Conrad, Margrave of Meissen

Conrad
Conrad the Great in the Fürstenzug in Dresden
Margrave of Meissen
Reign	1123–1156
Predecessor	Wiprecht
Successor	Otto II
Margrave of Lusatia
Reign	1123–1156
Predecessor	Henry III
Successor	Dietrich I
Born	c. 1097
Died	5 February 1157 Monastery of St Peter auf dem Lauterberg
Burial	Monastery of St Peter auf dem Lauterberg
Spouse	Luitgard of Elchingen-Ravenstein
Issue	Otto II, Margrave of Meissen Theodoric I, Margrave of Lusatia Dedi III, Margrave of Lusatia Henry I, Count of Wettin Frederick I of Brehna Adela, Queen of Denmark Agnes II, Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg
House	House of Wettin
Father	Thimo of Wettin
Mother	Ida of Nordheim

Conrad, the Great (c. 1097 – 5 February 1157) was the Margrave of Meissen from 1123 until his retirement in 1156. He was the son of Thimo I, Count of Wettin, Count of Brehna, of the House of Wettin and Ida, daughter of Otto of Nordheim. He was also Count of Wettin, Brehna and Camburg from before 1116.

In 1123, he became Count of Eilenburg. That same year, Lothair of Supplinburg, Duke of Saxony, appointed him Margrave of Meissen in opposition to Wiprecht von Groitzsch, the appointee of the Emperor Henry V. Lothair also named Albert the Bear Margrave of Lusatia, while Henry named Wiprecht to that march also. Wiprecht was unable to hold his own against his two opponents and in 1124 Conrad was securely in power in Meissen. In 1136, Lothair, then emperor, appointed him to Lusatia as well. Thereafter, Upper Lusatia remained a part of Meissen and the march of Lusatia was reduced to Lower Lusatia alone.

In 1143, Conrad became Count of Groitzsch and Rochlitz and Vogt of Chemnitz and Naumburg. In 1147, while Conrad III of Germany was away on the Second Crusade, Conrad the Great joined Henry the Lion, Adalbert of Salzwedel, Albert the Bear, and the Archbishops of Magdeburg and Bremen to organise a Crusade against the Obodrites and Wagri. In August, Conrad and Albert, with the bishops of Magdeburg, Havelburg, and Brandenburg, massed their forces at Magdeburg. The Obodrite prince Niklot and his fortresses of Dubin and Dimin were besieged. Both he and Pribislav, another Obodrite prince, were forced to accept Christianity and make peace.