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 in Luxembourg; he was the third Margrave of Meissen named William. He was a younger son of Frederick I the Warlike, elector of

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; 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 landlocked state of ...

, and Catherine of Brunswick and Lunenburg. On 2 June 1446 he married

Anne of Luxembourg Anne of Bohemia and Austria (12 April 1432 – 13 November 1462) was a Duchess of Luxembourg in her own right and, as a consort, Landgravine of Thuringia and of Saxony. She was the eldest daughter of Albert of Austria, the future Emperor-El ...

, daughter of Albert II, King of Germany, Bohemia and Hungary and

Elisabeth of Luxembourg Elizabeth of Luxembourg ( hu, Luxemburgi Erzsébet; 7 October 1409 – 19 December 1442) was queen consort of Hungary, queen consort of Germany and Bohemia. The only child of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, King of Hungary and Bohemia, Eliza ...

. On behalf of his wife, he became

Duke of Luxembourg The territory of Luxembourg has been ruled successively by counts, dukes and grand dukes. It was part of the medieval Kingdom of Germany, and later the Holy Roman Empire until it became a sovereignty, sovereign state in 1815. Counts of Luxembourg ...

from 1457 to 1469. They had two daughters,

Margaret of Thuringia Margaret of Thuringia or Margaret of Saxony (1449 – 13 July 1501) was a German noblewoman, Electress of Brandenburg by marriage.Ernst Daniel Martin Kirchner: Die Kurfürstinnen und Königinnen auf dem Throne der Hohhenzollern, Berlin, 1867 Sh ...

(1449–1501) and Catherine of Thuringia (1453 – 10 July 1534), who married Duke Henry II of Münsterberg. William minted a silver '' groschen'' known as the ''Judenkopf Groschen''. Its obverse portrait shows a man with a pointed beard wearing a

Jewish hat The Jewish hat, also known as the Jewish cap, ''Judenhut'' (German language, German) or Latin language, Latin ''pileus cornutus'' ("horned skullcap"), was a cone-shaped pointed hat, often white or yellow, worn by Jews in Medieval Europe. Initiall ...

, which the populace took as depicting a typical Jew.

Ancestors

{{DEFAULTSORT:William 03, Duke of Luxembourg 1425 births 1482 deaths Rulers of Thuringia Landgraves of Thuringia Saxon princes House of Wettin Medieval Knights of the Holy Sepulchre