Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Brandenburg, Tyskland; Også nevnt som Albrecht 1 der Bär av Sachsen.

Albrecht married Sofie av Winzenberg in 1124. Sofie (daughter of Herman av Winzenberg, "Herman 1" and Hedvig av Assel) was born in 1107; died in 1160. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Herman av Orlamünde was born about 1130; died about 1176.
2. Bernhard av Sachsen, "Bernhard 3" was born in 1140; died in 1212.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Before 1106, Hartz, Niedersachsen, Tyskland; Greve av Ballenstedt.
• Occupation: Abt 1112, Sachsen, Tyskland; Hertug av Sachsen.

Notes:

Occupation:
Otto den rike (Otto der Reiche), född 1070/1073, död 9 februari 1123, begravd i Ballenstedts klosterkyrka, greve av Ballenstedt och Anhalt, greve i Schwaben- och Nordthüringengau, hertig av Sachsen 1112. Son till greve Adalbert II av Ballenstedt (mördad 1077/1083) och Adelheid av Weimar-Orlamünde (död 1100).

Otto "den rike" är den förste askaniern att i en samtida källa från 1106 kallas för comes de Ballenstedt (greve av Ballenstedt). Han omnämns 14 gånger i urkunder mellan åren 1083-1123. Brodern Siegfried var troligen yngre eftersom Otto nämns som greve före denne.

Otto delade arvet efter faderns död med sin bror Siegfried och erhöll då grevskapen i Schwabengau. Otto adopterades av styvfadern Heinrich von Laach, och efter sistnämndes död 1095 genomfördes en ny delning med brodern Siegfried varvid Otto erhöll samtliga sin far Adalberts besittningar. Därmed var han greve av Anhalt samt greve i Schwaben- och Nordthüringgau. Otto ägnade sig så en tid åt att förvalta besittningarna i Harz och längs Saale.

I det 1104 påbörjade tyska tronkriget mellan kejsar Heinrich IV och dennes son Heinrich V övergick Otto till Heinrich V. Otto hoppades på att kunna bli sin svärfars, hertig Magnus av Sachsen, efterträdare. Hertigdömet Sachsen tillföll dock istället greve Lothar von Supplinburg. Först 1112, då Lothar fallit i onåd hos kejsaren, kunde Otto ikläda sig rollen som hertig av Sachsen, och åtföljde som sådan kejsaren till belägringen av Salzwedel. Då kejsaren strax underkastade den rebelliske Lothar återinsattes sistnämnde som sachsisk hertig 1112, varför Otto avsattes.

1113 dödades Ottos bror Siegfried av kejsar Heinrich V:s partigängare Hoyer von Mansfeld. Då kejsaren till följd härav beslagtog Siegfrieds allodier anslöt sig Otto, såsom varande Siegfrieds bror och förmyndare åt dennes söner, troligen redan då till kejsarens motståndare. 1114, då kejsaren härjade i Sachsen, utnyttjade de slaviska venderna tillfället att falla in i Sachsen varvid Ottos besittningar plundrades. I ett slag vid Köthen 9 februari 1115 slog Otto deras numerärt överlägsna här. De besegrade förföljdes och Otto bet sig fast på högra stranden av floden Elbe. Därmed vann han här i slaviska Gau Cierwisti huset Anhalts första besittningar, dit bland annat Coswig, Rosslau och Burow räknas. Med hertig Lothars hjälp kunde Otto hävda sina positioner.

Som förmyndare åt sina brorsöner måste Otto ständigt gripa in i striderna i Rhein-Pfalz. Vid fredsförhandlingarna 1122 bekräftades huset Anhalts besittning av Weimar.

Kilder:
Schwennicke Detlev: Europäische Stammtafeln Neue Folge Band I. 1, Vittorio Klostermann GmbH Frankfurt am Main 1998 Tafel 11.
Thiele, Andreas: Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte Band I, Teilband 1, R. G. Fischer Verlag Frankfurt/Main 1993 Tafel 158.
Assing Helmut: Die frühen Askanier und ihre Frauen. Kulturstiftung Bernburg 2002 Seite 9-12.
Assing Helmut: Brandenburg, Anhalt und Thüringen im Mittelalter. Askanier und Ludowinger beim Aufbau fürstlicher Territorialherrschaften. Böhlau Verlag Köln Weimar Wien 1997 Seite 178,187-189,196,198,201,207.
Hildebrand Ruth: Herzog Lothar von Sachsen. Verlag August Lax Hildesheim 1986 Seite 23,52,61,63.
Partenheimer Lutz: Albrecht der Bär. Gründer der Mark Brandenburg und des Fürstentums Anhalt. Böhlau Verlag Köln Weimar Wien 2001.

Otto married Elika av Sachsen before 1095. Elika (daughter of Magnus av Sachsen, "Billung" and Sofie av Ungarn) was born about 1080; died on 16 Jan 1142. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Before 1076, Hartz, Niedersachsen, Tyskland; Greve og namsmann (Graf in Saxony and Vogt of Nienburg Abbey).

Notes:

Occupation:
Adalbert 2, Count of Ballenstedt (c.1030 – 1076/83) was a member of the House of Ascania and was Graf in Saxony and Vogt of Nienburg Abbey.

Adelbert was born at Ballenstedt in Eastphalia, the son of Esiko, Count of Ballenstedt and his wife Mathilde, probably a daughter of Duke Herman 2 of Swabia.

About 1068 he married Adelheid, daughter of Margrave Otto 1 of Meissen and his wife Adele. Their two sons were Otto the Rich and Siegfried of Orlamünde, later Count Palatine of the Rhine.

According to chronicler Lambert of Hersfeld, Adalbert supported Margrave Dedi 1 of the Saxon Eastern March in his 1069 conflict with King Henry 4. Dedi from the House of Wettin had married Adalbert's mother-in-law Adele, widow since 1067, and claimed the possessions of her deceased husband Otto of Meissen. Both had to surrender in short order, Adalbert however remained a fierce opponent of the king. From 1073 on he participated in the Great Saxon Revolt under Otto of Nordheim for which he was arrested in 1075. Even after his release he backed antiking Rudolf of Rheinfelden until he was finally killed in a feud at Westdorf near Aschersleben by one of Henry's liegemen.

Adalbert's widow married Count Palatine Hermann 2 of Lotharingia from the Ezzonid dynasty and – in her third marriage – Count Palatine Henry of Laach from the House of Luxembourg, father of her son Siegfried.

Albrecht married Adelheid av Meissen in 1070. Adelheid (daughter of Otto av Meissen and Adele av Löwen) was born about 1055; died about 1100. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
Greve og grevinne av Ballenstädt og Weimar.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Abt 1072, Sachsen, Tyskland; Hertug.

Notes:

Occupation:
Han etterfulgte faren som hertug i 1072 og vokste til å bli en bitter fiende av erkebiskop Adalbert av Hamburg og Bremen.

Før Magnus ble hertug drev han gjennom hans avsettelse i 1066 fordi erkebiskopen hadde utnyttet sin herskermakt til å berike kirken med krongods, men Adalbert av Bremen kom senere tilbake.

Siden Magnus hadde støttet Otto 2 av Bayerns opprør mot Henrik 4 ble han tatt til fange i 1070, og satt fanget i 3 år.
Han ble på nytt tatt til fange av Henrik 4 i 1075, og denne gangen ble han frigitt året etter.

Etterhvert kom en forsoning i stand mellom Henrik 4 og Magnus, og stod Magnus på Henriks side under kampene mot liutieserne.

Huset Billungs herredømme over Sachsen endte i 1106 da Magnus døde uten å etterlate seg mannlige arvinger. Billungernes tid som hertuger av Sachsen hadde spent over 4 generasjoner.

Magnus hadde mange etterkommere, bl.a. i fyrstehuset Oldenburg, og gjennom ham kan det nåværende norske kongehuset regne sine aner tilbake til sagatidens norske konger.

Died:
Erthenburg

Magnus married Sofie av Ungarn about 1071 in Sachsen, Tyskland. Sofie (daughter of Bela av Ungarn, "Bela 1" and Rikitza av Polen) was born about 1044; died on 18 Jun 1095. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Before 1059, Hartz, Niedersachsen, Tyskland; Greve av Ballenstedt.

Notes:

Occupation:
Esico av Ballenstedt regnes som stamfar til Askanierne, dvs det eldste kjente medlemmet av denne slekten.
Det vites lite om han, men han skal ha vært greve av Schwabengau og Harzgau med sete i Ballenstedt.

Nevnt som greve av Schwabengaues, Harzgaues, Hardagaues, av Nordthüringgaues og Gau Serimunt, såvel som namsmann (tysk: Vogt) av Hagenrode (ved Alexisbad) og Nienburg.

Som hans far regnes Adalbert 1 av Ballenstedt, men noen bevis finnes ikke. Det regnes med at han arvet eiendommene av Odo 1, markgreve av Sachsen Ostmark, som muligens var hans bestefar.

Escio døde trolig i 1060.

Barn:
Otto, Adalbert 2 og Adelheid.

Eisicho married Mathilde av Werl. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
Greve og grevinne

Otto married Adele av Löwen about 1055 in Weimar, Thüringen, Tyskland. Adele (daughter of Lambert av Löwen-Brabant, "Lambert 2" and Oda av Lothringen) died about 1083. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
Greve og grevinne av Weimar-Orlamünde.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Abt 1059, Sachsen, Tyskland; Hertug.

Notes:

Occupation:
Snorre kaller ham for - Otta av Brunsvik - (Braunsschweig) i Saksland.

Ordulf etterfulgte faren som hertug i 1059 og hans tid som regent ble preget av striden mot venderne, en kamp han førte sammen med de kristne danskene.

I 1061 bygde han seg en borg i Hamburg, den såkalte Wasserburg (også kalt Neue Burg) rett utenfor byvollen. Dette var en oppblomstringstid for Hamburg, og byen var året før blitt delt slik at erkebiskopen regjerte gamlebyen (Altstadt) og billungerhertugene den nye by (Neustadt). Hamburg var på nytt blitt utgangspunkt for misjon både mot øst og nord.

Det området som på 1000-tallet utgjorde Sachsen lå betydelig lenger nordvest i Tyskland enn den moderne delstaten Sachsen. Det lå hovedsakelig mellom elvene Rhinens og Elbes nedre løp og dekket områder som i moderne tid faller under Westfalen, Niedersachsen, Bremen, Hamburg, Holstein og den nordlige del av Sachsen-Anhalt.

Ordulf hadde gjennom Magnus-grenen mange etterkommere, bl.a. i fyrstehuset Oldenburg, slik at via den linjen kan det nåværende norske kongehuset regne sine aner tilbake til sagatidens norske konger.

Died:
Ordulf ble begravet i St.Michaelis-kirken i Lüneburg.

Ordulv married Ulvhild (Wulfhild) Olavsdatter about Nov 1042. Ulvhild (daughter of Olav Haraldsen av Norge, "Olav 2" and Estrid (Astrid) Olofsdatter av Sverige, "av Norge") was born about 1020; died on 24 May 1071. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Birth:
Astrids morskap til Ulvhild er noe uklart da noen kilder mener at hun var datter av Alvhild, en frille Olav Digre hadde med seg fra England.

Notes:

Married:
Ordulf hadde i november 1042 giftet seg med Ulvhild (på tysk kjent som Wulfhild), datter av Olav den hellige og halvsøster av den da regjerende kong Magnus den gode av Norge (1035-1047) og Danmark (1042-1047). Dette ekteskapet styrket alliansen med skandinavene.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Bef 1063, Ungarn; Konge.

Notes:

Birth:
Esztergom, Komarom-Esztergom.

Occupation:
Béla 1 the Champion or the Wisent (Hungarian: 1. Bajnok or Bölény Béla, Slovak: Belo 1.; before 1020 – 11 September 1063) was King of Hungary from 1060 until his death. He descended from a younger branch of the Árpád dynasty. Béla's baptismal name was Adalbert. He left Hungary in 1031, together with his brothers, Levente and Andrew, after the execution of their father, Vazul. Béla settled in Poland and married Richeza (or Adelaide), daughter of King Mieszko 2 of Poland.

He returned to his homeland upon the invitation of his brother Andrew, who had in the meantime been crowned King of Hungary. Andrew assigned the administration of the so-called ducatus or - duchy - which encompassed around 1/3 of the territory of the Kingdom of Hungary, to Béla. The 2 brothers' relationship became tense when Andrew had his own son, Solomon, crowned king, and forced Béla to publicly confirm Solomon's right to the throne in 1057 or 1058. Béla, assisted by his Polish relatives, rebelled against his brother and dethroned him in 1060. He introduced monetary reform and subdued the last uprising aimed at the restoration of paganism in Hungary. Béla was fatally injured when his throne collapsed while he was sitting on it.

Most Hungarian chronicles, including Simon of Kéza's Gesta Hungarorum and the Illuminated Chronicle, record that Béla's father was Ladislaus the Bald, a cousin of Stephen, the first King of Hungary. However, many of the same sources add that it is sometimes claimed that Béla and his two brothers—Levente and Andrew—were in fact the sons of Ladislaus the Bald's brother, Vazul. The chronicles also refer to gossip claiming that the 3 brothers were their father's illegitimate sons, born to a girl from the Tátony clan. Modern historians, who accept the latter reports' reliability, unanimously write that the 3 brothers were the sons of Vazul and his concubine.

Béla was born between 1015 and 1020. It is debated whether Béla was a second or a third son. The former view is represented, for example, by the Polish historian Wincenty Swoboda, and the latter by the Hungarian scholars Gyula Kristó and Ferenc Makk. Kristó and Makk write that Béla's name most probably derived from the Turkish adjective bujla (noble). However, the name may also be connected to the Slavic word for white (bjelij) or to the Biblical name Bela.

King Stephen's only son who survived infancy, Emeric, died on 2 September 1031. Thereafter, Vazul had the strongest claim to succeed the King. However, the monarch, suspecting that Vazul inclined towards paganism, favored his own sister's son, Peter Orseolo. In order to ensure his nephew's succession, Stephen had Vazul blinded. Béla and his two brothers fled from the kingdom.

They first settled in Bohemia, but their condition of life was poor and mean there. They moved to Poland, where they received a warm reception from King Mieszko 2. According to the Hungarian chronicles, Béla participated in a Polish expedition against the pagan Pomeranians and defeated their duke in single combat. The Illuminated Chronicle narrates that the Polish monarch praised the boldness and strength of Duke Béla and bestowed on him all the Pomeranian tribute. The King even gave his daughter—named either Richeza or Adelaide—in marriage to Béla and granted a goodly quantity of land to him. Makk says that Béla was not baptized until just before his marriage; his baptismal name was the Germanic (not in citation given) one of Adalbert.

At that time the Pomeranians refused to pay their yearly tribute to the Duke of Poland, to whom they were subject. The Duke set out to exact by force of arms the tribute due to him from the Pomeranians. Then the Pomeranians, who were pagans, and the Poles, who were Christians, agreed together that their leaders should meet each other in a duel, and if the Pomeranian fell defeated, he would render the customary tribute; and if the Pole, then he might bewail its loss. Since (the) Duke (Mieszko) and his sons shrank in fear from the duel to be fought, (Béla) presented himself before them and through an interpreter spoke thus:

If it is pleasing to you, Poles, and to the lord Duke, although I am of nobler birth than that pagan, yet I will fight for the advantage of your kingdom and for the honour of the Duke.

This was pleasing both to the Pomeranians and to the Poles. When they met in combat, armed with lances, (Béla) is said to have struck the Pomeranian so manfully that he unseated him from his horse; and the Pomeranian could not move from the spot where he had fallen, and [Béla] smote him with his sword. Then the Duke of the Pomeranians confessed himself at fault; and the Pomeranians, seeing this, humbly submitted to the Duke of Poland and paid the accustomed tribute without murmuring.

— The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle.

King Mieszko 2 died in 1034; his son and heir, Casimir was forced to leave Poland. A period of anarchy followed, which lasted at least until 1039 when Casimir returned. According to Kristó and Makk, Béla was staying in Poland during this period; he even may have administered the kingdom in the name of his absent brother-in-law.[17] On the other hand, the Polish historian, Manteuffel writes that Béla and his two brothers, in contrast with the unanimous report of the Hungarian chronicles, arrived in Poland only with Casimir, after 1039. It is beyond a doubt that Levente and Andrew departed from Poland in about 1038, because—according to the Illuminated Chronicle—they did not want to live the life of hangers-on in the Duke of Poland's court, regarded only as Béla's brothers.

Upon leaving Poland, Andrew and Levente settled in Kiev. They returned to Hungary after a rebellion which was dominated by pagans broke out against King Peter Orseolo in 1046. The King was dethroned, and Andrew was proclaimed king. Levente died in the same year and Andrew, still childless, decided to invite Béla back to Hungary.

Having lost one brother, King Andreas sent to Poland to his other brother Bela, calling him with great love and saying:

Once we shared poverty and labour together, and now I ask you, most beloved brother, that you come to me without tarrying, so that we may be companions in joy and share in the good things of the kingdom, rejoicing in each other's presence. For I have neither heir nor brother except you. You shall be my heir, and you shall succeed me in the kingdom.

Won by these words, Béla came to the King with all his family. When the King saw him, he rejoiced with a great joy, because he was fortified by his brother's strength. Then the King and his brother Bela held a council and divided the kingdom into three parts, of which two remained under the proprietorship of the royal majesty or power and the third was put under the proprietorship of the Duke. This first division of the kingdom became the seed of discord and wars between the dukes and the kings of Hungary.

— The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle.

Urged by his brother, Béla returned in 1048 and received one-third of the kingdom, with the title of duke. Béla's ducatus or duchy encompassed large territories along the eastern and northern borders, including the regions of Nyitra (Nitra, Slovakia) and Bihar (Biharia, Romania). He possessed a wide range of royal prerogatives, including coinage. The half-denars minted for him bore the inscription BELA DUX (Duke Béla). According to Steinhübel, the mid-11th-century timber and earth walls of the fortress of Nyitra were erected in Béla's reign.

The 2 brothers closely collaborated in the subsequent years. According to the Illuminated Chronicle, they together worked out a military strategy against the Germans, who were frequently invading the kingdom in the early 1050s. Ferenc Makk writes that Béla's epithets—the Champion or the Wisent — are connected to his fighting against the Germans. The chronicler emphasizes that Andrew and Béla lived in a great tranquillity of peace even after Andrew fathered a son, Solomon, in 1053. Béla was one of the lords witnessing the deed of the foundation of the Tihany Abbey, a Benedictine monastery that his brother established in 1055.

The 2 brothers' good relationship deteriorated after King Andrew had the child Solomon crowned king in 1057 or 1058. The coronation was the consequence of the peace negotiations with the Holy Roman Empire, because the Germans did not acquiesce in a marriage between Solomon and Judith—the sister of the young German monarch, Henry IV—until Solomon's right to succeed his father was declared and publicly confirmed. Thereafter Andrew was determined to secure the throne for his son. He invited Béla to his manor in Tiszavárkony, where the King offered his brother a seemingly free choice between a crown and a sword (which were the symbols of the royal and ducal power, respectively). However, he had ordered that Béla be murdered if he chose the crown. Having been informed of his brother's secret plan by one of his own partisans in the royal court, Béla opted for the sword, but he departed for Poland after the meeting.

He returned to Hungary, in the autumn of 1060, with Polish troops that Duke Boleslaus the Bold of Poland had provided. Around the same time, German reinforcements arrived in Hungary to assist Andrew against Béla. The ensuing civil war ended with the victory of Béla, who defeated his brother in two successive battles fought at the river Tisza and at Moson. The King was seriously injured and died soon afterward. His partisans took his son, the child Solomon, to Germany.

Béla was crowned king in Székesfehérvár on 6 December 1060. He ordered that the wives and sons and all the property of all those who had followed his nephew to Germany should be protected and kept safe and sound, which induced many of Solomon's partisans to reconcile themselves to Béla's rule and return to Hungary. He reformed the coinage and introduced large coins of purest silver into circulation. In order to stabilize the new currency, Béla maximized the prices and eliminated the black market. He also ordered that weekly markets should be held on Saturdays, instead of Sundays, in the kingdom. The historian Nora Berend says that the latter measure may have adversely affected Jewish activities, because Jews, who observed the Sabbath, could not work on Saturdays.

Béla decided to discuss his innovations with the representatives of the freemen, and sent heralds throughout all Hungary to summon two elders with gift of speech from each village to a royal council, according to the Illuminated Chronicle. A great crowd of commoners gathered in Székesfehérvár in 1061. They demanded the restoration of paganism and the murder of clergymen, but Béla collected his army and suppressed their uprising within three days.

Béla attempted to conclude a peace treaty with the Holy Roman Empire. For this purpose, shortly after his coronation, he released all German commanders who had assisted his brother during the civil war. However, the young German monarch's advisors refused Béla's proposals.In the summer of 1063, an assembly of the German princes decided to launch a military expedition against Hungary to restore young Solomon to the throne. Béla was planning to abdicate in favor of his nephew if the latter restored his former ducatus, but he was seriously injured when his throne broke beneath him in his manor at Dömös. The King—who was half-dead, according to the Illuminated Chronicle—was taken to the western borders of his kingdom, where he died at the creek Kinizsa on 11 September 1063. Béla was buried in the Benedictine Szekszárd Abbey, which he had set up in 1061. Following Béla's death, his three sons—Géza, Ladislaus and Lampert—sought refuge in Poland, and Solomon ascended the throne.

Béla married, in about 1033, a daughter of King Mieszko 2 of Poland. According to Makk, her name was either Richesa or Adelheid. Their eldest children, Géza and Ladislaus - who became kings of Hungary in 1074 and 1077, respectively — were born in Poland in the 1040s. Béla's third son, Lampert, was born after Béla's return to Hungary.

Lampert was followed by a daughter named Sophia, who was first married to Margrave Ulric 1 of Carniola, and later to Duke Magnus of Saxony. Her younger sister, Euphemia, became the wife of Duke Otto 1 of Olomouc. Béla's third daughter, Helena, was the queen of King Demetrius Zvonimir of Croatia. An unnamed daughter of Béla became the first wife of a Hungarian nobleman, Lampert of the Clan Hont-Pázmány. According to the historian Martin Dimnik, Béla also fathered a fifth daughter, Lanka, who was the wife of Prince Rostislav Vladimirovich of Tmutarakan.

Bela married Rikitza av Polen. Rikitza (daughter of Mieszko av Polen, "Mieszko 2" and Richiza av Saalfeld og Lothringen) was born about 1018 in Krakow, Polen; died after 1052. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]