Albert II of Meissen

Albert II the Wicked (German Albrecht der Unartige (der Entartete), Erfurt, ? 1240 - November 13, 1314) was a German nobleman, Margrave of Meissen and Landgrave of Thuringia. He was the son of Henry III the Illustrious and Constance of Austria (daughter of Duke Leopold VI Babenberg of Austria).

Biography

His marriage in 1253 to Margaret of Hohenstaufen, daughter of Emperor Frederick II, brought to the House of Wettin the territory of Pleissenland (which runs through the Pleisse River, a tributary of the White Elster) with the cities of Altenburg, Zwickau and Chemnitz. When his father decided to distribute among his children some of his territories, Alberto as the eldest son received the largest portion, the Landgraviate of Thuringia.

In 1270 he disowned his wife and locked her up in the Wartburg Castle to live with his mistress Cunegonde of Eisenberg. Daisy managed to escape but died shortly after in Frankfurt (August 1270). The small children of Margarita, Federico and Teodorico go with their uncle Dietrich IV the Wise who welcomes them in Lusatia.

In 1274 he married Cunegonde and legitimized their son Enrique (known as Apitz), born in 1270 before his father's divorce. He makes the eldest son Enrique (son of Margarita) Lord of Pleissenland but the younger sons Federico and Teodorico, who are protected by their uncle Dietrich until he dies in 1284, see how Apitz is becoming the preferred and possible heir, and they begin to dispute with his own father, whom they surround in his Wartburg Castle.

When Henry III the Illustrious dies in 1288, family disputes over his inheritance turn into wars. Alberto allies with his nephew Federico Tuta, Dietrich's son, and they divide the brand between them, later he sells Federico his part of the Meissen Brand. However, he is defeated by his sons to whom he must cede the rights to the brand. Likewise, the German kings Adolf of Nassau and Albert I of Habsburg claim the territories of Thuringia.

With the death of Cunegonde, and his marriage in 1290 with his son's mother-in-law, Elizabeth of Orlamünde, both reconcile and Alberto names his son heir and he will succeed him in Thuringia in 1307.

Titles

• Landgrave of Turingia (1265-1307)
• Saxony Palatine Count (1265-1307)
• Margrave de Meissen-Lusace (1288-1292)

Marriages

1. Daughter of Hohenstaufen, daughter of Emperor Frederick II
2. Cunegunda de Eisenberg
3. Isabel de Orlamünde

Offspring

With Margarita he had:

1. Enrique (Lord of Pleissnerlands),
2. Federico I the Mordedor
3. Theodoric, called in German Dietzmann, Baja Lusace
4. Inés (house with Enrique I Duque de Braunschweig-Grubenhagen)

With Cunegonde he had:

1. Enrique (Mr. Tenneberg)
2. Isabel (house with Henry III of Frankenstein)