Frederick I, called the Brave or the Bitten (German: Friedrich der Freidige or Friedrich der Gebissene; 1257 – 16 November 1323) was Margrave of Meissen and Landgrave of Thuringia. Life Born in Eisenach, Frederick was the son of Albert II, Margrave of Meissen and Margaret of Sicily. According to legend, his mother, fleeing her philandering husband in 1270, was overcome by the pain of parting and bit Frederick on the cheek: therefore he became known as the Bitten. After the death of Conradin in 1268, he became the legitimate heir to the Hohenstaufen claims, and claimed the Kingdom of Sicily, briefly taking the titles of King of Jerusalem and Sicily and Duke of Swabia. (While not descended from the Kings of Jerusalem, his grandfather Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, had claimed the kingdom for himself.) However, these claims met with little favor. Swabia, pawned by Conradin before his last expedition, was disintegrating as a territorial unit. He went unrecognized in Outremer, and Charles of Anjou was deeply entrenched in power in Southern Italy. Margrave Frederick proposed an invasion of Italy in 1269, and attracted some support from the Lombard Ghibellines, but his plans were never carried out, and he played no further part in Italian affairs. From 1280, he was count palatine of Saxony. Because his father preferred their half-brother Apitz, Frederick and his brother Diezmann waged war upon him. Frederick was captured in 1281, but after a long war his father recognized the rights of the brothers in 1289. After the death of their cousin Frederick Tuta (1291), both brothers took possession of his lands and Frederick received the Margraviate of Meissen, leaving to their father only the Margraviate of Landsberg. However, King Adolf of Nassau-Weilburg thought that Meissen and the Eastern March should return to the crown after Tuta's death, and bought Thuringia from the debt-laden Albert. The brothers were again called to arms in the defense of their inheritance, but had to give up the land. Frederick stayed away from home until the death of Adolf returned his land to him. By now his father had also been reconciled with him. Soon afterwards, however, King Albert I claimed Thuringia and was supported by the cities, which longed to become independent (reichsunmittelbar). The landgrave's family was besieged on the Wartburg by the Eisenach forces; however, Frederick succeeded in liberating them. But only the victory at Lucka on 31