Frederick IV (before 30 November 1384 – 7 May 1440), nicknamed the Peaceful () or the Simple (''der Einfältige''), was a 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 ...

and

Margrave of Meissen This article lists the margraves of Margraviate of Meissen, Meissen, a March (territorial entity), march and territorial state on the eastern border of the Holy Roman Empire. History King Henry the Fowler, on his 928–29 campaign against the S ...

who ruled as the last independent

Landgrave of Thuringia Thuringia is a historical and political region of Central Germany. Kings of Thuringia *500?–507 Bisinus *507–529 Baderich *507–525 Berthachar *507–532 Herminafried :''Conquered by the Franks.'' Frankish dukes of Thur ...

from 1406 until his death.

Life

He was the son of Landgrave Balthasar of Thuringia and his first wife, the Hohenzollern princess Margaret of

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

. His father had received the

Landgraviate of Thuringia The Duchy of Thuringia was an eastern frontier march of the Merovingian dynasty, Merovingian kingdom of Austrasia, established about 631 by King Dagobert I after his troops had been defeated by the forces of the Samo, Slavic confederation of Samo ...

in the 1382

Division of Chemnitz {{unreferenced, date=August 2024 The Division of Chemnitz settled the succession in the Landgraviate of Thuringia. After the death of Frederick the Severe, Margrave of Meissen and Landgrave of Thuringia, the five heirs of the House of Wettin ...

and was able to largely extend his territories in several skirmishes with the local nobility. After the death of his first wife Margaret in 1391, he secondly married the Ascanian princess Anna of Saxe-Wittenberg. Landgrave Balthasar planned to marry his son off to Elizabeth of Görlitz, a granddaughter of the late

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

emperor Charles IV; nevertheless, these attempts had already failed, when Frederick succeeded his father in 1406. One year later he married Countess Anna (d. 1431), the daughter of Count Günther XXX of Schwarzburg-Blankenburg. Their marriage remained childless. Frederick is considered a relatively weak ruler, who was at times very dependent on the influence of his wife and her relatives. To finance his lavish court, he sold more and more land and titles. In 1436, he had all

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

expelled from Thuringia. After Frederick's death without heirs, Thuringia was inherited by his two Wettin cousins, Elector Frederick II of Saxony and his brother William III. He had already sold them the more remote areas of

Meissen Meissen ( ), is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden and 75 km (46 mi) west of Bautzen on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, th ...

some years earlier for . The succession led to the 1445 Division of Altenburg and the subsequent

Saxon Fratricidal War The Saxon Fratricidal WarThis translation is employed by the Museum Leuchtenburg in thei ( German: ''Sächsischer Bruderkrieg'') was a war fought between the two brothers Frederick II, Elector of Saxony and Duke William III over Wettin ruled a ...

Ancestors

References

External links

Entry in the Saxon Biography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frederick 04, Landgrave of Thuringia Margraves of Meissen Landgraves of Thuringia House of Wettin 14th-century births Year of birth uncertain 1440 deaths 14th-century German nobility 15th-century German nobility