Waldemar, Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal

Waldemar
Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal
Statue of Waldemar at the Mühlendamm Bridge in Berlin, created in 1894/95 by the sculptor Max Unger, prototype for the early monuments in the Siegesallee
Reign	1305-1319
Spouse(s)	Agnes of Brandenburg
Noble family	House of Ascania
Father	Conrad, Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal
Mother	Constance of Greater Poland
Born	c.  1280
Died	14 August 1319(1319-08-14) Bärwalde

Waldemar the Great (German: Waldemar der Große; c. 1280 – 14 August 1319), a member of the House of Ascania, was Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal from 1305 until his death. He became sole ruler of the Margraviate of Brandenburg upon the death of his cousin Margrave John V of Brandenburg-Salzwedel in 1317.

Life

He was a son of Margrave Conrad of Brandenburg-Stendal and his wife Constance, daughter of the Piast duke Przemysł I of Greater Poland. Waldemar was co-regent from 1302, and succeeded in 1309 as a guardian for his minor cousin Henry II of Brandenburg-Stendal.

Pomerelia within a map of the State of the Teutonic Order in 1410

After the Teutonic takeover of Danzig (Gdańsk), Waldemar by the 1309 Treaty of Soldin relinquished his claims on the lands of Pomerelia (Gdańsk Pomerania) east of the Łeba River to the Teutonic Knights for a payment of 10,000 silver Mark. The castle districts Schlawe and Stolp remained with Brandenburg. These countries, however, were given, together with the Swienca residence of Rügenwalde, to Duke Wartislaw IV of Pomerania in 1317.

In 1316 he supported Stralsund against Denmark and thereby provoked a large coalition of Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Mecklenburg and the Welfs against himself. He held his position but in the end had to surrender Stargard-Neubrandenburg to Mecklenburg. In 1319 Waldemar acquired Zuellichau and Schwiebus for Brandenburg.

Waldemar was the last governing member of the Brandenburg line of the Ascanian House. In 1309 he married Agnes of Brandenburg (1296–1334), a daughter of Margrave Hermann III. This marriage was childless.

With the death of Waldemar's ward Henry II the Brandenburg branch of the Ascanian House died out in 1320, and Brandenburg fell back to the Empire.

False Waldemar

In 1348, an impostor dubbed "False Waldemar" successfully claimed that he was Waldemar, returning from pilgrimage to the Holy Land after somebody else had been buried in his place. Quickly gaining support due to rivalries, the Emperor reinvested him for about two years before "the last Ascanian" spend his remaining life at the court in Dessau.

Ancestry

Family of Waldemar, Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal

16. Otto I, Margrave of Brandenburg               8. Albert II, Margrave of Brandenburg                       17. Ada of Holland               4. John I, Margrave of Brandenburg                             18. Conrad II, Margrave of Lusatia               9. Matilda of Groitzsch                       19. Elisabeth of Poland               2. Conrad, Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal                                   20. Valdemar I of Denmark               10. Valdemar II of Denmark                       21. Sophia of Minsk               5. Sophie of Denmark                             22. Sancho I of Portugal               11. Berengaria of Portugal                       23. Dulce of Aragon               1. Waldemar, Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal                                         24. Odon of Poznań               12. Władysław Odonic                       25. Viacheslava Yaroslavna of Halych               6. Przemysł I of Greater Poland                             13. Hedwig                       3. Constance of Greater Poland                                   28. Henry I the Bearded               14. Henry II the Pious                       29. Hedwig of Andechs               7. Elisabeth of Wrocław                             30. Ottokar I of Bohemia               15. Anne of Bohemia                       31. Constance of Hungary

External links

• www.genealogie-mittelalter.de
• Absatz Der falsche Waldemar aus Artikel Waldemar von Brandenburg in der Allgemeinen Deutschen Biographie (ADB), Bd. 40, Seiten 682-687
• Artikel zum Waldemar-Bluff
• Roman von Alexis

Waldemar, Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal House of Ascania Born: c. 1280 Died: 14 August 1319
Preceded by Otto IV	Margrave of Brandenburg 1305–1319	Succeeded by Henry II