Bernard I, Margrave of Baden-Baden


Bernard I of Baden was Margrave of the Margraviate of Baden from 1391 to 1431.

Life

He was the elder son of Rudolf VI and Matilde of Sponheim. He and his brother Rudolf VII concluded an inheritance contract in 1380, according to which the margraviate might be divided only among male descendants for two generations. Rudolf VII afterwards received the southern areas from Ettlingen via Rastatt to Baden-Baden, Bernard himself the areas around Durlach and Pforzheim.
He had his family seat in the fortress of Hohenbaden high above the thermal baths of the town of Baden. During his reign he extended the castle from the underlying Gothic structure. On 25 July 1415, he purchased Hachberg, Höhingen, Ober-Usenberg and the town of Sulzburg in Upper Baden for to Otto II, the last margrave of the eponymous collateral line. During this time he had many disputes with the towns of Strasbourg, Speyer and with king Ruprecht I. His successor Jacob I further expanded the castle into a fortress.

Family and children

On 22 June 1368 was performed the betrothal between Bernard I and Margarete, only daughter and heiress of Count Rudolph III of Hohenberg. The formal marriage took place sixteen years later, on 1 September 1384. They had no children and finally divorced in 1391.
On 15 September 1397 was granted a Papal dispensation for the future marriage between Bernard I and Anna, daughter of Count Louis XI of Oettingen, because they are related in the prohibited 4th degree of consanguinity. The marriage took place on 27 March 1398, and the dispensation was renewed some months later, on 27 August. They had ten children:
  1. Anna, married 11 May 1409 Louis IV of Lichtenberg.
  2. Beatrix, married 11 July 1411 Count Emich VI of Leiningen-Hartenburg.
  3. Matilde.
  4. Margarete, married 1 March 1418 Count Adolph II of Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein.
  5. Jacob, Margrave of Baden-Baden.
  6. Agnes, married firstly 2 June 1432 Count Gerhard VII of Holstein-Rendsburg and secondly Hans von Löwen.
  7. Ursula, married firstly 20 December 1422 Count Gottfried IX of Ziegenhain and secondly 16 April 1426 Duke Ulrich II of Teck.
  8. Bernard.
  9. Brigitte, a nun.
  10. Rudolph.
He also had two illegitimate children: