Frederick I, known as the Brave, the Bitten or the Cheek-Bitten (German: Friedrich der Freidige; Friedrich der Gebissene; mit der gebissenen Wange; 1257 – 16 November 1323), was Margrave of Meissen, Landgrave of Thuringia and Count Palatine of Saxony.
In 1269, following the death of Conradin, he styled himself as 'Frederick III, King of Jerusalem and Sicily, Duke of Swabia, Landgrave of Thuringia, and Count Palatine of Saxony,' thereby asserting his claim as the cognatic successor of his grandfather, Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor.
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Life
Frederick was the son of Albert the Degenerate and was born at Wartburg in 1257. According to legend, his mother, Margaret of Sicily, who fled Wartburg from her husband in 1270, was overcome with grief at their parting and bit him on the cheek. As a result, he became known as 'the Bitten' or 'the Cheek-Bitten'. While still a child, he was invited by the Lombard Ghibellines, as a grandson of Emperor Frederick II, to assume the Hohenstaufen inheritance in Italy, following various prophecies that foretold the coming of a third Emperor Frederick. From 1280 onward, he held the title of 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 May 1307 gave the two brothers relief, and before the king could gather new forces, he died.