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List of margraves of Meissen

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See also: List of margravines of Meissen
Coat of arms of the Margraves of Meissen, Ingeram Codex (1459)

This article lists the margraves of Meissen, a march and territorial state on the eastern border of the Holy Roman Empire.

History

King Henry the Fowler, on his 928–29 campaign against the Slavic Glomacze tribes, had a fortress erected on a hill at Meissen (Mišno) on the Elbe river. Later named Albrechtsburg, the castle about 965 became the seat of the Meissen margraves, installed by Emperor Otto I when the vast Marca Geronis (Gero's march) was partitioned into five new margraviates, including Meissen, the Saxon Eastern March, and also the Northern March which eventually became the Margraviate of Brandenburg.

During the tenth century, the Meissen margraves temporarily extended their territory into the Milceni lands up to the Kwisa (Queis) river and the border with the Silesian region of the Early Polish state. The eastern lands around Bautzen (Budissin), later known as Upper Lusatia, were ceded to the Polish duke Bolesław I the Brave according to the 1018 Peace of Bautzen; in 1076 they passed to the Duke of Bohemia as an Imperial fief.

From 1089, the Meissen margravial title became the honor of the Saxon House of Wettin and remained as the dynasty's possession ever since. In the 13th century the Meissen margraves acquired the former Pleissnerland territory and upon the War of the Thuringen Succession 1247–1264 also the adjacent Landgraviate of Thuringia in the west. Finally in 1423 Margrave Frederick the Warlike was enfeoffed with the Saxe–Wittenberg lands down the Elbe ('Upper Saxony'), an electorate according to the Golden Bull of 1356. While the Wettin rulers eventually moved their residence to Dresden, the Meissen margraviate merged into their electorate and became known as the 'Cradle of Saxony'.

List

Affiliation Name Years Comments
Wigbert 965–970 Received the Meissen territory upon the death of Margrave Gero
Thietmar 970–979 Son of Count Christian of Serimunt, also Margrave of Merseburg
Ekkeharding Gunther of Merseburg[dubious – discuss] 981–982 also Margrave of Merseburg
Rikdag 979–985 since 982 also Margrave of Merseburg, removes Wigger in Zeitz, Gunther in Merseburg and Wigbert in Meißen as Margrave
Ekkeharding Eckard I 985–1002 Son of Gunther of Merseburg
Ekkeharding Gunzelin 1002–1009
Ekkeharding Herman I 1009–1031
Ekkeharding Eckard II 1031–1046
Weimar-Orlamünde William 1046–1062
Weimar-Orlamünde Otto I 1062–1067 Died without male heirs
Brunonen Egbert I 1067–1068
Brunonen Egbert II 1068–1089 Revolted against King Henry IV in 1076
Přemyslid Vratislaus II of Bohemia[dubious – discuss] 1076–1089 Enfeoffed by King Henry IV in turn for his support, though never confirmed
Wettin Henry I 1089–1103 Son of Margrave Dedi I of the Saxon Ostmark, first Wettin ruler
Wettin Thimo 1103
Wettin Henry II 1104–1123
Wiprecht 1123–1124
Winzenburg Herman II 1124–1130
Wettin Conrad 1130–1156
Wettin Otto II 1156–1190
Wettin Albert I 1190–1195 Followed by the direct rule of the Emperor Henry VI
Wettin Dietrich I 1198–1221
Wettin Henry III 1221–1288
Wettin Albert II 1288 Son of Henry III the Illustrious
Wettin Frederick I 1291–1323
Nassau Adolf 1293–1298
Habsburg Albert III 1298–1307
Wettin Frederick II 1323–1349 Son of Frederick I the Peaceful
Wettin Frederick III 1349–1381 Son of Frederick II the Serious
Wettin Balthasar 1349–1382 Son of Frederick II the Serious
Wettin William I 1349–1407 Son of Frederick II the Serious
Wettin George 1381–1402 Son of Frederick III the Strict
Wettin William II 1381–1425 Son of Frederick III the Strict
Wettin Frederick IV 1381–1428 Son of Frederick III the Strict
Wettin Frederick V 1407–1440 Son of Balthasar, heir of William I

As a title in pretense

After the abolition of all German monarchies in 1918 and the death of Friedrich August III, the last king of Saxony, in 1932, further heads of the house and pretenders to the throne have used the title Margrave of Meissen.

See also

References

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