John I, Duke of Saxony

Duke John I of Saxony (1249 – 30 July 1285, Wittenberg upon Elbe) was the elder son of Duke Albert I of Saxony and his third wife Helen of Brunswick and Lunenburg, a daughter of Otto the Child. John and his younger brother Albert II jointly ruled the Duchy of Saxony after the death of their father Albert I in 1260.

Life

In 1269, 1272 and 1282 the brothers gradually divided their governing competences within the three territorially unconnected Saxon areas (one called Land of Hadeln around Otterndorf, another around Lauenburg upon Elbe and the third around Wittenberg), thus preparing a partition. As part of this arrangement John I became Burgrave of Magdeburg in 1269.

In the imperial election in 1273 Albert II represented the jointly ruling brothers. John I resigned in 1282 in favour of his three minor sons Eric I, John II and Albert III. Later John I entered the Franciscan monastery in Wittenberg, becoming its warden (guardian), which position he held until he died. John I's sons and their uncle Albert II continued the joint rule in Saxony, with the sons entering into the government on growing major. The last document, mentioning Albert II with his nephews as Saxon fellow dukes dates back to 1295.^[1]

Marriage and issue

In 1270 John married Ingeborg Birgersdotter of Småland (*ca. 1253–30 June 1302*, Mölln), a daughter or grandchild of Birger jarl. They had eight children, among them the following:

• Helen (*ca. 1272–1337*), married with (1) Count Günther IX of Schwarzburg-Blankenburg (*?–1289*), (2) in ca. 1297 Adolph VI, Count of Holstein-Schauenburg
• Elisabeth (*ca. 1274– before 1306*), married in 1287 with Valdemar IV, Duke of Schleswig.
• John II (*ca. 1275–22 April 1321*)
• Eric I (*1280/1282–1359/1361*)
• Albert III (*ca. 1281–October 1308*)
• Sophia (*?–13 December 1319*), prioress in Plötzkau

Ancestors

Notes