[December 13] Albert I, duke of Bavaria

Parents: Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor, and Margaret of Holland
Date of Birth: 25 July 1336
House: Wittelsbach
Spouse(s): (1) Margaret, daughter of Louis I, duke of Legnica, and Agnes of Sagan, then (2) Margaret, daughter of Adolph III, count of Mark, and Margaret of Jülich
Predecessor: Louis IV
Reign: 1347 – 1404

Brief: For being a duke of Bavaria, Albert I spent very little time in his ancestral lands. At the age of ten, Albert became a duke alongside his five brothers, Louis V, Stephen II, Louis VI, William I, and Otto V. As Germans, the lands were divided among them. His eldest brother from his mother, William I, fought against his mother, eventually wresting control of Holland, Zeeland, and Hainaut from her between 1354 and 1356. Albert was soon after appointed governor of these counties since William had gone slightly insane. He left his second son, Albert II, in Bavaria to oversee his lands there. The Dutch leaders supported Albert I's regency and Albert finally became count when his brother died in 1388. Through Albert's daughter, Margaret, all three counties would eventually pass to the duchy of Burgundy, one of the wealthiest inheritances in history. When Albert's mistress was killed in 1392, Albert went on a rampage, destroying all political opposition against him in Holland. His son, William, fled to Hainaut while Albert himself began fighting the neighboring Frisians. When he died, he left his lands in Bavaria and the Low Countries undivided to his son, William. Another son, John, became bishop of Liège and lost a short succession war against William's daughter over the Low Countries before Burgundy took the region over.
Date of Death: 13 December 1404

Successor: William II

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Childebert I, king of the Franks (558)
• Callixtus II, pope of Rome (1124)
• Henry IX, duke of Bavaria (1126)
• Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (1250)
• Manuel I, king of Portugal (1521)
• Mahmud I, sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1754)