William I, Margrave of Meissen

William I, the One-Eyed (19 December 1343, Dresden – 9 February 1407, Schloss Grimma) was Margrave of Meissen. His nickname is related to the legend that Saint Benno appeared to him because of his disputes with the Church in a dream and he had an eye gouged out.

William I, Margrave of Meissen
Born	19 December 1343 Dresden
Died	9 February 1407(1407-02-09) (aged 63) Grimma Castle
Noble family	House of Wettin
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth of Moravia Anna of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Father	Frederick II, Margrave of Meissen
Mother	Mathilde of Bavaria

Life

William was the son of Frederick II, Margrave of Meissen and Mathilde of Bavaria. He had his father and the country until 1382 reigned together with his older brothers and alternately. After his brother Frederick III died 1381, he performed in 1382 with the remaining heirs so-called Division of Chemnitz, in which he was awarded the Margraviate of Meissen for an inheritance. Since 1395 he managed as governor (vicarius) Jobst of Moravia (his brother in law) and the March of Brandenburg. William was one of the most active Wettin princes, worked cleverly to the removal of powers of small noble-free estates in the interior of Meissen and the defence of the Bohemian House of Luxembourg. He also acquired the rule of Colditz, brought the rich possessions of the Burgraviate of Dohna, which he sold (Dohna Feud), in itself, and was a great patron of the Meissen Cathedral whose exemption he successfully helped to enforce. In 1404 William founded the Augustinian Monastery in Dresden, and fitted it out with possessions.

William's first wife was Elizabeth of Moravia (d. 1400), after whose death he married his second wife Anna of Brunswick, daughter of Otto I of Brunswick. Both marriages were childless, so his inheritance fell to his nephews Frederick the Peaceful, Frederick the Belligerent and William the Rich.

Ancestry

Ancestors of William I, Margrave of Meissen

16. Henry III, Margrave of Meissen 8. Albert II, Margrave of Meissen 17. Constantia of Austria 4. Frederick I, Margrave of Meissen 18. Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor 9. Margaret of Sicily 19. Isabella of England 2. Frederick II, Margrave of Meissen 20. Otto IV, Count of Lobdeburg-Arnshaugk 10. Hartmann XI, Count of Lobdeburg-Arnshaugk 21. Hedwig of Schwarzburg 5. Elizabeth of Lobdeburg-Arnshaugk 22. Hermann III, Count of Weimar-Orlamünde 11. Elisabeth, Countess of Weimar-Orlamünde 1. William I, Margrave of Meissen 24. Otto II Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria 12. Louis II, Duke of Bavaria 25. Agnes of the Palatinate 6. Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor 26. Rudolf I of Germany 13. Matilda of Habsburg 27. Gertrude of Hohenberg 3. Mathilde of Bavaria 28. Bolesław II Rogatka 14. Bolko I the Strict 29. Hedwig of Anhalt 7. Beatrix of Silesia-Glogau 30. Otto V, Margrave of Brandenburg-Salzwedel 15. Beatrice of Brandenburg 31. Judith of Henneberg-Coburg

References

• Matthias Donath: Die Grabmonumente im Dom zu Meißen. Leipziger Universitätsverlag, 2005, ISBN 978-3-937209-45-6, S. 285-287.
• Heinrich Theodor Flathe (1898), "Wilhelm I., Markgraf von Meißen", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 43, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 118–124
• Carl Wenck: Die Wettiner im XIV. Jahrhundert insbesondere Markgraf Wilhelm und König Wenzel nebst einem Exkurs: Der vogtländische Krieg, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1877