Duke John Frederick of Saxe-Weimar (19 September 1600 in Altenburg – 17 October 1628 in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

) was a

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

of Saxe-Weimar.

Life

John Frederick was a son of Duke John II of Saxe-Weimar and his wife

Dorothea Maria of Anhalt Dorothea Maria of Anhalt (Dessau, 2 July 1574 – Weimar, 18 July 1617), was by birth a member of the House of Ascania and princess of Anhalt. After her marriage, she became Duchess of Saxe-Weimar. Dorothea Maria was the sixth daughter of Joachim ...

. His brothers were the Dukes John Ernest I "the Younger" of Saxe-Weimar, Frederick of Saxe-Weimar, William IV of Saxe-Weimar, Albert IV of Saxe-Eisenach, Ernest I of Saxe-Gotha and Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar. John Frederick enjoyed a comprehensive education from Chamberlain

Kaspar von Teutleben Kaspar is a given name and surname which may refer to: Given name: * Kaspar, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken (1459 – c. 1527) * Kaspar Albrecht (1889–1970), Austrian architect and sculptor * Kaspar Amort (1612–1675), German painter * Caspa ...

and Councillor Friedrich Hortleder. He did not follow his brothers to University. He did, however, accompany his brother Albert IV of Saxe-Eisenach in 1619 on his

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tut ...

through France and Switzerland. They were accompanied by Hofmeister Hans Bernd von Botzheim and Councillor Tobias Adami. John Frederick, like his brother Albert, was made a member of the

Fruitbearing Society The Fruitbearing Society (German Die Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft, lat. ''societas fructifera'') was a German literary society founded in 1617 in Weimar by German scholars and nobility. Its aim was to standardize vernacular German and promote it a ...

by Prince

Louis I Louis I may refer to: * Louis the Pious, Louis I of France, "the Pious" (778–840), king of France and Holy Roman Emperor * Louis I, Landgrave of Thuringia (ruled 1123–1140) * Ludwig I, Count of Württemberg (c. 1098–1158) * Louis I of Blois ...

of Anhalt-Köthen, before the start of their Grand Tour. Louis gave John Frederick the nickname ("the Inflamed") and the motto ("spoil and receive"). His emblem was "stubbles in the field, set on fire, half burned". He was member number 18. In 1622, John Frederick and his brother Bernhard fought in the Battle of Wimpfen on the side of Baden. Three years later, his brother John Ernest the Younger promoted him to Colonel. Later that year, a power struggle between the brothers escalated for political reasons. It ended when John Frederick was arrested. He was later released. However, in 1627 he attempted to join the army of

Tilly Tilly may refer to: Places France * Tilly, Eure, in the Eure ''département'' * Tilly, Indre, in the Indre ''département'' * Tilly, Yvelines, in the Yvelines ''département'' Elsewhere * Tilly, Belgium, a village in the municipality of Viller ...

. He was caught, and again imprisoned by his brothers. John Frederick was very interested in

Alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...

all his life. On 16 October 1628, while still in prison, he confessed, in writing, to a pact with the

devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of ...

. The next day, he was found dead in his cell. Speculations ranged from suicide to murder; neither was ever conclusively proven. A

witch trial A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern perio ...

against him was never started.

References

* Ronald Füssel: ''Die Hexenverfolgungen im Thüringer Raum'' = ''Veröffentlichungen des Arbeitskreises für historische Hexen- und Kriminalitätsforschung in Norddeutschland'', vol. 2, DOBU, Hamburg, 2003, p. 92 and p. 247 ff House of Wettin Dukes of Saxe-Weimar 1600 births 1628 deaths 17th-century German people People accused of witchcraft Witchcraft in Germany Sons of monarchs {{Germany-duke-stub