Albert I, Duke of Saxony

Albert I, Duke of Saxony
Albert I, Duke of Saxony
Born	c. 1175
Died	7 October 1260
Buried	Lehnin Abbey
Noble family	House of Ascania
Spouse(s)	Agnes of Austria; Agnes of Thuringia; Helene of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Issue	Judith of Saxony; John I, Duke of Saxony; Albert II, Duke of Saxony
Father	Bernard III, Duke of Saxony
Mother	Judith (Jutta) of Poland

Albert I (German: Albrecht I; c. 1175 – 7 October 1260) was a Duke of Saxony, Angria, and Westphalia; Lord of Nordalbingia; Count of Anhalt; and Prince-elector and Archmarshal of the Holy Roman Empire. Even though his grandfather Albert the Bear had held the Saxon dukedom between 1138 and 1142, this Albert is counted as the first.^[1]

^ Different counting traditions developed, following the arguments, that with Albert I's father Bernard ascending to dukedom, this was either (1) a successor of the old stem duchy of Saxony, with its two prior dukes named Bernard or (2) the sharply belittled territorial rest of Saxony remaining after the carve-up of the old duchy in 1180 formed the so-called Younger Duchy of Saxony, whose first duke of this name was then Albert I's father Bernard I (or III). Both traditions compete, more so with Bernard sometimes counted I or III, less so with Albert, usually counted I, but with his grandfather of the same name also having ruled as Saxon duke.