Frederick I, the Belligerent or the Warlike (german: Friedrich der Streitbare; 11 April 1370 – 4 January 1428), a member 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 ...
, ruled as
Margrave of Meissen
This article lists the margraves of Meissen, a 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 Slavic Glomacze tribes, had a fortress erected on a ...
from 1407 and
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 ...
(as Frederick I) from 1423 until his death.
He is not to be confused with his cousin Landgrave
Frederick IV of Thuringia, the son of Landgrave
Balthasar.
Biography
He was the eldest son of
Frederick III, Landgrave of Thuringia
Frederick III, the Strict (''Friedrich III. der Strenge''; 14 December 1332, Dresden – 21 May 1381, Altenburg), Landgrave of Thuringia and Margrave of Meissen, was the son of Frederick II, Margrave of Meissen and Mathilde of Bavaria.Harald ...
, and
Catherine of Henneberg
Catherine of Henneberg (german: Katharina von Henneberg ; c. 1334, in Schleusingen – 15 July 1397, in Meissen) was a Countess of Henneberg by birth and from 1347 by marriage Margravine of Meissen, Landgravine of Thuringia, etc. She was the wi ...
. After the death of his uncle
William I, Margrave of Meissen
William I, the one-eyed, (19 December 1343, Dresden – 9 February 1407, Schloss Grimma) was Margrave of Meissen. His nickname is related to the legend that Saint Benno appeared to him because of his disputes with the Church in a dream and h ...
in 1407, he was made governor of the Margraviate of Meissen together with his brother
William II as well as with his cousin
Frederick IV (son of
Balthasar), until their possessions were divided in 1410 and 1415.
In the German town war of 1388 he assisted
Frederick V of Hohenzollern, burgrave of
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
, and in 1391 did the same for the
Teutonic Order
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...
against
Wladislaus II of Poland. He supported
Rupert III, Elector Palatine of the Rhine, in his struggle with King
Wenceslaus
Wenceslaus, Wenceslas, Wenzeslaus and Wenzslaus (and other similar names) are Latinized forms of the Czech name Václav. The other language versions of the name are german: Wenzel, pl, Wacław, Więcesław, Wieńczysław, es, Wenceslao, russian: ...
for the German throne, probably because Wenceslaus refused to fulfill a promise to give him his sister
Anna
Anna may refer to:
People Surname and given name
* Anna (name)
Mononym
* Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke
* Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773)
* Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century)
* Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 12 ...
in marriage.
The danger to Germany from the
Hussites
The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation.
The Hussit ...
induced Frederick to ally himself with Emperor
Sigismund Sigismund (variants: Sigmund, Siegmund) is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German ''sigu'' "victory" + ''munt'' "hand, protection". Tacitus latinises it '' Segimundus''. There appears to be an older form of ...
; and he took a leading part in the war against them, during the earlier years of which he met with considerable success. For his victory at the
Battle of Brüx
The Battle of Brüx was fought on 5 August 1421 in North Bohemia during the Hussite Wars. The Hussite troops, led by Jan Želivský, were defeated by the Catholic Imperial forces of Frederick I of Saxony.
Battle
On 16 March 1421, the Hussite t ...
in 1421, Frederick was granted the ranks of
Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
and
Elector
Elector may refer to:
* Prince-elector or elector, a member of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors
* Elector, a member of an electoral college
** Confederate elector, a member of ...
. In the prosecution of this enterprise Frederick spent large sums of money, for which he received various places in
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
and elsewhere in pledge from Sigismund, who further rewarded him on 6 January 1423 with the vacant
electoral
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...
Duchy of
Saxony-Wittenberg
The Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg () was a medieval duchy of the Holy Roman Empire 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 th ...
; and Fredericks formal investiture followed at
Ofen
Buda (; german: Ofen, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Budim, Будим, Czech language, Czech and sk, Budín, tr, Budin) was the historic capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and since 1873 has been the western part of the Hungary, Hungarian c ...
on the 1 August 1425. Thus ascended Frederick IV, who called himself Frederick I now as duke and elector. Thus spurred to renewed efforts against the Hussites, the elector was endeavouring to rouse the German princes to aid him in prosecuting this war when the Saxon army was almost annihilated at
Aussig on the 16 August 1426.
After the death of his brother William, Frederick became the ruler over the entire possession 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 ...
except
Thuringia
Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million.
Erfurt is the capital and larg ...
.
In 1409, Frederick and his brother William founded the
University of Leipzig
Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...
, for the benefit of German students who had left the
University of Prague after the events relating to the
Western Schism
The Western Schism, also known as the Papal Schism, the Vatican Standoff, the Great Occidental Schism, or the Schism of 1378 (), was a split within the Catholic Church lasting from 1378 to 1417 in which bishops residing in Rome and Avignon bo ...
.
Frederick died in 1428 at
Altenburg. He was buried as the first
Wettin in the centre of what is now known as the Princes Chapel in
Meissen Cathedral
Meissen Cathedral or the Church of St John and St Donatus (german: Meißner Dom) is a Gothic church in Meissen in Saxony. It is situated on the castle hill of Meissen, adjacent to the Albrechtsburg castle and forms a critical centrepiece of the i ...
. The cathedral is now accessible to the public for a small fee and the tomb is readily seen.
Family
Frederick I married
Catherine of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Catherine of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1395 – 28 December 1442, Grimma) was a member of the House of Welf, a princess of Brunswick-Lüneburg and by marriage, the Electress of Saxony.
Life
Catherine was the only daughter and second child of ...
(d. 1442), daughter of
Henry the Mild, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Henry of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Latin ''Henricus'', died 14 October 1416), Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, called Henry the Mild, was prince of Lüneburg from 1388 to 1409 jointly with his brother Bernard I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, from 1400 to 14 ...
on 7 February 1402 and had 7 children:
#Catherine, died young;
#
Frederick II, Elector of Saxony
Frederick II, The Gentle (''Friedrich, der Sanftmütige''; Frederick the Gentle) (22 August 1412 – 7 September 1464) was Elector of Saxony (1428–1464) and was Landgrave of Thuringia (1440–1445).
Biography
Frederick was born in Leipz ...
(1412–1464);
#Sigismund, Bishop of
Würzburg
Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River.
Würzburg is ...
, (3 March 1416 – 24 December 1471);
#
Anna
Anna may refer to:
People Surname and given name
* Anna (name)
Mononym
* Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke
* Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773)
* Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century)
* Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 12 ...
, (5 June 1420 – 17 September 1462), married to
Louis I, Landgrave of Hesse
Louis I of Hesse (german: Ludwig) (6 February 1402 - 17 January 1458), called "the Peaceful", was Landgrave of Lower Hesse (Hesse) from 1413 to 1458.
He was born at Spangenberg, the son of Hermann II, Landgrave of Hesse and Margaret, the dau ...
;
#
Catherine
Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria.
In the early Christ ...
, (1421 – 23 August 1476,
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
), married to
Frederick II, Elector of Brandenburg
Frederick II of Brandenburg () (19 November 1413 – 10 February 1471), nicknamed "the Iron" (''der Eiserne'') and sometimes "Irontooth" (''Eisenzahn''), was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from 1440 until his abdication in 14 ...
;
#
Henry
Henry may refer to:
People
*Henry (given name)
* Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
, (21 May 1422 – 22 July 1435);
#
William III, Duke of Luxemburg
William III (30 April 1425 – 17 September 1482), called the Brave (in German ''Wilhelm der Tapfere''), was landgrave of Thuringia (from 1445) and claimant duke of Luxemburg (from 1457). He is actually the second William to rule Thuringia, and ...
(1425–1482), Landgrave of Thuringia;
: married firstly, in 1446, Archduchess
Anne of Austria
Anne of Austria (french: Anne d'Autriche, italic=no, es, Ana María Mauricia, italic=no; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666) was an infanta of Spain who became Queen of France as the wife of King Louis XIII from their marriage in 1615 unti ...
(1432–1462)
: married secondly, in 1463, Catherine of Brandenstein († 1492)
Ancestry
References
*
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frederick 01 of Saxony, Elector
1370 births
1428 deaths
Prince-electors of Saxony
Margraves of Meissen
House of Wettin
Nobility from Dresden
People of the Hussite Wars