William III (30 April 1425 – 17 September 1482), called the Brave (in German ''Wilhelm der Tapfere''), was

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 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. 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 sovereign state in 1815. Counts of Luxembourg House of Ard ...

from 1457 to 1469. They had two daughters, Margaret of Thuringia (1449–1501) and

Catherine of Thuringia 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 Chris ...

(1453 – 10 July 1534), who married Duke Henry II of Münsterberg. William minted a silver ''

groschen Groschen (; from la, grossus "thick", via Old Czech ') a (sometimes colloquial) name for various coins, especially a silver coin used in various states of the Holy Roman Empire and other parts of Europe. The word is borrowed from the late Lat ...

'' known as the ''Judenkopf Groschen''. Its

obverse Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ...

portrait shows a man with a pointed beard wearing a

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

, 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