Albert III (; – before 12 November 1422) was the last Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg and

Elector of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony ( or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356 to 1806 initially centred on Wittenberg that came to include areas around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. It was a ...

from the

House of Ascania The House of Ascania () was a dynasty of German rulers. It is also known as the House of Anhalt, which refers to its longest-held possession, Principality of Anhalt, Anhalt. The Ascanians are named after Ascania (or Ascaria) Castle, known as ' ...

. After his death, King

Sigismund Sigismund (variants: Sigmund, Siegmund) is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German ''sigu'' "victory" + ''munt'' "hand, protection". Tacitus latinises it ''Segimundus''. There appears to be an older form of ...

ceded his duchy and the Saxon electoral dignity to Margrave Frederick IV of Meissen from the

House of Wettin The House of Wettin () was a dynasty which included Saxon monarch, kings, Prince Elector, prince-electors, dukes, and counts, who once ruled territories in the present-day German federated states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynas ...

Life

Albert was probably born in the Saxon

Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...

residence, the younger son of Duke Wenceslaus I, Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg and his wife Cecilia, daughter of Francesco I da Carrara, Lord of

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

He first appeared in written documents in 1407. When his elder brother, Elector Rudolf III was poisoned in 1419, Albert took over the rule of Saxe-Wittenberg. Also known as "Albert the Poor", he inherited a land exhausted by the War of the Lüneburg Succession and Rudolf's long-time feud with the Archbishops of Magdeburg. With an empty state purse, he could scarcely afford any servants and led a very lonely life. In order to generate some income, he controversially imposed the right to charge stall taxes on markets in the town of Wittenberg in 1421. He got into such conflict with the citizens that it almost led to an armed clash, as this right had belonged to the town for generations. Finally the Hohenzollern elector Frederick of Brandenburg was called in to referee the dispute. He decided that the behaviour of the townsfolk to their lord was inappropriate, but supported their

market rights A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

on condition that an apology was tendered to Albert. In the third year of his reign the prince-elector died as a result of an accidental fire in a farmhouse on the Lochau Heath near

Annaburg Annaburg () is a town in Wittenberg district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was the seat of the former ''Verwaltungsgemeinschaft'' Annaburg-Prettin. Constituent communities The town Annaburg consists of the following ''Ortschaften'' or municipa ...

, where he was overnighting with his wife during a hunt. The fire came so close to them that he and his wife, dressed only in nightshirts had to be rescued through a window. Several of his servants died in the flames. The prince-elector was so shocked by this incident that he died a few days later in Wittenberg. He was buried in the Franciscan chapel there. With his death, the Ascanian rule in Saxe-Wittenberg came to an end.

Marriage

Albert married Euphemia of Oels, a daughter of the

Piast The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of King Casimir III the Great. Branches of ...

duke Konrad III the Old on 14 January 1420. This marriage remained childless. In 1422 his widow was given Liebenwerda Castle as her wittum (''Leibgedinge''). In 1432, she secondly married Prince George I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau. She died in 1444.

Ancestors

External links

genealogie-mittelalter.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albert 03, Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg Prince-electors of Saxony Dukes of Saxe-Wittenberg House of Ascania 14th-century births 1422 deaths