[[Image:Albert I of Brandenburg.jpg|thumb|Monument commemorating Albert at [[Spandau Citadel]], [[Berlin]].]]

'''Albert the Bear''' ({{lang-de|Albrecht der Bär}}; c. [[1100]]–[[18 November]] [[1170]]) was the first [[Margrave of Brandenburg]] (as Albert I) from 1157 to his death and was briefly [[Duke of Saxony]] between 1138 and 1142.

== Life ==
Albert was the only son of [[Otto the Rich]], Count of [[Ballenstedt]], and [[Eilika of Saxony|Eilika]], daughter of [[Magnus, Duke of Saxony|Magnus Billung]], [[Rulers of Saxony|Duke of Saxony]]. He inherited the valuable estates in northern Saxony of his father in 1123, and on his mother's death, in 1142, succeeded to one-half of the lands of the house of [[Billung]]. Albert was a loyal [[vassal]] of his relation, [[Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor|Lothar I, Duke of Saxony]], from whom, about 1123, he received the Margraviate of [[Lusatia]], to the east; after Lothar became [[King of the Germans]], he accompanied him on a disastrous expedition to [[Bohemia]] in 1126, when he suffered a short imprisonment.

Albert's entanglements in Saxony stemmed from his desire to expand his inherited estates there. After the death of his brother-in-law, Henry II, margrave of a small area on the Elbe called the Saxon [[Northern March]], in 1128, Albert, disappointed at not receiving this fief himself, attacked Udo, the heir, and was consequently deprived of Lusatia by Lothar. In spite of this, he went to [[Italy]] in 1132 in the train of the king, and his services there were rewarded in 1134 by the investiture of the Northern March, which was again without a ruler.

Once he was firmly established in the Northern March, Albert's covetous eye lay also on the thinly populated lands to the north and east. Three years he was occupied in campaigns against the Slavic [[Wends]], who as pagans were considered fair game, and whose subjugation to Christianity was the aim of the [[Wendish Crusade]] of 1147 in which Albert took part; diplomatic measures were more successful, and by an arrangement made with the last of the Wendish princes of Brandenburg, [[Pribislav of Brandenburg|Pribislav]] of the [[Hevelli]], Albert secured this district when the prince died in 1150. Taking the title "Margrave of Brandenburg", he pressed the "crusade" against the Wends, extended the area of his mark, encouraged German migration, established bishoprics under his protection, and so became the founder of the [[Margraviate of Brandenburg]] in 1157, which his heirs — the [[House of Ascania]] — held until the line died out in 1320.

[[Image:Adalbertus Siegel.JPG|thumb|175px|left|The seal of Albert the Bear.]]

In 1137 [[Conrad III of Germany|Conrad III]], the Hohenstaufen King of the Germans, deprived Albert's cousin and nemesis, [[Henry X, Duke of Bavaria|Henry the Proud]] of his Saxon duchy, which was awarded to Albert if he could take it. After some initial success in his efforts to take possession, Albert was driven from Saxony, and also from his Northern march by Henry, and compelled to take refuge in south Germany. When peace was made with Henry in 1142, Albert renounced the Saxon duchyand received the Counties of [[Weimar]] and [[Orlamünde]]. It was possibly at this time that Albert was made Arch-Chamberlain of the Empire, an office which afterwards gave the Margraves of Brandenburg the rights of a [[prince-elector]].

In 1158 a feud with Henry's son, [[Henry the Lion]], Duke of Saxony, was interrupted by a pilgrimage to the[[ Holy Land]]. In 1162 Albert accompanied Emperor [[Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick Barbarossa]] to [[Italy]], where he distinguished himself at the storming of [[Milan]].

In 1164 Albert joined a league of princes formed against Henry the Lion, and peace being made in 1169, Albert divided his territories among his six sons. He died on [[November 13]] [[1170]], possibly in [[Stendal]], and was buried at [[Ballenstedt]].

== Cognomen ==
Albert's personal qualities won for him the [[cognomen]] of ''the [[Bear]],'' "not from his looks or qualities, for he was a tall handsome man, but from the cognisance on his shield, an able man, had a quick eye as well as a strong hand, and could pick what way was straightest among crooked things, was the shining figure and the great man of the North in his day, got much in the North and kept it, got Brandenburg for one there, a conspicuous country ever since," says [[Thomas Carlyle|Carlyle]], who called Albert "a restless, much-managing, wide-warring man." He is also called by later writers "the Handsome."

== Family and children ==
[[Image:Bär 148-KA1.JPG|thumb|right|Foundation of the memorial to Albert at [[Spandau Citadel]].]]

Albert was married in 1124 to [[Sofie of Winzenburg]] (died [[25 March]] [[1160]]) and they had the following children:
# [[Otto I, Margrave of Brandenburg]] (1126/1128–[[7 March]] [[1184]])
# Count [[Hermann I of Orlamünde]] (died 1176)
# Siegfried (died [[24 October]] [[1184]]), [[Bishopric of Brandenburg|Bishop of Brandenburg]] from 1173-1180, [[Archbishop of Bremen]] from 1180-1184
# Heinrich (died 1185), a canon in [[Magdeburg]]
# Count [[Albrecht of Ballenstedt]] (died after [[6 December]] [[1172]])
# Count [[Dietrich of Werben]] (died after [[5 September]] [[1183]])
# Count [[Bernhard of Anhalt]] (1140–[[9 February]] [[1212]]), [[Duke of Saxony]] from 1180-1212 as Bernard III
# Hedwig (d. 1203), married to [[Otto, Margrave of Meißen]]
# Daughter, married c. 1152 to [[Vladislav of Bohemia]]
# Adelheid (died 1162), a nun in [[Lamspringe]]
# Gertrude, married in 1155 to Duke [[Diepold of Moravia]]
# Sybille (died c. 1170), Abbess of [[Quedlinburg Abbey|Quedlinburg]]
# Eilika

== External links ==
*[http://carlyle.classicauthors.net/Friedrich/Friedrich14.html Thomas Carlyle, ''History of Friedrich ii''] Chapter iv: Albert the Bear
*The History Files: [http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsEurope/GermanyBrandenburg.htm Rulers of Brandenburg]

{{start box}}
{{succession box|
before=[[Henry II, Duke of Saxony|Henry II]]|
title=[[Rulers of Saxony|Duke of Saxony]]|
years=[[1138]]–[[1142]]|
after=[[Henry the Lion|Henry III]]}}
{{succession box|
before=New creation|
title=[[Elector of Brandenburg|Margrave of Brandenburg]]|
years=[[1157]]–[[1170]]|
after=[[Otto I, Margrave of Brandenburg|Otto I]]}}
{{end box}}

[[Category:Dukes of Saxony]]
[[Category:Margraves of Brandenburg]]
[[Category:House of Ascania]]
[[Category:People from Brandenburg an der Havel]]
[[Category:1100 births]]
[[Category:1170 deaths]]

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[[cs:Albrecht I. Medvěd]]
[[de:Albrecht I. (Brandenburg)]]
[[es:Alberto I de Brandenburgo]]
[[fr:Albert Ier de Brandebourg]]
[[it:Alberto I di Brandeburgo]]
[[nl:Albrecht de Beer]]
[[ja:アルブレヒト1世 (ブランデンブルク辺境伯)]]
[[pl:Albrecht Niedźwiedź]]
[[ru:Альбрехт Медведь]]
[[sv:Albrekt Björnen]]