Europe · High and late Middle Ages
Electorate of Saxony
drawn on the map 1363–1428, 1487–1631, 1636–1699, 1763–1805
The Ascanian Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg received the Saxon electoral dignity under the Golden Bull (1356; first elector Rudolph I). After the Ascanian Wittenberg line died out, Emperor Sigismund awarded the electorate to Frederick I of the House of Wettin (Margrave of Meissen) on 6 January 1423.
- Shown on the map
- 1363–1428, 1487–1631, 1636–1699, 1763–1805 (4 periods)
- Peak area
- 36k km²
- Region
- Europe
Overview
The Ascanian Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg received the Saxon electoral dignity under the Golden Bull (1356; first elector Rudolph I). After the Ascanian Wittenberg line died out, Emperor Sigismund awarded the electorate to Frederick I of the House of Wettin (Margrave of Meissen) on 6 January 1423. The Treaty of Leipzig (26 August 1485) split the Wettin lands: the Ernestine line kept the electorate (attached to Saxe-Wittenberg) and southern Thuringia; the Albertine line received Meissen and ducal title. Elector Frederick III "the Wise" (r. 1486–1525) famously protected Martin Luther, making Saxony the birthplace of the Reformation (Wittenberg, home of Luther and Melanchthon). In the Schmalkaldic War, the Albertine Maurice sided with Charles V; after the Battle of Mühlberg (April 1547) the Capitulation of Wittenberg (19 May 1547) transferred the electorate and core Ernestine lands to the Albertine line. The capital moved from Wittenberg (1356–1547) to Dresden (1547–1806). Augustus the Strong (Elector Frederick Augustus I) converted to Catholicism in 1697 to gain the Polish crown, creating a Saxon-Polish personal union (1697–1706, 1709–1763). Saxony became a kingdom in 1806.
Common questions
- What was the Electorate of Saxony?
- The Ascanian Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg received the Saxon electoral dignity under the Golden Bull (1356; first elector Rudolph I). After the Ascanian Wittenberg line died out, Emperor Sigismund awarded the electorate to Frederick I of the House of Wettin (Margrave of Meissen) on 6 January 1423.
- When is the Electorate of Saxony shown on the map?
- The border data draws the Electorate of Saxony 1363–1428, 1487–1631, 1636–1699, 1763–1805, in 4 separate periods. The source samples borders at fixed dates, so a span can begin late or run on past the end.
- How large was the Electorate of Saxony?
- At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Electorate of Saxony covered about 36,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
Sources
This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia articles for each territory as the primary basis, with Encyclopædia Britannica, the World History Encyclopedia, German History in Documents and Images, national institutions such as the Swiss Federal Council and the National Museum of Denmark, and the scholarship of Peter H. Wilson and Joachim Whaley on the Holy Roman Empire. The article this entry is anchored on:
- Wikipedia — Electorate of Saxony en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electorate_of_Saxony
This entry was last updated .
This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made
Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.
Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).
See the Electorate of Saxony in its world
Open the atlas at 1559 and every neighbour, rival and successor is on screen with it — then drag the slider and watch what happens next.
Open the map at 1559 →