Frederick IV (before 30 November 1384 – 7 May 1440), nicknamed the Peaceful (german: Friedrich der Friedfertige) or the Simple (''der Einfältige''), was 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 ...
and
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 hil ...
who ruled as the last independent
Landgrave of Thuringia
This is a list of the rulers of Thuringia, a historical and political region of Central Germany.
Kings of Thuringia
*450–500 Bisinus
*500–530 Baderich
*500–530 Berthachar
*500–531 Herminafried
:''Conquered by the Franks. ...
from 1406 until his death.
Life
He was the son of Landgrave
Balthasar of Thuringia and his first wife, the
Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenb ...
princess Margaret 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 ...
. His father had received the
Landgraviate of Thuringia
The Duchy of Thuringia was an eastern frontier march of the Merovingian kingdom of Austrasia, established about 631 by King Dagobert I after his troops had been defeated by the forces of the Slavic confederation of Samo at the Battle of Wogastis ...
in the 1382
Division of Chemnitz and was able to largely extend his territories in several skirmishes with the local nobility. After the death of his first wife Margaret in 1391, he secondly married the
Ascanian
The House of Ascania (german: Askanier) was a dynasty of German rulers. It is also known as the House of Anhalt, which refers to its longest-held possession, Anhalt.
The Ascanians are named after Ascania (or Ascaria) Castle, known as ''Schloss ...
princess
Anna of Saxe-Wittenberg.
Landgrave Balthasar planned to marry his son off to
Elizabeth of Görlitz
Elisabeth of Görlitz (1390 or 1380 – 1444 or 2 August 1451) reigned as Duchess of Luxemburg from 1411 to 1443.
Life
Elisabeth was the only daughter and heiress of John of Görlitz, the third son of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor. He was Du ...
, a grand-daughter of the late
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
emperor
Charles IV; nevertheless, these attempts had already failed, when Frederick succeeded his father in 1406. One year later he married Countess Anna (d. 1431), the daughter of Count Günther XXX of
Schwarzburg-Blankenburg. Their marriage remained childless.
Frederick is considered a relatively weak ruler, who was at times very dependent on the influence of his wife and her relatives. To finance his lavish court, he sold more and more land and titles. In 1436, he had all
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
expelled from Thuringia.
After Frederick's death without heirs, Thuringia was inherited by his two Wettin cousins, Elector
Frederick II of Saxony and his brother
William III. He had already sold them the more remote areas of
Meissen
Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrecht ...
some years earlier for . The succession led to the 1445
Division of Altenburg
The Division of Altenburg (German: ''Altenburger Teilung'') was the plan for the division of the Meissen lands agreed upon by the two hostile Wettin brothers Elector Frederick II of Saxony and William III on 16 July 1445 at Altenburg.Historisc ...
and the subsequent
Saxon Fratricidal War
The Saxon Fratricidal WarThis translation is employed by the Museum Leuchtenburg in thei (German: ''Sächsischer Bruderkrieg'') was a war fought between the two brothers Frederick II, Elector of Saxony and Duke William III over Wettin ruled area ...
.
Ancestors
References
*
External links
Entry in the Saxon Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frederick 04, Landgrave of Thuringia
Margraves of Meissen
Landgraves of Thuringia
House of Wettin
14th-century births
1440 deaths
14th-century German nobility
15th-century German nobility