Albert I, Duke of Bavaria

Albert I Wittelsbach (1336–1404), third son of Emperor Louis IV, was a younger son expecting at best an appanage, yet came to rule Holland, Hainaut, Zeeland and Bavaria-Straubing. When his brother William went mad, Albert became regent in 1358, though the Hook and Cod factions simmered. He succeeded William as count in 1389, having married his daughter Margaret to John the Fearless of Burgundy.

The worst crisis of his reign began with a murder: his mistress Aleid van Poelgeest, a Cod partisan resented for her influence, was killed at The Hague in 1392 by Hook nobles. Albert hunted down the Hooks with sword and fire, and his son William fled to Hainaut.

His last years went to campaigns against the Frisians, never fully conquered. After he died in 1404 the Burgundian match brought his lands to Margaret's son Philip.