Saxe-Wittenberg
Encyclopedia
The Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg was a medieval duchy
of the Holy Roman Empire
centered at Wittenberg
, which emerged after the dissolution of the stem duchy
of Saxony
. As the precursor of the Saxon Electorate
, the Ascanian Wittenberg dukes prevailed in obtaining the Saxon electoral
dignity.
n count Otto of Ballenstedt
(d. 1123), ancestor of the House of Ascania, had married Eilika
, a daughter of Duke Magnus of Saxony
from the House of Billung. As the Billung male line became extinct upon Magnus's death in 1106, Otto hoped to succeed him, however King Henry V of Germany
enfeoffed Count Lothair of Supplinburg
. During the following long-term dispute between Henry and Lothair, Otto was able to gain the title of a Saxon (anti-)duke, though only for a short time in 1122.
Lothair was elected King of the Romans
in 1125 and in 1134 he vested Otto's son Albert the Bear with the Saxon Northern March
. Upon his death in 1137, Albert once again strived for the Saxon duchy, which however fell to Lothair's son-in-law Henry the Proud
from the Bavarian House of Welf. Albert concluded a deal with the rising House of Hohenstaufen: He backed the succession of Conrad of Hohenstaufen
as German king, who in turn deprived his rival Henry the Proud of the Saxonian Duchy in 1138 and gave it to Albert. His rule was however strongly contested by the local nobility and in 1142 Albert finally had to resign as duke in favour of Henry the Proud's son Henry the Lion
. Albert later took part in the Wendish Crusade
of 1147 and in 1157 established the Margraviate of Brandenburg
. He died in 1170.
The third chance for the Ascanians came, when in 1180 ambitious Henry the Lion was deposed as Saxon Duke by Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa
. Frederick partitioned Saxony among his allies into more than a dozen territories of imperial immediacy. Among the supporters, Philip von Heinsberg, Prince-Archbishop-Elector of Cologne, received the largest share as the newly created Duchy of Westphalia
. The Saxon ducal title at least passed to late Albert's youngest son, Count Bernhard of Ballenstedt
, who nevertheless only ruled over small, mostly Eastphalian fringes of the old duchy.
took the old Ascanian allodial possessions around Ballenstedt
where he established the County of Anhalt
, while his younger brother Albert I
inherited the title of a Duke of Saxony and retained three territorially unconnected Eastphalian estates on the Elbe
river around the towns of Wittenberg
and Belzig
as well as the northern lordship of Lauenburg
castle with Land Hadeln
at the Elbe estuary
.
After Albert I's death in 1260 his two heirs, John I
and his younger brother Albert II
ruled jointly. In 1269, 1272 and 1282 they gradually divided their governing competences within the then three territorially unconnected Saxon areas (Hadeln, Lauenburg and Wittenberg), thus preparing a partition, whereby Albert II, Burgrave
of Magdeburg
since 1269, concentrated on the Wittenberg territory. He consolidated his position by marrying Agnes
, daughter of Rudolph of Habsburg
, whom he elected King of the Romans in 1273. After Duke John I had resigned in 1282 in favour of his three minor sons Eric I, John II and Albert III, followed by his death three years later, the three brothers and their uncle Albert II continued the joint rule as Saxon dukes.
Upon the death of Margrave Henry III of Meissen
in 1288, Duke Albert II applied at his father-in-law King Rudolph I for the enfeoffment of his son and heir Rudolph with the Saxon County palatine
on the Unstrut
river, which ensued a long lasting dispute with the eager clan of the House of Wettin. Albert's attempts to secure the succession in the lands of the extinct Counts of Brehna
were more successful: when their fiefs were reverted to the Empire in 1290, the king enfeoffed his son Rudolph. After King Rudolph had died, Albert II with his nephews still minor on 27 April 1292 wielded the Saxon electoral vote
, electing Adolph of Nassau, the brother-in-law of Archbishop Siegfried II of Cologne
. The bishop together with King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia had succeeded in bringing Albert II in favour of electing Adolph: he had signed an elector pact on 29 November 1291 that he would vote the same as Wenceslaus. In 1295 Albert II could again enlarge his Saxon territory, when he acquired the County of Gommern
.
, Sadelbande (Land of Lauenburg), the Land of Ratzeburg
, the Land of Darzing (today's Amt Neuhaus
), and the Land of Hadeln are mentioned as the separate territory of the brothers. Duke Albert II received the Wittenberg lands around the eponymous city, Brehna and Gommern. He thus became the founder of the Ascanian line of Saxe-Wittenberg.
When Rudolph succeeded his father Albert II as Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg in 1298, he and the Dukes of Saxe-Lauenburg rivallingly claimed the Saxon electoral
privilege. Upon the assassination of his brother-in-law King Albert I
in 1308, he voted for Count Henry of Luxembourg
. In 1314 both duchies participated in the double election of the German kings, Frederick III, the Fair from the House of Habsburg and his Wittelsbach cousin Louis IV, the Bavarian
. Louis received five of the seven votes, to wit Archbishop-Elector Baldwin of Trier, the legitimate King John of Bohemia, Duke John II of Saxe-Lauenburg, claiming the Saxon prince-electoral power, Archbishop Peter of Mainz
, and Albert's Ascanian cousin Margrave Waldemar of Brandenburg
. Frederick the Fair received in the same election four of the seven votes, with the deposed King Henry of Bohemia, illegitimately assuming electoral power, Archbishop Henry II of Cologne
, Louis' brother Count Rudolph I of the Palatinate
, and Duke Rudolph I of Saxe-Wittenberg, equally exercising the Saxon electoral dignity.
However, only Louis the Bavarian, co-elected with Saxe-Lauenburg's vote, finally asserted himself as emperor after the 1322 Battle of Mühldorf
by the Treaty of Trausnitz
on March 13, 1325. As an obvious opponent, Duke Rudolph I failed with his claims to Brandenburg after the line of his Ascanian cousins became extinct in 1319: King Louis IV seized the margraviate and enfeoffed his son Louis V
instead. Rudolph I in turn allied with the rivaling House of Luxembourg
. He supported Count Charles IV of Luxembourg
as antiking
to Louis IV and on that account exclusively received the Saxon electoral dignity with the Golden Bull of 1356
, thus slighting Saxe-Lauenburg. Saxe-Wittenberg thereupon came to be known as the Electorate of Saxony
(Kursachsen).
When the Ascanian line in electoral Saxony died out in 1422, the Ascanian Duke Eric V of Saxe-Lauenburg failed to assert his succession in Wittenberg. King Sigismund
granted the Electorate to Margrave Frederick IV of Meissen
from the House of Wettin, who united the Meissen and the Saxon lands of Wittenberg under his rule. He assumed the electoral title and thereby transferred the state of Saxony
up the Elbe river to his Meissen
residence. His lands were also called "Upper Saxony" (see: Upper Saxon Circle
) to distinguish them from the territory of the medieval stem duchy, the later Lower Saxony
. The territory of former Saxe-Wittenberg became known as the Kurkreis ("Electoral District"). By the division of the Saxon Electorate according to the 1485 Treaty of Leipzig
, the Wittenberg lands including the electoral dignity fell to Ernest of Wettin
.
Duchy
A duchy is a territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess.Some duchies were sovereign in areas that would become unified realms only during the Modern era . In contrast, others were subordinate districts of those kingdoms that unified either partially or completely during the Medieval era...
of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
centered at Wittenberg
Wittenberg
Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a city in Germany in the Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt, on the river Elbe. It has a population of about 50,000....
, which emerged after the dissolution of the stem duchy
Stem duchy
Stem duchies were essentially the domains of the old German tribes of the area, associated with the Frankish Kingdom, especially the East, in the Early Middle Ages. These tribes were originally the Franks, the Saxons, the Alamanni, the Burgundians, the Thuringii, and the Rugii...
of Saxony
Duchy of Saxony
The medieval Duchy of Saxony was a late Early Middle Ages "Carolingian stem duchy" covering the greater part of Northern Germany. It covered the area of the modern German states of Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt and most of Schleswig-Holstein...
. As the precursor of the Saxon Electorate
Electorate of Saxony
The Electorate of Saxony , sometimes referred to as Upper Saxony, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was established when Emperor Charles IV raised the Ascanian duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg to the status of an Electorate by the Golden Bull of 1356...
, the Ascanian Wittenberg dukes prevailed in obtaining the Saxon electoral
Prince-elector
The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an...
dignity.
Ascanian struggle for Saxony
The EastphaliaEastphalia
Eastphalia is a historical region in northern Germany, encompassing the eastern part of the historic Duchy of Saxony, between the Elbe, Leine, Saale and Unstrut rivers. Today, it covers the southeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony and the western part of Saxony-Anhalt.-Etymology:The name...
n count Otto of Ballenstedt
Otto, Count of Ballenstedt
Otto, Count of Ballenstedt, called Otto the Rich , was the first Ascanian prince to call himself count of Anhalt, and was also briefly named duke of Saxony...
(d. 1123), ancestor of the House of Ascania, had married Eilika
Eilika of Saxony
Eilika of Saxony was the younger daughter of Magnus, Duke of Saxony and Sophia , daughter of Béla I of Hungary. After the death of her father, she became the heiress of Werben and Palatinate of Saxony. She was married Count Otto of Ballenstedt and was mother of Albrecht der Bär.-External links:*...
, a daughter of Duke Magnus of Saxony
Magnus, Duke of Saxony
Magnus was the duke of Saxony from 1072 to 1106. Eldest son and successor of Ordulf and Wulfhild of Norway, he was the last member of the House of Billung.-Rebellion:...
from the House of Billung. As the Billung male line became extinct upon Magnus's death in 1106, Otto hoped to succeed him, however King Henry V of Germany
Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry V was King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor , the fourth and last ruler of the Salian dynasty. Henry's reign coincided with the final phase of the great Investiture Controversy, which had pitted pope against emperor...
enfeoffed Count Lothair of Supplinburg
Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor
Lothair III of Supplinburg , was Duke of Saxony , King of Germany , and Holy Roman Emperor from 1133 to 1137. The son of Count Gebhard of Supplinburg, his reign was troubled by the constant intriguing of Frederick I, Duke of Swabia and Duke Conrad of Franconia...
. During the following long-term dispute between Henry and Lothair, Otto was able to gain the title of a Saxon (anti-)duke, though only for a short time in 1122.
Lothair was elected King of the Romans
King of the Romans
King of the Romans was the title used by the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire following his election to the office by the princes of the Kingdom of Germany...
in 1125 and in 1134 he vested Otto's son Albert the Bear with the Saxon Northern March
Northern March
The Northern March or North March was created out of the division of the vast Marca Geronis in 965. It initially comprised the northern third of the Marca and was part of the territorial organisation of areas conquered from the Wends...
. Upon his death in 1137, Albert once again strived for the Saxon duchy, which however fell to Lothair's son-in-law Henry the Proud
Henry X, Duke of Bavaria
thumb|right|Henry X in a much later engraving.Henry the Proud was the Duke of Bavaria , Duke of Saxony , and Margrave of Tuscany .-Life and reign:...
from the Bavarian House of Welf. Albert concluded a deal with the rising House of Hohenstaufen: He backed the succession of Conrad of Hohenstaufen
Conrad III of Germany
Conrad III was the first King of Germany of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. He was the son of Frederick I, Duke of Swabia, and Agnes, a daughter of the Salian Emperor Henry IV.-Life and reign:...
as German king, who in turn deprived his rival Henry the Proud of the Saxonian Duchy in 1138 and gave it to Albert. His rule was however strongly contested by the local nobility and in 1142 Albert finally had to resign as duke in favour of Henry the Proud's son Henry the Lion
Henry the Lion
Henry the Lion was a member of the Welf dynasty and Duke of Saxony, as Henry III, from 1142, and Duke of Bavaria, as Henry XII, from 1156, which duchies he held until 1180....
. Albert later took part in the Wendish Crusade
Wendish Crusade
The Wendish Crusade was an 1147 campaign, one of the Northern Crusades and also a part of the Second Crusade, led primarily by the Kingdom of Germany inside the Holy Roman Empire and directed against the Polabian Slavs ....
of 1147 and in 1157 established the Margraviate of Brandenburg
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....
. He died in 1170.
The third chance for the Ascanians came, when in 1180 ambitious Henry the Lion was deposed as Saxon Duke by Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa
Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick I Barbarossa was a German Holy Roman Emperor. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1155, and finally crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV, on 18 June 1155, and two years later in 1157 the term...
. Frederick partitioned Saxony among his allies into more than a dozen territories of imperial immediacy. Among the supporters, Philip von Heinsberg, Prince-Archbishop-Elector of Cologne, received the largest share as the newly created Duchy of Westphalia
Duchy of Westphalia
The Duchy of Westphalia was a historic territory in the greater region of Westphalia, located in the east of modern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Originally, Westphalia formed with Angria and Eastphalia one of the three main regions of Saxony...
. The Saxon ducal title at least passed to late Albert's youngest son, Count Bernhard of Ballenstedt
Bernhard, Count of Anhalt
Bernhard, Count of Anhalt was a German prince of the House of Ascania, Count of Anhalt and Ballenstedt, and Lord of Bernburg through his paternal inheritance...
, who nevertheless only ruled over small, mostly Eastphalian fringes of the old duchy.
Anhalt, Wittenberg and Lauenburg
Duke Bernard died in 1212 and his two surviving sons divided the Saxon heritage: the elder HenryHenry I, Count of Anhalt
Henry I, Count of Anhalt was a German prince of the House of Ascania and Count of Anhalt.He was the oldest son of Bernhard III, Duke of Saxony and Count of Anhalt, by his wife Brigitte a daughter of Canute V of Denmark....
took the old Ascanian allodial possessions around Ballenstedt
Ballenstedt
Ballenstedt is a town in the Harz district, in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is situated at the northern rim of the Harz mountain range, about 10 km southeast of Quedlinburg. The municipality includes the villages of Badeborn and Oppenrode...
where he established the County of Anhalt
Anhalt
Anhalt was a sovereign county in Germany, located between the Harz Mountains and the river Elbe in Middle Germany. It now forms part of the state of Saxony-Anhalt.- Dukes of Anhalt :...
, while his younger brother Albert I
Albert I, Duke of Saxony
Albert I was a Duke of Saxony, Angria, and Westphalia; Lord of Nordalbingia; Count of Anhalt; and Prince-elector and Archmarshal of the Holy Roman Empire...
inherited the title of a Duke of Saxony and retained three territorially unconnected Eastphalian estates on the Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
river around the towns of Wittenberg
Wittenberg
Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a city in Germany in the Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt, on the river Elbe. It has a population of about 50,000....
and Belzig
Belzig
Bad Belzig, also known as Belzig, is a historic town in Brandenburg, Germany located about southwest of Berlin. It is the capital of the Potsdam-Mittelmark district.-Geography:...
as well as the northern lordship of Lauenburg
Lauenburg/Elbe
Lauenburg/Elbe is a town in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated at the northern bank of the river Elbe, east of Hamburg. It is the southernmost town of Schleswig-Holstein. Lauenburg belongs to the Kreis of Herzogtum Lauenburg and had a population of 11,900 as of 2002...
castle with Land Hadeln
Land Hadeln
Land Hadeln is a historic landscape and former administrative district in North Germany with its seat in Otterndorf on the lower reaches of the River Elbe, in the Elbe-Weser Triangle between the estuaries of the Elbe and Weser...
at the Elbe estuary
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
.
After Albert I's death in 1260 his two heirs, John I
John I, Duke of Saxony
Duke John I of Saxony was the elder son of Duke Albert I of Saxony and his third wife Helen of Brunswick and Lunenburg, a daughter of Otto the Child...
and his younger brother Albert II
Albert II, Duke of Saxony
Albert II of Saxony was a son of Duke Albert I of Saxony and his third wife Helen of Brunswick and Lunenburg, a daughter of Otto the Child. He supported Rudolph I of Germany at his election as Roman king and became his son-in-law...
ruled jointly. In 1269, 1272 and 1282 they gradually divided their governing competences within the then three territorially unconnected Saxon areas (Hadeln, Lauenburg and Wittenberg), thus preparing a partition, whereby Albert II, Burgrave
Burgrave
A burgrave is literally the count of a castle or fortified town. The English form is derived through the French from the German Burggraf and Dutch burg- or burch-graeve .* The title is originally equivalent to that of castellan or châtelain, meaning keeper of a castle and/or fortified town...
of Magdeburg
Archbishopric of Magdeburg
The Archbishopric of Magdeburg was a Roman Catholic archdiocese and Prince-Bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire centered on the city of Magdeburg on the Elbe River....
since 1269, concentrated on the Wittenberg territory. He consolidated his position by marrying Agnes
Agnes of Habsburg
Agnes of Habsburg was a daughter of Emperor Rudolph I of Germany and his first wife Countess Gertrude of Hohenberg. She was a member of the House of Habsburg.- Marriage :In 1273 she was married to Elector Albert II of Saxony...
, daughter of Rudolph of Habsburg
Rudolph I of Germany
Rudolph I was King of the Romans from 1273 until his death. He played a vital role in raising the Habsburg dynasty to a leading position among the Imperial feudal dynasties...
, whom he elected King of the Romans in 1273. After Duke John I had resigned in 1282 in favour of his three minor sons Eric I, John II and Albert III, followed by his death three years later, the three brothers and their uncle Albert II continued the joint rule as Saxon dukes.
Upon the death of Margrave Henry III of Meissen
Henry III, Margrave of Meissen
Henry III, called Henry the Illustrious from the House of Wettin was Margrave of Meissen and last Margrave of Lusatia from 1221 until his death; from 1242 also Landgrave of Thuringia.-Life:Born probably at the Albrechtsburg residence in Meissen, Henry was the youngest son of Margrave Theodoric I...
in 1288, Duke Albert II applied at his father-in-law King Rudolph I for the enfeoffment of his son and heir Rudolph with the Saxon County palatine
County palatine
A county palatine or palatinate is an area ruled by an hereditary nobleman possessing special authority and autonomy from the rest of a kingdom or empire. The name derives from the Latin adjective palatinus, "relating to the palace", from the noun palatium, "palace"...
on the Unstrut
Unstrut
The Unstrut is a river in Germany and a left tributary of the Saale. It originates in northern Thuringia near Dingelstädt and its catchment area is the whole of the Thuringian Basin...
river, which ensued a long lasting dispute with the eager clan of the House of Wettin. Albert's attempts to secure the succession in the lands of the extinct Counts of Brehna
Brehna
Brehna is a town and a former municipality in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 July 2009, it is part of the town Sandersdorf-Brehna.It is situated southwest of Bitterfeld. Important in this city is the church...
were more successful: when their fiefs were reverted to the Empire in 1290, the king enfeoffed his son Rudolph. After King Rudolph had died, Albert II with his nephews still minor on 27 April 1292 wielded the Saxon electoral vote
Prince-elector
The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an...
, electing Adolph of Nassau, the brother-in-law of Archbishop Siegfried II of Cologne
Siegfried II of Westerburg
Siegfried II of Westerburg was Archbishop of Cologne from 1275 to 1297.Siegfried was the second son of Siegfried IV, Count of Runkel in Westerburg...
. The bishop together with King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia had succeeded in bringing Albert II in favour of electing Adolph: he had signed an elector pact on 29 November 1291 that he would vote the same as Wenceslaus. In 1295 Albert II could again enlarge his Saxon territory, when he acquired the County of Gommern
Gommern
Gommern is a town in the Jerichower Land district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated approx. 15 km southeast of Magdeburg. On January 1, 2005, the municipalities Dannigkow, Dornburg, Karith, Ladeburg, Leitzkau, Menz, Nedlitz, Vehlitz and Wahlitz have been incorporated into Gommern. On...
.
Duchy of Wittenberg
The last document, mentioning the joint government of Albert II with his nephews as Saxon fellow dukes dates back to 1295. The definite partitioning of the Duchy of Saxony into Saxe-Lauenburg , jointly ruled by the brothers Albert III, Eric I and John II and Saxe-Wittenberg , ruled by Albert II took place before 20 September 1296. The VierlandeBergedorf
Bergedorf is the largest of the seven boroughs of Hamburg, Germany and a quarter within this borough. In 2006 the population of the borough was 118,942.-History:...
, Sadelbande (Land of Lauenburg), the Land of Ratzeburg
Ratzeburg
Ratzeburg is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is surrounded by four lakes—the resulting isthmuses between the lakes form the access lanes to the town. Ratzeburg is the capital of the Kreis of Lauenburg.-History:...
, the Land of Darzing (today's Amt Neuhaus
Amt Neuhaus
Amt Neuhaus is a municipality in the District of Lunenburg , in Lower Saxony, Germany.- History :In the course of the eastern colonisation the area of today's Amt Neuhaus became a part of the Duchy of Saxony...
), and the Land of Hadeln are mentioned as the separate territory of the brothers. Duke Albert II received the Wittenberg lands around the eponymous city, Brehna and Gommern. He thus became the founder of the Ascanian line of Saxe-Wittenberg.
When Rudolph succeeded his father Albert II as Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg in 1298, he and the Dukes of Saxe-Lauenburg rivallingly claimed the Saxon electoral
Prince-elector
The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an...
privilege. Upon the assassination of his brother-in-law King Albert I
Albert I of Germany
Albert I of Habsburg was King of the Romans and Duke of Austria, the eldest son of German King Rudolph I of Habsburg and his first wife Gertrude of Hohenburg.-Life:...
in 1308, he voted for Count Henry of Luxembourg
Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry VII was the King of Germany from 1308 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1312. He was the first emperor of the House of Luxembourg...
. In 1314 both duchies participated in the double election of the German kings, Frederick III, the Fair from the House of Habsburg and his Wittelsbach cousin Louis IV, the Bavarian
Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Louis IV , called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was the King of Germany from 1314, the King of Italy from 1327 and the Holy Roman Emperor from 1328....
. Louis received five of the seven votes, to wit Archbishop-Elector Baldwin of Trier, the legitimate King John of Bohemia, Duke John II of Saxe-Lauenburg, claiming the Saxon prince-electoral power, Archbishop Peter of Mainz
Peter of Aspelt
Peter Aspelt was Archbishop of Mainz from 1306 to 1320, and an influential political figure of the period. He brought the archbishopric to its peak of power....
, and Albert's Ascanian cousin Margrave Waldemar of Brandenburg
Waldemar, Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal
Waldemar of Brandenburg was Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal, the last from the Ascanian House.-Life:He was a son of Conrad, Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal and Constance, daughter of Przemysł I of Greater Poland...
. Frederick the Fair received in the same election four of the seven votes, with the deposed King Henry of Bohemia, illegitimately assuming electoral power, Archbishop Henry II of Cologne
Heinrich II of Virneburg
Count Heinrich II of Virneburg was Archbishop of Cologne from 1304 to his death in 1332.-Life:Heinrich was the sixth son of Count Heinrich of Virneburg and his wife Ponzetta of Oberstein...
, Louis' brother Count Rudolph I of the Palatinate
Rudolf I, Duke of Bavaria
Rudolf I of Bavaria , a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty, was Duke of Bavaria and Count Palatine of the Rhine...
, and Duke Rudolph I of Saxe-Wittenberg, equally exercising the Saxon electoral dignity.
However, only Louis the Bavarian, co-elected with Saxe-Lauenburg's vote, finally asserted himself as emperor after the 1322 Battle of Mühldorf
Battle of Mühldorf
The Battle of Mühldorf was fought near Mühldorf am Inn on September 28, 1322 between the Duchy of Bavaria and Austria...
by the Treaty of Trausnitz
Trausnitz Castle
Trausnitz Castle is a medieval castle situated in Landshut, Bavaria in Germany. It was the home of the Wittelsbach dynasty, and it served as their ducal residence for Lower Bavaria from 1255–1503, and later as hereditary rulers of the whole of Bavaria...
on March 13, 1325. As an obvious opponent, Duke Rudolph I failed with his claims to Brandenburg after the line of his Ascanian cousins became extinct in 1319: King Louis IV seized the margraviate and enfeoffed his son Louis V
Louis V, Duke of Bavaria
Louis V, Duke of Bavaria, called the Brandenburger was Duke of Bavaria and as Louis I also Margrave of Brandenburg and Count of Tyrol. Louis V was the eldest son of Emperor Louis IV and his first wife Beatrix of Świdnica...
instead. Rudolph I in turn allied with the rivaling House of Luxembourg
House of Luxembourg
The House of Luxembourg was a late medieval German dynasty, which between 1308 and 1437 ruled the Holy Roman Empire, twice interrupted by the rivaling House of Wittelsbach.-History:...
. He supported Count Charles IV of Luxembourg
Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles IV , born Wenceslaus , was the second king of Bohemia from the House of Luxembourg, and the first king of Bohemia to also become Holy Roman Emperor....
as antiking
Antiking
An Antiking is a would-be king who, due to succession disputes or simple political opposition, declares himself king in opposition to a reigning monarch. Antikings are more often found in elected monarchies than in hereditary monarchies like those of England and France; such figures in hereditary...
to Louis IV and on that account exclusively received the Saxon electoral dignity with the Golden Bull of 1356
Golden Bull of 1356
The Golden Bull of 1356 was a decree issued by the Reichstag assembly in Nuremberg headed by the Luxembourg Emperor Charles IV that fixed, for a period of more than four hundred years, important aspects of the constitutional structure of the Holy Roman Empire...
, thus slighting Saxe-Lauenburg. Saxe-Wittenberg thereupon came to be known as the Electorate of Saxony
Electorate of Saxony
The Electorate of Saxony , sometimes referred to as Upper Saxony, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was established when Emperor Charles IV raised the Ascanian duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg to the status of an Electorate by the Golden Bull of 1356...
(Kursachsen).
When the Ascanian line in electoral Saxony died out in 1422, the Ascanian Duke Eric V of Saxe-Lauenburg failed to assert his succession in Wittenberg. King Sigismund
Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor
Sigismund of Luxemburg KG was King of Hungary, of Croatia from 1387 to 1437, of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor for four years from 1433 until 1437, the last Emperor of the House of Luxemburg. He was also King of Italy from 1431, and of Germany from 1411...
granted the Electorate to Margrave Frederick IV of Meissen
Frederick I, Elector of Saxony
Frederick IV of Meissen and Elector of Saxony was Margrave of Meissen and Elector of Saxony from 1381 until his death. He is not to be confused with his cousin Frederick IV, Landgrave of Thuringia, the son of Balthasar, Landgrave of Thuringia...
from the House of Wettin, who united the Meissen and the Saxon lands of Wittenberg under his rule. He assumed the electoral title and thereby transferred the state of Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
up the Elbe river to his Meissen
Meissen
Meissen is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrechtsburg castle, the Gothic Meissen Cathedral and the Meissen Frauenkirche...
residence. His lands were also called "Upper Saxony" (see: Upper Saxon Circle
Upper Saxon Circle
The Upper Saxon Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire, created in 1512.The circle was dominated by the electorate of Saxony and the electorate of Brandenburg. It further comprised the Saxon Ernestine duchies and Pomerania...
) to distinguish them from the territory of the medieval stem duchy, the later Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
. The territory of former Saxe-Wittenberg became known as the Kurkreis ("Electoral District"). By the division of the Saxon Electorate according to the 1485 Treaty of Leipzig
Treaty of Leipzig
The Treaty of Leipzig was signed on August 26, 1485 between Elector Ernest of Saxony and his younger brother Albert III, sons of Elector Frederick II of Saxony from the House of Wettin....
, the Wittenberg lands including the electoral dignity fell to Ernest of Wettin
Ernest, Elector of Saxony
Ernst, Elector of Saxony was Elector of Saxony from 1464 to 1486.-Biography:Ernst was founder of the Ernestine line of Saxon princes, ancestor of George I of Great Britain, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, as well as his wife and cousin Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, and their...
.