Conrad I (c. 1097 – 5 February 1157), called Conrad the Great (German: Konrad der Große), a member of the House of Wettin, was Margrave of Meissen from 1123 and Margrave of Lusatia from 1136 until his retirement in 1156. Initially a Saxon count, he became the ruler of extensive Imperial estates in the Eastern March and the progenitor of the Saxon electors and later kings.
Conrad was a key figure in the German eastward expansion and in the consolidation of Wettin power in the region. He strengthened and expanded his territories, securing his position after overcoming early challenges from Emperor Henry V and Count Wiprecht of Groitzsch. His rule promoted the growth of commercial centres such as Leipzig and saw the foundation of Altzella Abbey, which later became a significant economic asset following the discovery of silver nearby.
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Life
Conrad was the son of the Saxon count Thimo of Wettin and his wife Ida, a daughter of Count Otto of Nordheim. Both his father and his maternal grandfather had taken part in the Saxon Rebellion against the Salian king Henry IV. Thimo was the first to style himself Count of Wettin, named after the family’s ancestral seat on the Saale river, while his elder brother Dedi ruled the Saxon March of Lusatia (Eastern March). Dedi’s son Henry the Elder became the first Wettin margrave of Meissen in 1089.
Upon the early death of his father, Conrad succeeded him as Count of Wettin and Brehna. When his cousin Henry the Elder died in 1103, he hoped to be enfeoffed with the Lusatian and Meissen marches by Emperor Henry IV. However, his expectations proved to be false, when Henry's widow Gertrude of Brunswick gave birth to a posthumous son, Henry II. When Henry II attained his majority in 1121, he campaigned against his uncle and had him arrested. Conrad faced an end in prison, but avoided this fate when Henry II died in 1123 at the age of twenty, presumably poisoned.
