The Battle of Lucka occurred on 31 May 1307 near the village of Lucka. The settlement was first mentioned in 1320, but had already existed for around 700 years before that. Lucka is located in the

Altenburger Land Altenburger Land is a district in Thuringia, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the district of Greiz (district), Greiz, the Burgenlandkreis (Saxony-Anhalt), and the districts Leipzig (district), Leipzig, Mittelsachsen and Zw ...

district of

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

. The battle was fought between German king Albert I of the

Habsburg dynasty The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

and

Frederick I, Margrave of Meissen Frederick I, called the Brave or the Bitten (German: ''Friedrich der Freidige'' or ''Friedrich der Gebissene''; 1257 – 16 November 1323) was Margrave of Meissen and Landgrave of Thuringia. Life Born in Eisenach, Frederick was the son of Albert ...

, from the

House of Wettin The House of Wettin () was a dynasty which included Saxon monarch, kings, Prince Elector, prince-electors, dukes, and counts, who once ruled territories in the present-day German federated states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynas ...

over the disputed ownership of the decedent estates left by Henry III the Illustrious,

Margrave of Meissen This article lists the margraves of Margraviate of Meissen, Meissen, a March (territorial entity), march and territorial state on the eastern border of the Holy Roman Empire. History King Henry the Fowler, on his 928–29 campaign against the S ...

and

Lusatia Lusatia (; ; ; ; ; ), otherwise known as Sorbia, is a region in Central Europe, formerly entirely in Germany and today territorially split between Germany and modern-day Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the eas ...

and Landgrave of Thuringia. Within the disorder of the Great Interregnum after the end of the

Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...

rule, Henry in 1261 had established the Margraviate of Landsberg in western Lusatia for his younger son Dietrich, however without any royal authorization. Dietrich of Landsberg himself left one son, Frederick Tuta, who also inherited the Lusatian march upon Henry's death in 1288, while his uncle Albert II the Degenerate at first retained Meissen and Thuringia. Shortly afterwards he sold Meissen to his nephew Frederick Tuta, who then had united most of the Wettin lands under his rule, but died without heirs in 1291. Frederick I of Meissen, eldest son of Albert II, and his younger brother Dietrich IV claimed Frederick Tuta's territories, which met with opposition not only from their father Albert II but also from King

Adolf of Germany Adolf (c. 1255 – 2 July 1298) was the count of Nassau from about 1276 and the elected king of Germany from 1292 until his deposition by the prince-electors in 1298. He was never crowned by the pope, which would have secured him the imperi ...

, who regarded them as reverted fiefs. In 1294 Albert II sold Thuringia to King Adolf, again facing fierce protest of his sons who felt deprived of their heritage. After a feud with their father they were able to take Wettin lands including Thuringia upon King Adolf's deposition in 1298. The long-term dispute continued under Adolf's successor King Albert I of Habsburg, who tried to get the possession of the "reverted" Wettin lands and in 1307 started a campaign against Frederick I. Their troops met at Lucka, where the royal army fought under the command of Burgrave Frederick IV of Hohenzollern, but was finally defeated. This victory guaranteed the continuation of the House of Wettin. Today, the citizens of Lucka believe that their city received its

town charter A city charter or town charter (generically, municipal charter) is a legal document (''charter'') establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages. Traditionally, the granting of a charter ...

as a result of this victory.

References

Lucka Military history of Thuringia Lucka 1300s in the Holy Roman Empire 1307 in Europe {{Germany-battle-stub