwig
    Hedwig of Andechs
    Saint Hedwig of Silesia , also Saint Hedwig of Andechs from the comital House of Andechs was Duchess of Silesia from 1201 and of Greater Poland from 1231 as well as High Duchess consort of Poland from 1232 until 1238.-Life:...

    , married Henry I the Bearded
    Henry I the Bearded
    Henry I the Bearded , of the Silesian line of the Piast dynasty, was Duke of Silesia at Wrocław from 1201 and Duke of Kraków and thus High Duke of all Poland - internally divided - from 1232 until his death.-Heir of Wroclaw:...

    , duke of Silesia
  • Gertrude
    Gertrude of Merania
    Gertrude of Merania was the first wife of King Andrew II of Hungary and thereby Queen consort of Hungary from 1205 until her assassination.-Family:...

    , married Andrew II of Hungary
    Andrew II of Hungary
    Andrew II the Jerosolimitan was King of Hungary and Croatia . He was the younger son of King Béla III of Hungary, who invested him with the government of the Principality of Halych...

  • Agnes
    Agnes of Merania
    Agnes Maria of Andechs-Merania , queen of France, was the daughter of Bertold IV , who was Count of Andechs, a castle and territory near Ammersee, Bavaria and from 1183 duke of Merania . Her mother was Agnes of Rochlitz...

    , married Philip II of France
    Philip II of France
    Philip II Augustus was the King of France from 1180 until his death. A member of the House of Capet, Philip Augustus was born at Gonesse in the Val-d'Oise, the son of Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne...

  • Berthold, patriarch of Aquileia
  • Mathilde, abbess of Klitzingen


An unnamed daughter married into the Nemanjic family of Serbia
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