Henry III, Margrave of Meissen
Encyclopedia
Henry III, called Henry the Illustrious (Heinrich der Erlauchte) (c. 1215 – 15 February 1288) from the House of Wettin was Margrave of Meissen and last Margrave of Lusatia (as Henry IV) from 1221 until his death; from 1242 also Landgrave of Thuringia.
residence in Meissen
, Henry was the youngest son of Margrave Theodoric I of Meissen and his wife Jutta
, daughter of Landgrave Hermann I of Thuringia. In 1221 he succeeded his father as Margrave of Meissen and Lusatia, at first under guardianship of his maternal uncle, Landgrave Louis IV of Thuringia, and after his death in 1227, under that of Duke Albert I of Saxony
. In 1230 he was legally proclaimed an adult.
Henry experienced his first armed combat at Balga
during the 1237 Prussian Crusade
led by the Teutonic Knights
. In 1245 after many years of conflict with the Ascanian margraves of Brandenburg
, he was forced to cede the fortresses of Köpenick
, Teltow
and Mittenwalde
north of Lower Lusatia
. In 1249 however, the Silesian
duke Bolesław II the Bald granted him the eastern area around Schiedlo Castle at the Oder
river, where Henry founded the town of Fürstenberg
.
In the struggle between the Hohenstaufen Emperor Frederick II
and Pope Gregory IX
, Henry took the side of the Emperor. In consideration, Frederick II in 1242 promised him the heritage of Henry Raspe as Landgrave of Thuringia
and Count palatine
of Saxony
. In 1243 the Emperor also betrothed his daughter Margaret of Sicily
to Henry's son Albert II
.
Henry remained a loyal supporter of the Hohenstaufens and not before the departure of Frederick's son Conrad IV
from Germany
did he recognise the antiking William of Holland. After the death of Henry Raspe in 1247, he enforced his rights in Thuringia by military means in the War of the Thuringian Succession
against the claims raised by Sophie of Thuringia
, daughter of late Landgrave Louis IV, and her husband Duke Henry II of Brabant
, as well as by Prince Siegfried I of Anhalt-Zerbst
. After a long drawn-out war he detached the Landgraviate of Hesse
in the west and gave it to Sophie's younger son Henry, but kept Thuringia, which he granted to his son Albert II together with the Palatinate of Saxony. The Thuringian acquisition significantly increased the Wettin territorial possessions, which now reached from the Silesia
n border at the Bóbr
river in the east up to the Werra
in the west, and from the border with Bohemia
along the Erzgebirge in the south to the Harz
range in the north.
From 1273 Henry was an important support to the newly elected Rex Romanorum
Rudolph of Habsburg
in his struggle against rivaling King Ottokar II of Bohemia
. Against Bohemia he won, among other places, Sayda
and Purschenstein Castle near Neuhausen
,
He was known throughout the whole empire as a glittering prince, famous as a patron of the arts and a model knight, and as a significant minnesinger (not to be confused with Heinrich Frauenlob
), poet and composer. Henry was patron of many tournaments and singing competitions, in which he also took part himself, and commissioned the famous Christherre-Chronik
. He set to music religious hymns to be sung in the churches, by express permission of the pope.
, the daughter of Duke Leopold VI of Austria
. Together they had two sons:
As early as 1265 he attached the Imperial Pleissnerland around Altenburg
, the dowry of his daughter-in-law Margaret, to the Landgraviate of Thuringia and gave both to his elder son Albert II, otherwise Albert the Degenerate. For his younger son Theodoric, Henry had created – though without imperial consent – the smaller Margraviate of Landsberg
in the western part of the Lusatian lands around Leipzig
. Henry kept for himself only the Margraviate of Meissen, the remaining Lower Lusatia
n lands, and a formal power of oversight. Only domestic disorders, caused by the unworthiness of his son Albert, clouded the later years of his reign and indeed, long after his death in 1288, led to the loss of Lusatia and Thuringia.
After the death of Constance in 1243 Henry took as his second wife Agnes (d. 1268), a daughter of King Wenceslaus I of Bohemia, and in his third marriage the daughter of a ministerialis
, or serving knight, Elisabeth von Maltitz, who bore him Friedrich Clem and Hermann the Long.
Life
Born probably at the AlbrechtsburgAlbrechtsburg
The Albrechtsburg is a Late Gothic castle that dominates the town centre of Meissen in the German state of Saxony.-History:By 929 King Henry I of Germany had finally subdued the Slavic Glomacze tribe and built a fortress within their settlement area, situated on a rock high above the Elbe river...
residence in Meissen
Meissen
Meissen is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrechtsburg castle, the Gothic Meissen Cathedral and the Meissen Frauenkirche...
, Henry was the youngest son of Margrave Theodoric I of Meissen and his wife Jutta
Jutta of Thuringia
Jutta of Thuringia was the eldest daughter of Landgrave Hermann I of Thuringia and his first wife, Sophia of Sommerschenburg, a daughter of Fredrick II of Sommerschenburg....
, daughter of Landgrave Hermann I of Thuringia. In 1221 he succeeded his father as Margrave of Meissen and Lusatia, at first under guardianship of his maternal uncle, Landgrave Louis IV of Thuringia, and after his death in 1227, under that of Duke Albert I of Saxony
Albert I, Duke of Saxony
Albert I was a Duke of Saxony, Angria, and Westphalia; Lord of Nordalbingia; Count of Anhalt; and Prince-elector and Archmarshal of the Holy Roman Empire...
. In 1230 he was legally proclaimed an adult.
Henry experienced his first armed combat at Balga
Balga
Balga was a medieval castle of the Teutonic Knights. Its ruins are in the Pogranichny municipality, Bagrationovsky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia; located on the shore of the Vistula Lagoon north of Mamonovo, about southwest of Kaliningrad....
during the 1237 Prussian Crusade
Prussian Crusade
The Prussian Crusade was a series of 13th-century campaigns of Roman Catholic crusaders, primarily led by the Teutonic Knights, to Christianize the pagan Old Prussians. Invited after earlier unsuccessful expeditions against the Prussians by Polish princes, the Teutonic Knights began campaigning...
led by the Teutonic Knights
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
. In 1245 after many years of conflict with the Ascanian margraves of Brandenburg
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....
, he was forced to cede the fortresses of Köpenick
Köpenick
Köpenick is a historic town and locality that is situated at the confluence of the rivers Dahme and Spree in the south-east of the German capital city of Berlin. It was formerly known as Copanic and then Cöpenick, only officially adopting the current spelling in 1931...
, Teltow
Teltow
Teltow is a town in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district, in Brandenburg, Germany.-Geography:Teltow is part of the agglomeration of Berlin. The distance to the Berlin city centre is , while the distance to Potsdam is ....
and Mittenwalde
Mittenwalde
Mittenwalde is a town in the Dahme-Spreewald district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 30 km southeast of Berlin ....
north of Lower Lusatia
Lower Lusatia
Lower Lusatia is a historical region stretching from the southeast of the Brandenburg state of Germany to the southwest of the Lubusz Voivodeship in Poland. Important towns beside the historic capital Lübben include Calau, Cottbus, Guben , Luckau, Spremberg, Finsterwalde, Senftenberg and Żary...
. In 1249 however, the Silesian
Duchy of Silesia
The Duchy of Silesia with its capital at Wrocław was a medieval duchy located in the historic Silesian region of Poland. Soon after it was formed under the Piast dynasty in 1138, it fragmented into various Duchies of Silesia. In 1327 the remaining Duchy of Wrocław as well as most other duchies...
duke Bolesław II the Bald granted him the eastern area around Schiedlo Castle at the Oder
Oder
The Oder is a river in Central Europe. It rises in the Czech Republic and flows through western Poland, later forming of the border between Poland and Germany, part of the Oder-Neisse line...
river, where Henry founded the town of Fürstenberg
Eisenhüttenstadt
Eisenhüttenstadt is a town in the Oder-Spree district of Brandenburg, Germany at the border with Poland. The town was founded in 1950 alongside a new steel mill as a socialist model city and has a population of 32,214...
.
In the struggle between the Hohenstaufen Emperor Frederick II
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II , was one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem, were enormous...
and Pope Gregory IX
Pope Gregory IX
Pope Gregory IX, born Ugolino di Conti, was pope from March 19, 1227 to August 22, 1241.The successor of Pope Honorius III , he fully inherited the traditions of Pope Gregory VII and of his uncle Pope Innocent III , and zealously continued their policy of Papal supremacy.-Early life:Ugolino was...
, Henry took the side of the Emperor. In consideration, Frederick II in 1242 promised him the heritage of Henry Raspe as Landgrave of Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
and Count palatine
Count palatine
Count palatine is a high noble title, used to render several comital styles, in some cases also shortened to Palatine, which can have other meanings as well.-Comes palatinus:...
of Saxony
Duchy of Saxony
The medieval Duchy of Saxony was a late Early Middle Ages "Carolingian stem duchy" covering the greater part of Northern Germany. It covered the area of the modern German states of Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt and most of Schleswig-Holstein...
. In 1243 the Emperor also betrothed his daughter Margaret of Sicily
Margaret of Sicily
Margaret of Sicily , was a Princess of Sicily and Germany, and a member of the House of Hohenstaufen...
to Henry's son Albert II
Albert II, Margrave of Meissen
Albert II, the Degenerate was a Margrave of Meissen, Landgrave of Thuringia and Count Palatine of Saxony...
.
Henry remained a loyal supporter of the Hohenstaufens and not before the departure of Frederick's son Conrad IV
Conrad IV of Germany
Conrad IV was king of Jerusalem , of Germany , and of Sicily .-Biography:...
from Germany
Kingdom of Germany
The Kingdom of Germany developed out of the eastern half of the former Carolingian Empire....
did he recognise the antiking William of Holland. After the death of Henry Raspe in 1247, he enforced his rights in Thuringia by military means in the War of the Thuringian Succession
War of the Thuringian Succession
The War of the Thuringen Succession was a military battle over a successor to the last Landgrave of Thuringia in present-day Germany.- Source of the conflict :...
against the claims raised by Sophie of Thuringia
Sophie of Thuringia, Duchess of Brabant
Sophie of Thuringia was the second wife and only Duchess consort of Henry II, Duke of Brabant and Lothier. She was the heiress of Hesse which she passed on to her son, Henry upon her retention of the territory following her partial victory in the War of the Thuringian Succession in which she was...
, daughter of late Landgrave Louis IV, and her husband Duke Henry II of Brabant
Henry II, Duke of Brabant
Henry II of Brabant was Duke of Brabant and Lothier after the death of his father Henry I in 1235...
, as well as by Prince Siegfried I of Anhalt-Zerbst
Siegfried I, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
Siegfried I, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Zerbst....
. After a long drawn-out war he detached the Landgraviate of Hesse
Landgraviate of Hesse
The Landgraviate of Hesse was a Landgraviate of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed as a unity from 1264 to 1567, when it was divided between the sons of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse.-History:...
in the west and gave it to Sophie's younger son Henry, but kept Thuringia, which he granted to his son Albert II together with the Palatinate of Saxony. The Thuringian acquisition significantly increased the Wettin territorial possessions, which now reached from the Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
n border at the Bóbr
Bóbr
Bóbr is a river which runs through the north of the Czech Republic and the southwest of Poland, a left tributary of the Oder River, with a length of and a basin area of .The Bóbr originates in the Rýchory mountains in the southeast of the Karkonosze range, where the source is...
river in the east up to the Werra
Werra
The Werra is a river in central Germany, the right-source river of the Weser. The Werra has its source near Eisfeld in southern Thuringia. After 293 km the Werra joins the river Fulda in the town of Hann. Münden, forming the Weser....
in the west, and from the border with Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
along the Erzgebirge in the south to the Harz
Harz
The Harz is the highest mountain range in northern Germany and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The name Harz derives from the Middle High German word Hardt or Hart , latinized as Hercynia. The legendary Brocken is the highest summit in the Harz...
range in the north.
From 1273 Henry was an important support to the newly elected Rex Romanorum
King of the Romans
King of the Romans was the title used by the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire following his election to the office by the princes of the Kingdom of Germany...
Rudolph of Habsburg
Rudolph I of Germany
Rudolph I was King of the Romans from 1273 until his death. He played a vital role in raising the Habsburg dynasty to a leading position among the Imperial feudal dynasties...
in his struggle against rivaling King Ottokar II of Bohemia
Ottokar II of Bohemia
Ottokar II , called The Iron and Golden King, was the King of Bohemia from 1253 until 1278. He was the Duke of Austria , Styria , Carinthia and Carniola also....
. Against Bohemia he won, among other places, Sayda
Sayda
Sayda is a town in the district of Mittelsachsen, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is situated 24 km south of Freiberg, and 28 km north of Chomutov....
and Purschenstein Castle near Neuhausen
Neuhausen, Saxony
Neuhausen is a municipality in the district of Mittelsachsen, in Saxony, Germany.Neuhausen hosts the first nutcracker museum in Europe, which houses more than 5,000 examples, the largest collection of nutcrackers in the world and is also known as a location for winter sports.- References :...
,
He was known throughout the whole empire as a glittering prince, famous as a patron of the arts and a model knight, and as a significant minnesinger (not to be confused with Heinrich Frauenlob
Heinrich Frauenlob
Heinrich Frauenlob , sometimes known as Henry of Meissen , was a Middle High German poet and minnesinger. The nickname Frauenlob means "praise of women" or "praise of Our Lady".-Biography:He was born in Meissen. He had great musical talents, and he held court positions in Prague...
), poet and composer. Henry was patron of many tournaments and singing competitions, in which he also took part himself, and commissioned the famous Christherre-Chronik
Christherre-Chronik
The Christherre-Chronik is a 13th-century world chronicle from Thüringen, written in Middle High German rhyming couplets. It was written by a churchman in the service of Henry III, Markgrave of Meissen, and may be seen as attempting a spiritual answer to the courtly world chronicle of Rudolf von...
. He set to music religious hymns to be sung in the churches, by express permission of the pope.
Family
In 1234 Henry married Constance of BabenbergConstance of Babenberg
Constance of Babenberg was the daughter of Duke Leopold VI of Austria and his wife, Theodora AngelinaShe married on 1 May 1234 with Margrave Henry "the Illustrious" of Meissen. The wedding took place in Vienna rather than in the old Hofburg. It is believed that the conversion of the Imperial...
, the daughter of Duke Leopold VI of Austria
Leopold VI, Duke of Austria
Leopold VI , called the Glorious, from the House of Babenberg, was Duke of Austria from 1198 to 1230 and of Styria from 1194 to 1230....
. Together they had two sons:
- Albert II, Margrave of MeissenAlbert II, Margrave of MeissenAlbert II, the Degenerate was a Margrave of Meissen, Landgrave of Thuringia and Count Palatine of Saxony...
(1240–1314) - Theodoric of LandsbergTheodoric of LandsbergDietrich of Landsberg was from 1265 Margrave of Landsberg. He was the second son of Henry the Illustrious and Constance of Babenberg. He was a member of the House of Wettin.- Life :In 1261, his father split the Margraviate of Landsberg off from his territory...
(1242–1285)
As early as 1265 he attached the Imperial Pleissnerland around Altenburg
Altenburg
Altenburg is a town in the German federal state of Thuringia, 45 km south of Leipzig. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district.-Geography:...
, the dowry of his daughter-in-law Margaret, to the Landgraviate of Thuringia and gave both to his elder son Albert II, otherwise Albert the Degenerate. For his younger son Theodoric, Henry had created – though without imperial consent – the smaller Margraviate of Landsberg
Margraviate of Landsberg
The Margraviate of Landsberg was a march of the Holy Roman Empire that existed from the 12th to the 14th century. It was named after Landsberg Castle in present-day Saxony-Anhalt...
in the western part of the Lusatian lands around Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
. Henry kept for himself only the Margraviate of Meissen, the remaining Lower Lusatia
Lower Lusatia
Lower Lusatia is a historical region stretching from the southeast of the Brandenburg state of Germany to the southwest of the Lubusz Voivodeship in Poland. Important towns beside the historic capital Lübben include Calau, Cottbus, Guben , Luckau, Spremberg, Finsterwalde, Senftenberg and Żary...
n lands, and a formal power of oversight. Only domestic disorders, caused by the unworthiness of his son Albert, clouded the later years of his reign and indeed, long after his death in 1288, led to the loss of Lusatia and Thuringia.
After the death of Constance in 1243 Henry took as his second wife Agnes (d. 1268), a daughter of King Wenceslaus I of Bohemia, and in his third marriage the daughter of a ministerialis
Ministerialis
Ministerialis ; a post-classical Latin word, used in English, meaning originally servitor, agent, in a broad range of senses...
, or serving knight, Elisabeth von Maltitz, who bore him Friedrich Clem and Hermann the Long.