Editing Adolf, King of the Romans (section)

=== Policies in Thuringia ===

A little later, Adolf intervened in war-torn [[Thuringia]], where fighting had erupted between Landgrave [[Albert II, Margrave of Meissen|Albert the Degenerate]] and his sons [[Frederick I, Margrave of Meissen|Frederick]] and [[Theodoric IV, Landgrave of Lusatia|Theodoric IV]] of [[March of Lusatia|Lusatia]]. He bought the Landgraviate from Albert in his capacity as king and probably using the payments from England. Legally, it was perfectly acceptable for Adolf to induce the feudal lord to abandon his fief and to bring the land under the empire. Furthermore, he seized the Margraviate of Meissen as an imperial fief, since it had been literally ownerless after the extinction of a collateral line of the [[House of Wettin]] and had been occupied by a son of Albert the Degenerate.

This purchase and the [[Margraviate of Meissen]], however, affected the interests of four of the electors. The Archbishop of Mainz asserted that a part of Thuringia was not an imperial fief, but rather a fief of the Archdiocese of Mainz. Wenceslaus II of Bohemia was not thrilled by the growing power of the emperor on his northern border, especially since Adolf had promised to give him the Margraviate of Meissen. Also, all the electors hoped to profit from the turmoil in Thuringia. In addition to the ostensible return of imperial fiefs to the empire, it can not be ruled out that Adolf was anxious to build a dynastic power base (albeit a small one).

First, Adolf succeeded in securing his acquisitions diplomatically and provoking the Margrave of Brandenburg toward active support and the Archbishop of Mainz and the Duke of Saxony toward at least acquiescence of the purchase. Two bloody campaigns against the sons of Albert the Degenerate were necessary to secure the acquisitions and a peace assured the achievements. Two years later, in the summer of 1296, Adolf proudly announced on the invitation to a court day that he had by his actions significantly increased the possessions of the empire.