BRANDENBURG

brandenburg, the name of a margraviate and electorate which played an important part in german history, and afterwards grew into the kingdom of prussia. during the early years of the christian era, the district was inhabited by the semnones, and afterwards by various slavonic tribes, who were partially subdued by charlemagne, but soon regained their independence. the history of brandenburg begins when the german king, henry the fowler, defeated the havelli, or hevelli, and took their capital, brennibor, from which the name brandenburg is derived. it soon came under the rule of gero, margrave of the saxon east mark, who pressed the campaign against the slavs with vigour, while otto the great founded bishoprics at havelberg and brandenburg. when gero died in 965, his mark was divided into two parts, the northern portion, lying along both banks of the middle elbe, being called the north or old mark, and forming the nucleus of the later margraviate of brandenburg. after otto the great died, the slavs regained much of their territory, brandenburg fell again into their hands, and a succession of feeble margraves ruled only the district west of the elbe, together with a small district east of that river. albert the bear. a new era began in 1106 when lothair, count of supplinburg, became duke of saxony. aided by albert the bear, count of ballenstadt, he renewed the attack on the slavs, and in 1134 appointed albert margrave of the north mark. the new margrave continued the work of lothair, and about 1140 made a treaty with pribislaus, the childless duke of brandenburg, by which he was recognized as the duke's heir. he took at once the title margrave of brandenburg, but when pribislaus died in 1150, a stubborn contest followed with jazko, a relation of the late duke, which was terminated in 1157 in albert's favour. albert was the real founder of brandenburg. under his rule christianity and civilization were extended, bishoprics were restored and monasteries founded. the country was colonized with settlers from the lower rhineland, land was brought under cultivation, forts were built, german laws and customs introduced, and gradually the woods and marshes were converted into lands of comparative fertility. otto iii. when albert died in 1170, brandenburg fell to his eldest son, otto i. (c. 1130-1184), who compelled the duke of pomerania to own his supremacy, and slightly increased by conquest the area of the mark. otto's son, otto ii., was the succeeding margrave, and having quarrelled with his powerful neighbour, ludolf, archbishop of magdeburg, was forced to own the archbishop's supremacy over his allodial lands. he died in 1205, and was followed by his step-brother, albert ii. (c. 1174-1220), who assisted the emperor otto iv. in various campaigns, but later transferred his allegiance to otto's rival, frederick of hohenstaufen, afterwards the emperor frederick ii. his sons, john i. and otto iii., ruled brandenburg in common until the death of john in 1266, and their reign was a period of growth and prosperity. districts were conquered or purchased from the surrounding dukes; the marriage of otto with beatrice, daughter of wenceslaus, king of bohemia, in 1253, added upper lusatia to brandenburg; and the authority of the margraves was extended beyond the oder. many monasteries and towns were founded, among them berlin; the work of albert the bear was continued, and the prosperity of brandenburg formed a marked contrast to the disorder which prevailed elsewhere in germany. brandenburg appears about this time to have fallen into three divisions--the old mark lying west of the elbe, the middle mark between the elbe and the oder, and the new mark, as the newly conquered lands beyond the oder began to be called. when otto died in 1267, the area of the mark had been almost doubled, and the margraves had attained to an influential position in the empire. the _sachsenspiegel_, written before 1235, mentions the margrave as one of the electors, by virtue of the office of chamberlain, which had probably been conferred on albert the bear by the german king conrad iii. otto iv. in 1258 john and otto had agreed upon a division of their lands, but the arrangement only took effect on otto's death in 1267, when john's son, john ii., received the electoral dignity, together with the southern part of the margraviate, which centred around stendal, and otto's son, john iii., the northern or saltzwedel portion. john ii.'s brother, otto