Editing Albert the Bear

{{Short description|1st Margrave of Brandenburg (1157 to 1170)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=January 2013}}
{{infobox royalty
| image = Adalbertus Siegel.JPG
| caption = Effigy on Albert's seal
| succession  = [[Margrave of Brandenburg]]
| reign       = 1157–1170
| successor   = [[Otto I, Margrave of Brandenburg|Otto I]]
| succession1  = [[Duke of Saxony]]
| reign1       = 1139–1142
| predecessor1 = [[Henry the Proud]]
| successor1   = [[Henry the Lion]]
| house       = [[House of Ascania]]
| father = [[Otto, Count of Ballenstedt]]
| mother = [[Eilika of Saxony]]
| spouse = [[Sophie of Winzenburg]]
| issue = [[Otto I, Margrave of Brandenburg]]<br />Hermann I, Count of Orlamünde<br />[[Siegfried, Count of Anhalt|Siegfried, Prince-Archbishop of Bremen]]<br />[[Bernhard, Count of Anhalt]]<br />[[Hedwig of Brandenburg|Hedwig, Margravine of Meissen]]
| issue-link=#Marriage and children
| issue-pipe = more...
| birth_date = {{circa| 1100}}
| birth_place = 
| death_date = {{death date|1170|11|18|df=y}} (aged 70)
| death_place = possibly [[Stendal]]
| burial_place = [[Ballenstedt]]
}}

'''Albert the Bear''' ({{langx|de|Albrecht der Bär}}; {{c.}} 1100 – 18 November 1170) was the first [[margrave of Brandenburg]] from 1157 to his death and was briefly [[duke of Saxony]] between 1138 and&nbsp;1142.

==Life==
Albert was the only son of [[Otto, Count of Ballenstedt]],{{sfn|Brooke|2019|p=268}} and [[Eilika of Saxony|Eilika]],{{sfn|Krömmelbein|Brogyanyi|2002|p=73}} daughter of [[Magnus, Duke of Saxony|Magnus Billung]], [[Rulers of Saxony|Duke of Saxony]]. He inherited his father's valuable estates in northern Saxony in 1123, and on his mother's death, in 1142, succeeded to one-half of the lands of the [[house of Billung]]. Albert was a loyal [[vassal]] of his relation, [[Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor|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]] against the upstart, [[Soběslav I, Duke of Bohemia]] in 1126 at the [[Battle of Chlumec|Battle of Kulm]], where he suffered a short imprisonment.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

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 the Nordmark]], who controlled a small area on the [[Elbe]] called the Saxon [[Northern March]], in 1128, Albert, disappointed at not receiving this [[fief]] himself, attacked [[Udo IV, Margrave of the Nordmark|Udo V, Count of Stade]], the heir, and was consequently deprived of Lusatia by Lothar.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}} Udo, however, was said to have been assassinated by servants of Albert on 15 March 1130 near [[Aschersleben]]. In spite of this, Albert went to [[Italy in the Middle Ages|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.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

In 1138 [[Conrad III of Germany|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. After some initial success in his efforts to take possession, Albert was driven from Saxony, and also from his Northern March by a combined force of Henry and [[Jaxa of Köpenick]], and compelled to take refuge in south Germany.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} Henry died in 1139 and an arrangement was found. Henry's son, [[Henry the Lion]], received the duchy of Saxony in 1142. In the same year, Albert renounced the Saxon duchy and received the counties of [[Weimar]] and [[Orlamünde]].

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. For 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. Albert was a part of the army that besieged [[Demmin]], and at the end of the war, recovered [[Havelberg]], which had been lost since 983. Diplomatic measures were more successful, and by an arrangement made with the last of the Wendish princes of Brandenburg, [[Pribislav of Brandenburg|Pribislav-Henry]] of the [[Hevelli]], Albert secured this district when the prince died in 1150. Taking the title "Margrave in Brandenburg", he pressed the crusade against the Wends, extended the area of his mark, encouraged Dutch and German settlement in the Elbe-Havel region ([[Ostsiedlung]]), 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.

In 1158 a feud with Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, was interrupted by a [[pilgrimage]] to the [[Holy Land]]. On his return in 1160, he, with the consent of his sons, Siegfried not being mentioned, donated land to the [[Knights of Saint John]] in memory of his wife, Sofia, at [[Werben (Elbe)|Werben]] on the Elbe.{{sfn|Freller|2010|p=40}}{{sfn|Freller|2010|p=55}}{{sfn|Lyon|2013|p=35}} Around this same time, he minted a [[pfennig]] in memory of his deceased wife.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}} In 1162 Albert accompanied Emperor [[Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick Barbarossa]] to Italy, where he distinguished himself at the storming of [[Milan]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

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 18 November 1170, and was buried at [[Ballenstedt]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

==Cognomen==
[[Image:Bär 148-KA1.JPG|thumb|upright|Foundation of the memorial to Albert at [[Spandau Citadel]].]]
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 [[Thomas Carlyle]], who called Albert "a restless, much-managing, wide-warring man."{{sfn|Carlyle|1869|pp=59–61}} He was also called "the Handsome."{{sfn|Carlyle|1869|pp=59–61}}

==Marriage and children==
Albert was married in 1124 to [[Sophie of Winzenburg]] (died 25 March 1160) and they had the following children:
# [[Otto I, Margrave of Brandenburg]] (1126/1128–7 March 1184){{sfn|Lyon|2013|p=241}}
# Count Hermann I of Orlamünde (died 1176),{{sfn|Lyon|2013|p=241}} father of [[Siegfried III, Count of Weimar-Orlamünde]]{{sfn|Mielzarek|2020|p=320}}
# [[Siegfried, Count of Anhalt|Siegfried]] (died 24 October 1184), [[Prince-Bishopric of Brandenburg|Bishop of Brandenburg]] from 1173 to 1180, [[Archbishop of Bremen|Prince-Archbishop of Bremen]], the first ranked prince, from 1180 to 1184{{sfn|Lyon|2013|p=241}}
# Heinrich (died after 1185), a canon in [[Magdeburg]]{{sfn|Mielzarek|2020|p=320}}
# Count Albert of [[Ballenstedt]]{{sfn|Mielzarek|2020|p=321}} (died after 6 December 1172){{citation needed|date=April 2024}}
# Count Dietrich of [[Werben (Elbe)|Werben]] (died after 5 September 1183){{sfn|Lyon|2013|p=241}}
# Count [[Bernhard, Count of Anhalt|Bernhard of Anhalt]] (1138/1142{{sfn|Mielzarek|2020|p=293}}–9 February 1212), [[Duke of Saxony]] from 1180 to 1212 as Bernard III{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}
# [[Hedwig of Brandenburg|Hedwig]] (d. 1203), married to [[Otto II, Margrave of Meissen]]{{sfn|Lyon|2013|p=241}}
# Gertrude, married in {{Circa|1153}}{{efn|Mielzarek dates the marriage between 1140 and 1156 with 1153 as the most likely candidate{{sfn|Mielzarek|2020|p=276}}}} to Duke [[Děpold I of Jamnitz|Děpold of Moravia]]{{sfn|Mielzarek|2020|pp=275-276}}
# Unknown daughter,{{efn|Mielzarek suggests that this daughter is identical to the one that married Děpold of Moravia and that the record of "Wladizlaus dux" marrying said daughter is a mistake.{{sfn|Mielzarek|2020|pp=279-281}}}} married {{Circa|1153}} to Vladislav of Olomouc, the eldest son of [[Soběslav I, Duke of Bohemia]]{{sfn|Mielzarek|2020|pp=277-278}}
# Adelheid (died before 1162), a nun in [[Lamspringe]]{{sfn|Mielzarek|2020|p=274}}
# Unknown daughter,{{efn|Mielzarek suggests that she might have been the same daughter as Adelheid if she became a nun after her husband's death in 1148 or 1149.{{sfn|Mielzarek|2020|p=274}}}} married before 1146 Otto the Younger, son of [[Otto I, Count of Salm|Otto of Salm]]{{sfn|Mielzarek|2020|pp=274-275}}
# Sybille (died {{Circa|1170}}), Abbess of [[Quedlinburg Abbey|Quedlinburg]]{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}

==Notes==
{{noteslist}}

==References==
{{reflist|20em}}

===Works cited===
* {{cite book |title=A History of Europe 911–1198 |first=Z.N. |last=Brooke |publisher=Routledge |year=2019 }}
* {{cite book | last=Carlyle | first=Thomas | title=History of Friedrich II. of Prussia: Called Frederick the Great | publisher=Chapman and Hall | issue=v. 1 | year=1869 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QF1HAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA59 | access-date=2 Jul 2023 | pages=59–61}}
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Albert I. (Brandenburg)|display=Albert I.|volume=1|page=494}}
* {{cite book|last=Freller |first=Thomas |title=The German Langue of the Order of Malta |publisher=Midsea Books |location=Malta |year=2010 |isbn=978-99932-7-299-1 }}
*{{cite book |title=Germanisches Altertum und christliches Mittelalter: Festschrift für Heinz Klingenberg zum 65. Geburtstag |editor-first1=Thomas |editor-last1=Krömmelbein |editor-first2=Bela |editor-last2=Brogyanyi |language=de |publisher=Kovač |year=2002 }}
* {{cite book|last=Lyon |first=Jonathan R. |title=Princely Brothers and Sisters: The Sibling Bond in German Politics, 1100–1250 |publisher=Cornell University Press |location=New York |year=2013 |isbn=978-0801451300 }}
* {{cite book|last=Mielzarek |first=Christoph |title=Albrecht der Bär und Konrad von Wettin: Fürstliche Herrschaft in den ostsächsichen Marken im 12. Jahrhundert |language=de |publisher=Böhlau Verlag |location=Cologne |year=2020 |isbn=978-3-412-51870-7 }}

===General references===
* {{cite book|last=Carlyle |first=Thomas |title=History of Frederick the Great |year=1898 }}
* {{cite book|last=Partenheimer |first=Lutz |title=Die Entstehung der Mark Brandenburg: Mit einem lateinisch-deutschen Quellenanhang |publisher=Böhlau |location=Köln |year=2007 |isbn=978-3-412-17106-3}}
* {{cite book | last = Partenheimer | first = Lutz | title = Albrecht der Bär | publisher = Böhlau Verlag | location = Cologne | year = 2003 | isbn = 3-412-16302-3|language=de}}
* {{cite book|last=Schultze |first=Johannes |title=Die Mark Brandenburg: (Bd. I–V in einem Band) |publisher=Duncker & Humblot |year=2011 |isbn=978-3428134809}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Albert the Bear}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080516030944/http://carlyle.classicauthors.net/Friedrich/Friedrich14.html Thomas Carlyle, ''History of Friedrich ii''] Chapter iv: Albert the Bear
*The History Files: [http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsEurope/GermanyBrandenburg.htm Rulers of Brandenburg]

{{S-start}}
{{s-hou|[[House of Ascania]]||c. 1100|18 November|1170 in [[Stendal]]?||name=Albert (German: Albrecht) of Ballenstedt }}
{{s-reg}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Otto, Count of Ballenstedt|Otto the Rich]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[House of Ascania|Count of Anhalt]]|years=1123–1170}} 
{{s-aft|after=[[Bernhard, Count of Anhalt|Bernhard]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Henry II, Duke of Saxony|Henry II]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[Rulers of Saxony|Duke of Saxony]]|years=1138–1142}} 
{{s-aft|after=[[Henry the Lion|Henry III]]}}
{{S-new}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Elector of Brandenburg|Margrave of Brandenburg]]|years=1157–1170}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Otto I, Margrave of Brandenburg|Otto I]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Albert the Bear}}
[[Category:Dukes of Saxony|Albert 00]]
[[Category:Margraves of Brandenburg]]
[[Category:Counts of Anhalt]]
[[Category:People from Brandenburg an der Havel]]
[[Category:Christians of the Wendish Crusade]]
[[Category:1100s births]]
[[Category:1170 deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:Place of birth unknown]]