Ernest, Elector of Saxony

Ernst, Elector of Saxony (b. Meissen, 24 March 1441 - d. Colditz, 26 August 1486) 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 cousins Leopold II of Belgium and Empress Carlota of Mexico.

He was the second son (but fourth in order of birth) of the eight children of Frederick II, Elector of Saxony and Margarete of Austria, sister of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor.

The death of his older brother Frederick (1451) made him the new heir apparent to the position of Elector of Saxony.

In 1455 Ernst was kidnapped along with his brother Albert, an episode famous in German history as the "Prinzenraub" (i. e. The Stealing of the Princes).

In 1464, he succeeded his father as Elector of Saxony, and annexed Thuringia in 1482, and three years later (Treaty of Leipzig, 1485) shared his territory with his brother Albert, until he arranged the division of the common possession.

In the Division of Leipzig he received area around Wittenberg, the south Thuringian part, the Vogtland and parts of the Pleissnerland. As residence he selected Wittenberg. He provided for the welfare of the country and introduced the constitution.

One year after the division elector Ernest died in Colditz, at the age of 46 years, the consequence of a fall off a horse.

Ancestry

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1= 1. Ernest, Elector of Saxony
2= 2. Frederick II, Elector of Saxony
3= 3. Margarete of Austria-Styria
4= 4. Frederick I, Elector of Saxony
5= 5. Catherine of Brunswick
6= 6. Ernest, Duke of Austria
7= 7. Cymburgis of Masovia
8= 8. Frederick III, Landgrave of Thuringia
9= 9. Katharina of Henneberg-Schleusingen
10= 10. Henry the Mild, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
11= 11. Sofie of Pomerania-Wolgast
12= 12. Leopold III, Duke of Austria
13= 13. Viridis Visconti
14= 14. Siemowit IV, Duke of Masovia
15= 15. Alexandra of Lithuania
16= 16. Frederick II, Margrave of Meissen
17= 17. Matilde of Bavaria
18= 18. Heinrich VIII of Henneberg-Schleusingen
19= 19. Judith of Brandenburg-Salzwedel
20= 20. Magnus II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
21= 21. Catherine of Anhalt-Bernburg
22= 22. Wratislav VI, Duke of Pomerania
23= 23. Anna zu Mecklenburg-Stargard
24= 24. Albert II, Duke of Austria
25= 25. Johanna of Pfirt
26= 26. Bernabò Visconti, Lord of Milan
27= 27. Beatrice della Scalla
28= 28. Siemowit III of Masovia
29= 29. Euphemia of Schlesien-Troppau
30= 30. Algirdas, Grand Duke of Lithuania
31= 31. Uliana Alexandrovna of Tver

Children

In Leipzig on 19 November 1460 Ernst married with Elisabeth of Bavaria-Munich. They had seven children:
#Christine (b. Torgau, 25 December 1461 - d. Odense, 8 December 1521), married on 6 September 1478 to King Johann I of Denmark.
#Frederick III, Elector of Saxony (b. Torgau, 17 January 1463 - d. Lockau, 5 May 1525).
#Ernst (b. Meissen, 26 June 1464 - d. Halle, 3 August 1513), Archbishop of Magdeburg (1476-1480), Bishop of Halberstadt (1480-1513).
#Albrecht (b. Meissen, 8 May 1467 - d. Aschaffenburg, 1 May 1484), Administrator of Mainz.
#Johann, Elector of Saxony (b. Meissen, 30 June 1468 - d. Schweinitz, 16 August 1532).
#Margarete (b. Meissen, 4 August 1469 - d. Weimar, 7 December 1528), married on 27 February 1487 to Duke Heinrich of Brünswick-Lüneburg.
#Wolfgang (b. Meissen, ca. 1473 - d. Torgau, ca. 1478).

ee also

*Rulers of Saxony
*Wettin (dynasty)

References

*1911