Christian III Maurice (

Merseburg Merseburg () is a town in central Germany in southern Saxony-Anhalt, situated on the river Saale, and approximately 14 km south of Halle (Saale) and 30 km west of Leipzig. It is the capital of the Saalekreis district. It had a diocese ...

, 7 November 1680 – Merseburg, 14 November 1694), was a duke of

Saxe-Merseburg The Duchy of Saxe-Merseburg was a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire, with Merseburg as its capital. It existed from 1656 or 1657 to 1738 and was owned by an Albertine secundogeniture of the Saxon House of Wettin. History The Wettin Elector J ...

and member of 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

The eldest son of

Christian II, Duke of Saxe-Merseburg Christian II of Saxe-Merseburg (19 November 1653 – 20 October 1694), was a duke of Saxe-Merseburg and member of the House of Wettin. He was the second (but eldest surviving) son of Christian I, Duke of Saxe-Merseburg, and Christiana of Sch ...

, and

Erdmuthe Dorothea of Saxe-Zeitz Erdmuthe Dorothea of Saxe-Zeitz (13 November 1661Johann Hübner's three hundred and thirty three genealogical tables, table 171 Archived 2012-04-20 at the Wayback Machine/ref> – 29 April 1720) was the wife of Duke Christian II, Duke of Saxe-Me ...

, at age 13 Christian Maurice succeeded his father upon his death on 20 October 1694. During his minority, the Elector Frederick August I of Saxony took over the administration of the duchy as regent. However, the custody of the young duke was mainly the responsibility of his mother, the dowager duchess Erdmuthe Dorothea, who also took an interest in governing the duchy. The new duke died of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

after having reigned for only twenty-five days and was succeeded by his younger brother Maurice Wilhelm.

References

* Heinrich Theodor Flathe: '' Christian II. (Herzog von Sachsen-Merseburg).'' In:

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB; ) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences between 1875 and 1912 in 56 volumes, printed in Lei ...

(ADB). Band 4, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, S. 175. * Johann Sebastian Müller, Der Chur- und fürstlichen Häuser Sachsen, Ernestin- und Albertinischer Linie Annales von 1400–1700, Leipzig 1701, Tafel XIII 1680 births 1694 deaths Dukes of the Holy Roman Empire House of Saxe-Merseburg Dukes of Saxe-Merseburg Albertine branch Monarchs who died as children {{Germany-duke-stub