Christian I of Saxony (29 October 1560 in
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
– 25 September 1591 in Dresden) was
Elector of Saxony
The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony (German: or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356–1806. It was centered around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz.
In the Golden Bull of 1356, Emperor Charles ...
from 1586 to 1591. He belonged to the Albertine line of the
House of Wettin
The House of Wettin () is a dynasty of German kings, prince-electors, dukes, and counts that once ruled territories in the present-day German states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynasty is one of the oldest in Europe, and its ori ...
.
He was the sixth but second surviving son of Elector
Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
of
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
and
Anna of Denmark. The death of his older brother, Alexander (8 October 1565), made him the new heir apparent to the Electorate of Saxony.
Christian succeeded his father when he died, in 1586. His chancellor was
Nikolaus Krell. During his reign, the first measurement was made of the Electorate of Saxony by
Matthias Oeder Matthias is a name derived from the Greek Ματθαίος, in origin similar to Matthew.
People
Notable people named Matthias include the following:
In religion:
* Saint Matthias, chosen as an apostle in Acts 1:21–26 to replace Judas Iscariot
* ...
. Later, the work of Oeder was continued by
Balthasar Zimmermann until 1633 and completed as far as possible.
In 1591 his wife organised a set of 12 suits of armour that she planned to give him as a Christmas present.
A number of the suits survive.
Family
In
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
on 25 April 1582, Christian married
Sophie, daughter of
John George, Elector of Brandenburg
John George of Brandenburg (german: Johann Georg von Brandenburg; 11 September 1525 – 8 January 1598) was a prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (1571–1598).
Early life
Born as a member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was th ...
. They had seven children:
#
Christian II
Christian II (1 July 1481 – 25 January 1559) was a Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union who reigned as King of Denmark and Norway, from 1513 until 1523, and Sweden from 1520 until 1521. From 1513 to 1523, he was concurrently Duke ...
(b. Dresden, 23 September 1583 – d. Dresden, 23 June 1611), successor of his father as Elector.
#
John George I (b. Dresden, 5 March 1585 – d. Dresden, 8 October 1656), successor of his brother as Elector.
#Anna Sabine (b. Dresden, 25 January 1586 – d. Dresden, 24 March 1586).
#
Sophie (b. Dresden, 29 April 1587 – d. Stettin, 9 December 1635), married on 26 August 1610 to Duke
Francis I of Pomerania.
#Elisabeth (b. Dresden, 21 July 1588 – d. Dresden, 4 March 1589).
#
Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
(b. Dresden, 7 September 1589 – d. Naumburg, 26 December 1615), married on 1 January 1612 to
Elisabeth of Brünswick-Wolfenbüttel
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist
Ships
* HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships
* ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...
. This marriage was childless.
#
Dorothea
Dorothea (also spelled Dorothée, Dorotea or other variants) is a female given name from Greek (Dōrothéa) meaning "God's Gift". It may refer to:
People
* Dorothea Binz (1920–1947), German concentration camp officer executed for war cr ...
(b. Dresden, 7 January 1591 – d. Quedlinburg, 17 November 1617), Princess-Abbess of
Quedlinburg
Quedlinburg () is a town situated just north of the Harz mountains, in the district of Harz in the west of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. As an influential and prosperous trading centre during the early Middle Ages, Quedlinburg became a center of in ...
(1610).
Ancestry
References
*
Literature
*
*Ilse Schunke: ''Beitraege zur Politik des Kurfürsten Christian I. v. Sachsen 1586-1591 vornehmlich in den Jahren 1586/89'', Munich, 1922
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christian 01 Of Saxony, Elector
1560 births
1591 deaths
Nobility from Dresden
Prince-electors of Saxony
House of Wettin
Albertine branch
Burials at Freiberg Cathedral