Balthasar, Landgrave of Thuringia

Balthasar, Landgrave of Thuringia
Landgrave Balthasar in his fight against the robber barons (fresco by Moritz von Schwind in the Landgrave's room in the Wartburg in Eisenach)
Born	(1336-12-21)21 December 1336 Weißenfels
Died	18 May 1406(1406-05-18) (aged 69) Wartburg in Eisenach
Noble family	House of Wettin
Spouse(s)	Margaret of Nuremberg Anna of Saxe-Wittenberg
Issue	Frederick IV, Landgrave of Thuringia
Father	Frederick II, Margrave of Meissen
Mother	Mathilde of Bavaria

Landgrave Balthasar of Thuringia (21 December 1336 in Weißenfels – 18 May 1406 at the Wartburg in Eisenach) was Margrave of Meissen and Landgrave of Thuringia from the House of Wettin.

Life

Balthasar was the second son of Frederick the Serious. After his father's death in 1349, his elder brother Frederick the Austere acted as regent and guardian for Balthasar and his brothers William I and Louis. After they came of age, William and Balthasar ruled jointly with Frederick.

After Frederick's death, a conflict arose between the brothers Balthasar and William on the one hand, and their nephews, Frederick the Warlike, William the rich and George on the other hand. This was resolved on November 1382, with the so-called Division of Chemnitz in which Balthasar received the Landgraviate of Thuringia.

Marriage and issue

Balthasar first married, in the spring of 1374, with Margaret, the daughter of Burgrave Albert of Nuremberg (d. 1390). With her, he had a son and a daughter:

• Frederick the Peaceable, who succeeded him as Landgrave of Thuringia
• Anna of Meissen (d. 4 July 1395), who married Rudolf III, Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg

After Margaret's death, Balthasar married Anna of Saxe-Wittenberg (d. 1426), the widow of Duke Frederick I of Brunswick-Lüneburg. This marriage remained childless.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Balthasar, Landgrave of Thuringia

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. Balthasar, Landgrave of Thuringia 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

• Heinrich Theodor Flathe (1875), "Balthasar", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 2, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, p. 27