Dietrich I, Margrave of Meissen
| Theodoric I | |
|---|---|
| Margrave of Meissen and Lusatia | |
 |
|
| Margrave of Meissen | |
| Reign | 1198–1221 |
| Predecessor | Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor |
| Successor | Henry III |
| Margrave of Lusatia | |
| Reign | 1210–1221 |
| Predecessor | Conrad II |
| Successor | Henry IV |
| Born | 11 March 1162 |
| Died | 18 January 1221 (aged 58) |
| Spouse | Jutta of Thuringia |
| Issue | Hedwig Otto Sophia Konrad (illegitimate) Jutta Henry III, Margrave of Meissen Dietrich II of Meißen (illegitimate son) Heinrich (illegitimate son) |
| House | House of Wettin |
| Father | Otto II, Margrave of Meissen |
| Mother | Hedwig of Brandenburg |
Theodoric I (11 March 1162 – 18 January 1221), called the Oppressed, was the Margrave of Meissen from 1198 until his death. He was the second son of Otto II, Margrave of Meissen and Hedwig of Brandenburg.
Dietrich fell out with his brother, Albrecht the Proud as his mother persuaded his father to change the succession so that Dietrich was given the Margraviate of Meißen and Albrecht (although the older son) the Margraviate of Weißenfels. Albrecht took his father prisoner to try to make him return the succession to the way it had been. After Otto obtained his release by order of the emperor Frederick I, he had only just renewed the war when he died in 1190. Albrecht took back the Meißen margraviate from his brother. Dietrich attempted to regain the margraviate, supported by Landgraf Hermann I of Thuringia, whose daughter he was married to. In 1195, however, he left on a pilgrimage to Palestine.
After Albrecht's death in 1195, leaving no children, Meissen, with its rich mines, was seized by the emperor Henry VI as a vacant fief of the empire. Dietrich finally came into possession of his inheritance two years later on Henry's death.
At the time of the struggle between the two rival kings Philip of Swabia and Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor, Phillip gave Dietrich the tenure of the march of Meißen again. After that time, Dietrich was on Phillip's side and remained true to the Staufer even after Phillip was murdered in 1208.
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