Louis I, Landgrave of Thuringia

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Ludwig I or Louis I (died January 12, 1140) was ruler of Thuringia from 1123 to 1140.

[edit] Biography

The son of Earl Ludwig der Springer ("the jumper") and his wife Adelheid, he was nominated Landgraf of Thuringia by the Emperor Lothair I in 1131.

According to the succession in his line he should have been called Ludwig III, but he won Thuringia for his family and, in case of territorial expansion, it was customary to start from the beginning for the numeral.

Thanks to his marriage with Hedwig of Hesse he obtained the rule over an extensive heritage, after the death of his father-in-law, earl Giso IV, which lead to the union of Thuringia and Hesse. In 1137 Ludwig became as well Landgraf of Hesse-Gudensberg.

His close relationship to the King Lothair III favoured his rise into the rank of a prince. After the death of Lothair, in 1137, Ludwig decided to support the Hohenstaufen in their struggle for power in the Reich against the Welf party. The Landgraf died on January 12, 1140 and was buried inside the monastery/convent of Reinhardsbrunn.