Thimo the Brave, Count of Wettin


Thimo the Brave, also known as Thimo I, Count of Wettin, was a German nobleman and a crucial figure in the early history of the House of Wettin. He inherited the counties of Wettin and Brehna from his father, Theodoric II, Margrave of Lower Lusatia.

Life

Thimo was a younger son of Margrave Theodoric II, Margrave of Lower Lusatia and his wife Mathilda, a daughter of Margrave Eckard I of Meissen. When his father was killed in 1034, Thimo succeeded him in his Wettin and Brehna home territories. He also served as Vogt of the Naumburg diocese and of the Wettin family monastery in Gerbstedt.
In the Saxon revolt of 1073–1075, Thimo fought against King Henry IV and also quarreled with his brother Bishop Frederick of Münster. Later he again approached the king and in 1088 attended the Hoftag diet in Quedlinburg, where the Brunonid margrave Egbert II of Meissen was deposed.
The exact year of Thimo's death is unclear; since his son Conrad was born in approximately 1098, Thimo cannot have died long before this year. Alternatively, some researchers assume that Thimo was in fact Conrad's grandfather and that Conrad's father was an unknown son of Thimo's with the same name, making a death year of 1090/91 possible, as given in a chronicle. However, since Thimo II is not otherwise attested, this is considered unlikely.
Thimo was buried at the monastery of Niemegk in Saxony-Anhalt, which he had founded.

Marriage and children

Thimo married Ida, daughter of Count Otto of Nordheim. Together they had three children: