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Data

Name: saxony (ernestines)

Type: Cluster

Start: 1485 AD

End: 1572 AD

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Icon saxony (ernestines)

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The original Kingdom of Saxony fragmented into several successor states during the Middle Ages. One of the most important successors was the Ernestine Branch of the House of Wettin which is covered by this cluster.

The cluster includes the following incarnations of the same nation:

  • Electorate of Saxony (Ernestines)
  • Duchy of Saxony (Ernestines)
  • Establishment


  • November 1485: After the 1485 Treaty of Leipzig, Thuringia split into the Saxon Ernestine duchies ruled by Elector Frederick III and the Albertine duchies ruled by Duke Albert III of Saxony.
  • Chronology


    Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation

    1. Treaty of Leipzig (1485)


    Was signed on 11 November 1485 between Elector Ernest of Saxony and his younger brother Albert III, the sons of Elector Frederick II of Saxony from the House of Wettin, that perpetuated the division of the Wettin lands into a Saxon and a Thuringian part.


    2. European wars of religion


    Were a series of wars in Europe (and the overseas possessions of European countries) the 16th, 17th and early 18th that started after the Protestant Reformation. Although the immediate causes of the wars were religious, the motives were complex and also included territorial ambitions.

    2.1.Schmalkaldic War

    Was a war between the Holy Roman Empire and the Schmalkaldic League, an alliance of Lutheran states of the Holy Roman Empire itself.

  • May 1547: In 1547, in the Wittenberg capitulation, the electoral district and electoral dignity fell to Duke Moritz of the Albertine line. This event marked the transfer of power from the Ernestine line of the Duchy of Saxony to the Albertine line, led by Duke Moritz.

  • 2.1.1.Saxony campaign

    Was the theatre of war in Saxony of the Schmalkaldic War.

  • October 1547: At the end of October, Bohemian troops took Plauen in Vogtland.

  • 3. Further events (Unrelated to Any War)


  • May 1547: Capitulation of Wittenberg: John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony, was compelled to resign the title of elector. The Electorate of Saxony and most of his territory, including Wittenberg, passed from the elder Ernestine line to the cadet Albertine line.

  • January 1548: Based on Gustav Droysen's Map of the Holy Roman Empire at the time of the Reformation.

  • January 1548: Hofheim in Unterfranken pledged to Reuss County.

  • January 1555: Territorial change based on available maps.

  • January 1569: Ziegenrück came into full ownership of the Albertine electorate.

  • January 1570: Königsberg in Bayern was bought back in 1569 by Duke Johann Wilhelm von Sachsen-Weimar.

  • Disestablishment


  • January 1573: Establishment of the Saxony-Coburg-Eisenach Duchy.
  • January 1573: Establishment of the Saxony-Weimar Duchy.
  • Selected Sources


  • Droysen, G. (1886): Historischer Handatlas, Bielefeld and Leipzig (Germany), p. 26-49
  • Droysen, G. (1886): Historischer Handatlas, Bielefeld and Leipzig (Germany), pp. 38-39
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