The Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg () was a medieval
duchy of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
centered at
Wittenberg, which emerged after the dissolution of the
stem duchy of
Saxony. The
Ascanian dukes prevailed in obtaining the Saxon
electoral dignity until their duchy was finally elevated to the
Electorate of Saxony by the
Golden Bull of 1356.
History
Ascanian struggle for Saxony
The
Eastphalia
Eastphalia (german: Ostfalen; Eastphalian: ''Oostfalen'') is a historical region in northern Germany, encompassing the eastern '' Gaue'' (shires) of the historic stem duchy of Saxony, roughly confined by the River Leine in the west and the El ...
n count
Otto of Ballenstedt (d. 1123), ancestor of the House of Ascania, had married
Eilika, a daughter of Duke
Magnus of Saxony from the
House of Billung. As the Billung male line became extinct upon Magnus's death in 1106, Otto hoped to succeed him, however King
Henry V of Germany enfeoffed Count
Lothair of Supplinburg. During the following long-term dispute between Henry and Lothair, Otto was able to gain the title of a Saxon (anti-)duke, though only for a short time in 1122.
Lothair was elected
King of the Romans in 1125 and in 1134 he vested Otto's son
Albert the Bear with the Saxon
Northern March. Upon his death in 1137, Albert once again strived for the Saxon duchy, which however fell to Lothair's son-in-law
Henry the Proud from the Bavarian
House of Welf
The House of Welf (also Guelf or Guelph) is a European dynasty that has included many German and British monarchs from the 11th to 20th century and Emperor Ivan VI of Russia in the 18th century. The originally Franconia, Franconian family from ...
. Albert concluded a deal with the rising
House of Hohenstaufen: He backed the succession of
Conrad of Hohenstaufen as German king, who in turn deprived his Welf rival Henry the Proud of the Saxonian Duchy in 1138 and gave it to Albert. However, his rule was strongly contested by the local nobility and in 1142 Albert finally had to resign as duke in favour of Henry the Proud's son
Henry the Lion. Albert later took part in the
Wendish Crusade of 1147 and in 1157 established the
Margraviate of Brandenburg. He died in 1170.
The third chance for the Ascanians came, when in 1180 ambitious Henry the Lion was deposed as Saxon Duke by Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa. Frederick partitioned Saxony among his allies into more than a dozen
immediate territories. Among the supporters, Archbishop
Philip of Cologne received the largest share as the newly created
Duchy of Westphalia. The Saxon ducal title at least passed to late Albert's youngest son, Count
Bernhard of Ballenstedt, who nevertheless only ruled over small, mostly Eastphalian fringes of the old duchy.
Anhalt, Wittenberg and Lauenburg
Duke Bernard died in 1212 and his two surviving sons divided the Saxon heritage: the elder
Henry took the old Ascanian
allodial
Allodial title constitutes ownership of real property (land, buildings, and fixtures) that is independent of any superior landlord. Allodial title is related to the concept of land held "in allodium", or land ownership by occupancy and defense ...
possessions around
Ballenstedt where he established the Ascanian
County of Anhalt, while his younger brother
Albert I Albert I may refer to:
People Born before 1300
* Albert I, Count of Vermandois (917–987)
*Albert I, Count of Namur ()
*Albert I of Moha
*Albert I of Brandenburg (), first margrave of Brandenburg
*Albert I, Margrave of Meissen (1158–1195)
*Alber ...
inherited the title of a Duke of Saxony and retained three territorially unconnected Eastphalian estates on the
Elbe
The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Rep ...
river around the towns of
Wittenberg and
Belzig as well as the northern lordship of
Lauenburg with
Amt Neuhaus and
Land Hadeln at the Elbe
estuary
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...
.
After Albert I's death in 1260 his two heirs,
John I and his younger brother
Albert II ruled jointly. In 1269, 1272 and 1282 they gradually divided their governing competences within the then three territorially unconnected Saxon areas (Hadeln, Lauenburg and Wittenberg), thus preparing a partition, whereby Albert II,
Burgrave of
Magdeburg
Magdeburg (; nds, label= Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river.
Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Mag ...
since 1269, concentrated on the Wittenberg territory. He consolidated his position by marrying
Agnes, daughter of
Rudolph of Habsburg, whom he elected King of the Romans in 1273. After Duke John I had resigned in 1282 in favour of his three minor sons
Eric I,
John II and
Albert III, followed by his death three years later, the three brothers and their uncle Albert II continued the joint rule as Saxon dukes.
Upon the death of Margrave
Henry III of Meissen in 1288, Duke Albert II applied at his father-in-law King Rudolph I for the enfeoffment of his son and heir
Rudolph with the Saxon
County palatine on the
Unstrut river, which ensued a long lasting dispute with the eager clan of the
House of Wettin
The House of Wettin () is a dynasty of Germany, German monarch, kings, Prince Elector, 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 ...
. Albert's attempts to secure the succession in the lands of the extinct Counts of
Brehna
Brehna is a town and a former municipality in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 July 2009, it is part of the town Sandersdorf-Brehna.
It is situated southwest of Bitterfeld. Important in this city is the chur ...
were more successful: when their fiefs were reverted to the Empire in 1290, the king enfeoffed his son Rudolph. After King Rudolph had died, Albert II with his nephews still minor on 27 April 1292 wielded the Saxon
electoral vote, electing
Adolph of Nassau, the brother-in-law of Archbishop
Siegfried II of Cologne. The bishop together with King
Wenceslaus II of Bohemia had succeeded in bringing Albert II in favour of electing Adolph: he had signed an elector pact on 29 November 1291 that he would vote the same as Wenceslaus. In 1295 Albert II could again enlarge his Saxon territory, when he acquired the County of
Gommern
Gommern () is a town in the Jerichower Land district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated approximately southeast of Magdeburg. On January 1, 2005, the municipalities Dannigkow, Dornburg, Karith, Ladeburg, Leitzkau, Menz, Nedlitz, Vehli ...
.
Duchy of Wittenberg
The last document, mentioning the joint government of Albert II with his nephews as Saxon fellow dukes dates back to 1295.
[Cordula Bornefeld, "Die Herzöge von Sachsen-Lauenburg", in: ''Die Fürsten des Landes: Herzöge und Grafen von Schleswig, Holstein und Lauenburg'' ]e slevigske hertuger; German
E, or e, is the fifth Letter (alphabet), letter and the second vowel#Written vowels, vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worl ...
Carsten Porskrog Rasmussen (ed.) on behalf of the Gesellschaft für Schleswig-Holsteinische Geschichte, Neumünster: Wachholtz, 2008, pp. 373-389, here p. 375. The definite partitioning of the Duchy of Saxony into
Saxe-Lauenburg (german: Herzogtum Sachsen-Lauenburg), jointly ruled by the brothers Albert III, Eric I and John II and Saxe-Wittenberg (german: Herzogtum Sachsen-Wittenberg), ruled by Albert II took place before 20 September 1296. The
Vierlande, Sadelbande (Land of Lauenburg), the Land of
Ratzeburg, the Land of Darzing (today's
Amt Neuhaus), and the Land of Hadeln are mentioned as the separate territory of the brothers.
Duke Albert II received the Wittenberg lands around the eponymous city, Brehna and Gommern. He thus became the founder of the Ascanian line of Saxe-Wittenberg.
When Rudolph succeeded his father Albert II as Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg in 1298, he and the Dukes of Saxe-Lauenburg rivallingly claimed the Saxon
electoral privilege. Upon the assassination of his brother-in-law King
Albert I Albert I may refer to:
People Born before 1300
* Albert I, Count of Vermandois (917–987)
*Albert I, Count of Namur ()
*Albert I of Moha
*Albert I of Brandenburg (), first margrave of Brandenburg
*Albert I, Margrave of Meissen (1158–1195)
*Alber ...
in 1308, he voted for Count
Henry of Luxembourg. In 1314 both duchies participated in the double election of the German kings,
Frederick III, ''the Fair'' from the
House of Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
and his
Wittelsbach cousin
Louis IV, ''the Bavarian''. Louis received five of the seven votes, to wit Archbishop-Elector
Baldwin
Baldwin is a Germanic name, composed of the elements ''bald'' "bold" and ''win'' "friend".
People
* Baldwin (name)
Places Canada
* Baldwin, York Regional Municipality, Ontario
* Baldwin, Ontario, in Sudbury District
* Baldwin's Mills, Qu ...
of
Trier
Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...
, the legitimate King
John of Bohemia
John the Blind or John of Luxembourg ( lb, Jang de Blannen; german: link=no, Johann der Blinde; cz, Jan Lucemburský; 10 August 1296 – 26 August 1346), was the Count of Luxembourg from 1313 and King of Bohemia from 1310 and titular King ...
, Duke
John II of Saxe-Lauenburg, claiming the Saxon prince-electoral power, Archbishop
Peter of Mainz, and Albert's Ascanian cousin Margrave
Waldemar of Brandenburg. Frederick the Fair received in the same election four of the seven votes, with the deposed King
Henry of Bohemia, illegitimately assuming electoral power, Archbishop
Henry II of Cologne, Louis' brother Count
Rudolph I of the Palatinate, and Duke Rudolph I of Saxe-Wittenberg, equally exercising the Saxon electoral dignity.
However, only Louis the Bavarian, co-elected with Saxe-Lauenburg's vote, finally asserted himself as emperor after the 1322
Battle of Mühldorf by the
Treaty of Trausnitz on March 13, 1325. As an obvious opponent, Duke Rudolph I failed with his claims to Brandenburg after the line of his Ascanian cousins became extinct in 1319: King Louis IV seized the margraviate and enfeoffed his son
Louis V instead. Rudolph I in turn allied with the rivaling
House of Luxembourg. He supported Count
Charles IV of Luxembourg
Charles IV ( cs, Karel IV.; german: Karl IV.; la, Carolus IV; 14 May 1316 – 29 November 1378''Karl IV''. In: (1960): ''Geschichte in Gestalten'' (''History in figures''), vol. 2: ''F–K''. 38, Frankfurt 1963, p. 294), also known as Charle ...
as
anti-king to Louis IV and on that account exclusively received the Saxon electoral dignity with the
Golden Bull of 1356, thus slighting Saxe-Lauenburg. Saxe-Wittenberg thereupon came to be known as the
Electorate of Saxony (''Kursachsen'').
When the Ascanian line in the
Electorate of Saxony died out in 1422, the Ascanian Duke
Eric V of Saxe-Lauenburg failed to assert his succession in Wittenberg. King
Sigismund granted the Electorate to Margrave
Frederick IV of Meissen from the
House of Wettin
The House of Wettin () is a dynasty of Germany, German monarch, kings, Prince Elector, 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 ...
, who united the
Meissen and the Saxon lands of Wittenberg under his rule. He assumed the electoral title and thereby transferred the state of
Saxony up the Elbe river to his
Meissen residence. His lands were also called "Upper Saxony" (see:
Upper Saxon Circle) to distinguish them from the territory of the medieval stem duchy, the later
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...
. The territory of former Saxe-Wittenberg became known as the ''Kurkreis'' ("Electoral District"). By the division of the Saxon Electorate according to the 1485
Treaty of Leipzig, the Wittenberg lands including the electoral dignity fell to
Ernest of Wettin.
Notes
{{Coord missing, Germany
Duchy of Saxony
Saxe-Wittenberg
1290s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire
1296 establishments in Europe
1350s disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire
1356 disestablishments in Europe
Duchies of the Holy Roman Empire