Bernard I of Baden (1364 – 5 April 1431, Baden) was Margrave of the Margraviate of Baden from 1391 to 1431.

Life

He was the elder son of Rudolf VI and Matilda of Sponheim. He and his brother Rudolf VII concluded an inheritance contract in 1380, according to which the margraviate might be divided only among male descendants for two generations. Rudolf VII afterwards received the southern areas from Ettlingen via Rastatt to Baden-Baden, Bernard himself the areas around Durlach and Pforzheim. He had his family seat in the fortress of Hohenbaden high above the thermal baths of the town of Baden. During his reign he extended the castle from the underlying Gothic structure. On 25 July 1415 for 80 000 Rhenish guilders, he purchased Hachberg, Höhingen, Ober-Usenberg and the town of Sulzburg in Upper Baden from Otto II, the last margrave of the eponymous collateral line. During this time he had many disputes with the towns of Strasbourg, Speyer and with king Ruprecht I. His successor Jacob I further expanded the castle into a fortress.

Family and children

On 22 June 1368, Bernard I was betrothed to Margarete of Hohenberg, the only daughter and heiress of Count Rudolph III of Hohenberg. The formal marriage took place sixteen years later, on 1 September 1384. They had no children and finally divorced in 1391. On 15 September 1397, a Papal dispensation was granted to Bernard I and Anna, daughter of Count Louis XI of Oettingen, because they were related in the prohibited 4th degree of consanguinity. The marriage took place on 27 March 1398, and the dispensation was renewed some months later, on 27 August. They had ten children: He also had two illegitimate children: