Wenceslas I, Duke of

Saxe-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 ...

( – 15 May 1388, in

Celle Celle () is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about 71,000. Celle is the southern gateway to the Lü ...

) from the

House of Ascania 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 ...

ruled from 1370 to 1388 and was a

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 prince ...

of the Holy Roman Empire as well as

Prince of Lüneburg A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

. He was the son of

Rudolf I Rudolf I (1 May 1218 – 15 July 1291) was the first King of Germany from the House of Habsburg. The first of the count-kings of Germany, he reigned from 1273 until his death. Rudolf's election marked the end of the Great Interregnum which h ...

and his 3rd wife, Agnes of Lindow-Ruppin.

Life

In 1370 Wenceslas succeeded his brother Rudolf II. In 1376 he took part, as a prince-elector, in the election of

Wenceslas IV of Bohemia Wenceslaus IV (also ''Wenceslas''; cs, Václav; german: Wenzel, nicknamed "the Idle"; 26 February 136116 August 1419), also known as Wenceslaus of Luxembourg, was King of Bohemia from 1378 until his death and King of Germany from 1376 until he w ...

as King of Germany and in 1377 stood by Emperor Charles IV in the

Altmark :''See German tanker Altmark for the ship named after Altmark and Stary Targ for the Polish village named Altmark in German.'' The (English: Old MarchHansard, ''The Parliamentary Debates from the Year 1803 to the Present Time ...'', Volume 32. 1 F ...

. He was frequently active in the affairs of the empire on the side of the emperor. Charles IV granted Albert of Saxe-Wittenberg and his uncle Wenceslas I - and their house - the underlying entitlement to Brunswick and Lüneburg, but the two of them were unsuccessful in claiming this right through the

Lüneburg War of Succession Lüneburg (officially the ''Hanseatic City of Lüneburg'', German: ''Hansestadt Lüneburg'', , Low German ''Lümborg'', Latin ''Luneburgum'' or ''Lunaburgum'', Old High German ''Luneburc'', Old Saxon ''Hliuni'', Polabian ''Glain''), also called ...

. In 1388 Wenceslas finally lost his claim at the battle of

Winsen an der Aller Winsen an der Aller () or Winsen (Aller) is a town in the district of Celle in the German state of Lower Saxony. Geography Winsen has around 12,900 inhabitants and lies on the southern perimeter of the Lüneburg Heath, on the banks of the Aller, ...

. He was in conflict with the Duke of

Brabant Brabant is a traditional geographical region (or regions) in the Low Countries of Europe. It may refer to: Place names in Europe * London-Brabant Massif, a geological structure stretching from England to northern Germany Belgium * Province of Bra ...

over the right to carry the

Imperial Sword The Imperial Sword ( la, Gladius Imperatoria, german: Reichsschwert) is one of the four most important parts of the Imperial Regalia (''Reichskleinodien'') of the Holy Roman Empire. During a coronation, it was given to the emperor along with the ...

ahead of the emperor. He made state peace treaties with

Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...

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 Magdebur ...

and

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 Albrechts ...

. During the siege of

Wenceslas died suddenly of a serious illness. Even his contemporaries suspected that he had been administered poison and that that was the cause of death. According to other traditional accounts, he died on 18 August 1402 which has however caused confusion over his grave.

Descendants

On 23 January 1376 Wenceslas married ''Cecilia of Carrara'' (d. 1435), daughter of Francis of Carrara (born 29 September 1325 in Padua – died 6 October 1393 in Monza), Count of Padua. They had the following children: *

Rudolf III Rudolph III or Rudolf III may refer to: *Rudolf III of Burgundy (971–1032), last king of the independent Kingdom of Arles * Rudolph III, Count of Neuchâtel (died 1272), son of Count Berthold * Rudolph III of Austria (c. 1281 – 1307), or Rud ...

, Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg * Wenceslas (died 1402) * Erich (died as child) *

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 ...

(died 1426) who married

Frederick I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode *Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederick ...

* Albert III (died 1422) Elector of Saxony * Margaret of Saxony who married Bernhard of Brunswick-Lüneburg

Ancestors

References

Literature

* Lorenz Friedrich Beck: ''Herrschaft and Territorium des Herzöge of Saxe-Wittenberg (1212–1422)''. Potsdam, 2000. * Heinrich Kühne: ''Die Askanier''. Drei Kastanien Verlag, 1999. * Georg Hirschfeld: ''Geschichte der Sächsisch-Askanischen Prince-Electoren''. Julius Sittenfeld, Berlin 1884. *

External links

http://www.genealogie-mittelalter.de/Wenceslas Prince-Elector of Saxe-Wittenberg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wenceslas 01 of Saxe-Wittenberg Prince-electors of Saxony Princes of Lüneburg Dukes of Saxe-Wittenberg House of Ascania 1388 deaths Year of birth unknown