Hermann III of Baden nicknamed the Great, was Margrave of Verona and Baden

Baden

Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....

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He was the son of Hermann II of Baden and Judit von Hohenberg. He served as regent for the margraviate of Baden

Baden

Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....

 from 1130 until 1160.

Faithfully devoted to the Staufens, Hermann III came in conflict with his relatives from Zähringen-Swabia. In 1140 he participated in the siege of Weibtreu castle, and received the bailiwick of Selz in Alsace

Alsace

Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...

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In 1151 the margravate of Verona

Verona

Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...

 was taken from Ottokar III of Styria

Ottokar III of Styria

Ottokar III was Margrave of Styria from 1129 until 1164. He was the son of Leopold the Strong and father of Ottokar IV, the last of the dynasty of the Otakars. His wife was Kunigunde of Chamb-Vohburg....

 and conferred on Hermann III. A deed of donation exists from 1153, that states Friedrich I

Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor

Frederick I Barbarossa was a German Holy Roman Emperor. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1155, and finally crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV, on 18 June 1155, and two years later in 1157 the term...

 bought Castle Besigheim from Hermann III.

Hermann III fought in Lombardy in 1154 and aided Friedrich I

Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor

Frederick I Barbarossa was a German Holy Roman Emperor. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1155, and finally crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV, on 18 June 1155, and two years later in 1157 the term...

 in the latter's siege of Milan.

Hermann III took part in the Second Crusade

Second Crusade

The Second Crusade was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa the previous year to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crusade by Baldwin of Boulogne in 1098...

, and fought in the first Italian campaign of the Emperor.

Marriage and children

He married Bertha von Lothringen (d. after 1162) in 1134. Secondly, he married Maria of Bohemia after 1141. She was the daughter of Duke Sobeslav I of Bohemia

Sobeslav I of Bohemia

Sobeslaus I was Duke of Bohemia from 1125 until his death. He was a member of the Přemyslid dynasty, the youngest son of Vratislaus II , the first Bohemian duke to also rule as king, with his third wife Svatava of Poland.-Life:...

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He had the following children:

• Hermann
  Hermann IV, Margrave of Baden
  Hermann IV, Margrave of Baden was titular Margrave of Verona and Margrave of Baden from 1160.He was the son of Hermann III and Bertha of Hohenstaufen, daughter of Conrad III...
  
   (d. September 13, 1190)
• Gertrud (d. before 1225) who married in 1180 Graf Albrecht von Dagsburg (d. 1211)

Hermann III was buried in the Augustine Monastery in Backnang

Backnang

Backnang is a town in Germany in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, roughly 30 kilometers northeast of Stuttgart. Its population has increased greatly over the past century, from 7,650 in 1900 to 35,761 in 2005....

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