Saxe-Eisenach (german: Sachsen-Eisenach) was an
Ernestine duchy ruled by the Saxon
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 ...
. The
state intermittently existed at three different times in the
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 lar ...
n region 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 unt ...
. The chief town and capital of all three duchies was
Eisenach.
History
In the 15th century, much of what is now the
German state of Thuringia, including the area around Eisenach, was in the hands of the Wettin dynasty, since 1423
Prince-elector
The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
From the 13th century onwards, the princ ...
s of
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon German, 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 ...
. In 1485, the Wettin lands were divided according to the
Treaty of Leipzig, with most of the Thuringian lands going to Elector
Ernest of Saxony and his descendants. The Ernestine Wettins also retained the title of Elector. However, when Ernest's grandson
John Frederick the Magnanimous revolted against Emperor
Charles V during the
Schmalkaldic War
The Schmalkaldic War (german: link=no, Schmalkaldischer Krieg) was the short period of violence from 1546 until 1547 between the forces of Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire (simultaneously King Charles I ...
, he was defeated at the 1547
Battle of Mühlberg and deprived of the electorate in favour of his Wettin cousin
Maurice. According to the
Capitulation of Wittenberg he was only allowed to retain the lands in Thuringia.
Ernestine duchies
After John Frederick's son Duke
John Frederick II in 1566 had been
banned
A ban is a formal or informal prohibition of something. Bans are formed for the prohibition of activities within a certain political territory. Some bans in commerce are referred to as embargoes. ''Ban'' is also used as a verb similar in meanin ...
by Emperor
Maximilian II due to his involvement in the
Grumbach feuds, the Ernestine duchy was at first ruled by his younger brother
John William. According to the 1572 Division of
Erfurt
Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits in ...
, he partitioned the lands among himself and his minor nephews, the sons of John Frederick II: He himself retained the Duchy of
Saxe-Weimar, while the Duchy of
Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach
Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach was a duchy within the Holy Roman Empire. It existed during two fairly short periods: 1572-1596 and 1633-1638. Its territory was part of the modern states of Bavaria and Thuringia.
History
The duchy was created by the D ...
passed to
John Casimir and
John Ernest, under the
regency of their cousin Elector
Augustus of Saxony.
For the next three centuries the Ernestine lands were divided whenever the dukes had more than one son to provide for, and re-combined when they died without direct heirs, but all of the lands stayed in the Ernestine branch of the Wettin family. All descendants of John Frederick the Magnanimous in the male line bore the title "
Duke of Saxony", whether or not they actually ruled any territory. Brothers sometimes ruled jointly, but usually there was a division of territory if there was more than one son to inherit. As a result, the Duchy of Saxe-Eisenach was separated from and subsumed into other Ernestine duchies several times. The actual territories included in the duchy changed with each creation, but always with the town of Eisenach as the core.
Duchies of Saxe-Eisenach
The first Duchy of Saxe-Eisenach was created in 1596, after the banned Duke John Frederick II had died in captivity and his surviving sons had come of age. Their Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach was split, whereby the younger John Ernest became Duke at Eisenach, while the elder John Casimir took his residence at
Coburg. When in 1633 Duke John Casimir died without issue, the Wettin line in
Saxe-Coburg died out, and John Ernest inherited it. Nevertheless, he himself also died heirless in 1638, and his territories were split between Saxe-Weimar and
Saxe-Altenburg, which had itself been separated from Saxe-Weimar in 1603.
In the course of the partition of the Saxe-Weimar lands among the sons of late Duke
John II in 1640, the eldest brother
William of Saxe-Weimar gave the re-established Duchy of Saxe-Eisenach to his younger brother
Albert IV, while the youngest
Ernest
Ernest is a given name derived from Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious". Notable people and fictional characters with the name include:
People
*Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor
* Ernest, ...
received the Duchy of
Saxe-Gotha. However, Duke Albert died without heirs in 1644, and Saxe-Eisenach was then divided between Saxe-Gotha and Saxe-Weimar, ruled by his brothers.
For nearly 20 years the residence of Eisenach was part of Saxe-Weimar. However, when Duke Wilhelm of Saxe-Weimar died in 1662, he left four children:
John Ernest,
Adolf William,
John George
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
and
Bernard. The second eldest, Adolf William, received Eisenach. He had to share this, however, with his younger brother John George, who finally accepted the receipt of an income from the duchy of Saxe-Eisenach and made his residence in the small town of
Marksuhl
Marksuhl is a village and a former municipality in the Wartburgkreis district of Thuringia, Germany. Since July 2018, it is part of the municipality Gerstungen.
Geography
Marksuhl is located in the center of the Wartburgkreis district, approxima ...
. Adolf William had five sons, but the first four died soon after birth. In 1668 he died, just before of the birth of his fifth son,
Willam Augustus, who became the new Duke of Saxe-Eisenach from his birth, under the
guardianship of his uncle John George. A sickly boy, he died in 1671 at only two years old, and John George became Duke of Saxe-Eisenach.
Saxe-Eisenach assumed its final shape in 1672, following the death of
Frederick William III of
Saxe-Altenburg and the partition of his lands. The line of Johann Georg I ruled Saxe-Eisenach for 69 years, until Duke
Wilhelm Heinrich died heirless in 1741. Duke
Ernest Augustus I of Saxe-Weimar, Wilhelm's second cousin, inherited Saxe-Eisenach; he and his successors ruled Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach in
personal union
A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interli ...
until 1809, when the duchies were formally merged into the Duchy of
Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.
Dukes of Saxe-Eisenach
First creation
Created in 1572 as
Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach
Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach was a duchy within the Holy Roman Empire. It existed during two fairly short periods: 1572-1596 and 1633-1638. Its territory was part of the modern states of Bavaria and Thuringia.
History
The duchy was created by the D ...
1596 divided into
Saxe-Coburg and Saxe-Eisenach
*
John Ernest (1596–1638), left no issue
Divided between
Saxe-Altenburg and
Saxe-Weimar
Second creation
*
Albrecht (1640–1644), left no issue
Divided between
Saxe-Gotha and
Saxe-Weimar
Third creation
*
Adolf Wilhelm (1662–68), second son of Duke
William of Saxe-Weimar
*
William Augustus (1668–71), minor son, left no issue
*
John George I (1671–86), third son of Duke William of Saxe-Weimar
*
John George II (1686–98), son, left no issue
*
John William (1698–1729), younger brother
*
William Henry (1729–41), son, left no issue
Line extinct
Personal union with Saxe-Weimar
*
Ernst August I (1741-1748), Duke of Saxe-Weimar since 1728
*
Ernst August II (1748-1758), son
*
Charles Augustus (1758-1809), son
Merged with
Saxe-Weimar into
Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
References
* Much of the content of this article comes from
Sachsen-Eisenach on the
German Wikipedia and
Ducado de Sajonia-Eisenach on the
Spanish Wikipedia, both retrieved November 10, 2005.
External links
German genealogies
{{Authority control
States of the Confederation of the Rhine
States and territories established in 1640
States and territories established in 1672
Eisenach
House of Wettin
1596 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire
1638 disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire
1640 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire
1644 disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire
1662 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire
1809 disestablishments in Europe