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

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 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, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

, and Catherine of Brunswick and Lunenburg. On 2 June 1446 he married Anne of Luxembourg, daughter of Albert II, King of Germany, Bohemia and Hungary and

Elizabeth of Luxembourg Elizabeth of Luxembourg (; 7 October 1409 – 19 December 1442) was queen consort of Hungary, queen consort of Germany and Bohemia. The only child of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, King of Hungary and Bohemia, Elizabeth was expected to asce ...

. 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 Arde ...

from 1457 to 1469. They had two daughters,

Margaret of Thuringia Margaret of Thuringia or Margaret of Saxony (1449 – 13 July 1501) was a German noblewoman, Electress of Brandenburg by marriage.Ernst Daniel Martin Kirchner: Die Kurfürstinnen und Königinnen auf dem Throne der Hohhenzollern, Berlin, 1867 S ...

(1449–1501) and Catherine of Thuringia (1453 – 10 July 1534), who married Duke Henry II of Münsterberg. William minted a silver ''

groschen Groschen (; from "thick", via Old Czech ') is the (sometimes colloquial) name for various coins, especially a silver coin used in parts of Europe including Kingdom of France, France, some of the Italian states, and various states of the Holy R ...

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

obverse The obverse and reverse are 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, ''obverse'' ...

portrait shows a man with a pointed beard wearing a

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

, which the populace took as depicting a typical Jew.

Ancestors

References

1425 births 1482 deaths Landgraves of Thuringia Saxon princes House of Wettin Medieval Knights of the Holy Sepulchre Jure uxoris dukes Sons of prince-electors {{Germany-bio-stub