Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld was one of the Saxon Duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin Dynasty. Established in 1699, the Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield line lasted until the reshuffle of the Ernestine territories that occurred following the extinction of the Saxe-Gotha line in 1825, in which the Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld line received Gotha, but lost Saalfeld to Saxe-Meiningen. After the Duke of Saxe-Gotha, Ernest the Pious, died on 26 March 1675 in Gotha, the Principality was divided on 24 February 1680 among his seven surviving sons; the lands of Saxe-Saalfeld went to the youngest of them, who became John Ernest IV, the Duke of Saxe-Saalfeld. But the new Principality did not have complete independence, it had to depend on the higher authorities in Gotha for the matters of administration of its three districts, Saalfeld and Probstzella – the so-called “Nexus Gothanus” – because, the residence of John Ernest's oldest brother, who ruled as Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. Saalfeld was the residence of the Dukes of Saxe-Saalfeld from 1680 to 1735.
When Albert V, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg, died in 1699 without any surviving descendants, disputes arose over the inheritance with Bernhard I of Saxe-Meiningen, they were not settled until 1735. Most of the Saxe-Coburg properties were given to the new Ernestine line of Saxe-Saalfeld and the Principality of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld was born with John Ernest as its Duke. However, the Districts of Sonneberg and Neuhaus am Rennweg had to be handed over to Saxe-Meiningen and the District of Sonnefeld had to be given to Saxe-Hildburghausen. One-third of the District of Römhild and five-twelfths of the District of Themar remained with Saxe-Coburg. After the death of John Ernest IV in 1729, his sons Christian Ernest II and Francis Josias ruled the country, consisting of two distinct and separate areas, but at different residences. Christian Ernst remained in Saalfeld. In 1745, when Christian Ernest II died childless, his domains were inherited by his brother, Duke Francis Josias. In 1747 Francis Josias was able to anchor his birthright in the Line of Succession laws and confer it on his growing family for the long-term survival of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.
His youngest son Prince Frederick Josias made himself and the Duchy famous with his sieges and victories as an Imperial general and field marshal in the Austro-Turkish War and the War of the First Coalition against France. His brother and Regent Duke Ernest Frederick was known more for the perilous finances of his Duchy, which underwent from 1773 onwards a forced management of debts by an Imperial Debit Commission until 1802 and affected the fortunes of his successors. Duke Francis Frederick Anton, who ruled for only six years, was forced in 1805 by his minister Theodor Konrad von Kretschmann, for the renewal of the ailing Duchy to make a contract between the two duchies and Saalfeld, for a uniform state system with a state administration of the Principality, which regained its full independence in 1806 with the fall of the Holy Roman Empire, it was the children of Duke Francis Frederick Anton who assured the dynastic success and survival of the House of Saxe-Coburg. The fame of Prince Frederick Josias led to the wedding of his daughter, Princess Juliane, with Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia.
Another daughter, Princess Marie Luise Victoire, married Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, in 1818, became the mother of Queen Victoria. The youngest surviving son, Prince Leopold, was elected in 1831 as King of the Belgians. In 1816, his elder brother, Prince Ferdinand, married Maria Antonia Koháry de Csábrág, who came from one of the wealthiest aristocratic families in Hungary, founded the Catholic line of Saxe-Coburg-Koháry, their namesake son, Prince Ferdinand, became in 1837 Dom Fernando II, King of Portugal and the other son, Prince August, was the father of Ferdinand I, who became the Sovereign Prince of Bulgaria in 1887 and the Tsar in 1908. In addition, the heir to the throne of Saxe-Coburg was Prince Ernst, who became Duke Ernest III in 1806, he was the father of Prince Albert, who married his cousin, Queen Victoria, in 1840 and became The Prince Consort of Great Britain and Ireland. On 15 December 1806, Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, along with the other Ernestine duchies, entered the Confederation of the Rhine.
From November 1806 until the Peace of Tilsit in July 1807, the Principality was occupied by the French. Only Duke Ernst I was able to return from his exile in Königsberg in East Prussia. A border treaty with the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1811 led to a territorial swap of the disputed territories; the towns of Fürth am Hof an der Steinach, Niederfüllbach and Triebsdorf came to Saxe-Coburg. In 1815, as the reward for fighting in 1813 on the Allied side against Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna sent an area left of the Rhine River called the Principality of Lichtenberg, a territorial gain as well as membership in the German Confederation for the sovereign. On 8 August 1821, the Duchy received a constitution; the extinction of the oldest line, Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg in 1825 again led to inheritance disputes among the other lines of the Ernestine family. On 12 November 1826 the decision, from the arbitration of the supreme head of the family, King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony, resulted in the extensive rearrangement of the Ernestine duchies.
Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld became Saxe-Saalfeld with the District of Themar from Saxe-Meiningen. The Duchy of Saxe-Gotha was left without the Districts of Kranichfeld and Römhild, which
John Frederick II, Duke of Saxony
John Frederick II of Saxony, was Duke of Saxony. John Frederick II was Elector of Saxony and Sibylle of Cleves, he was given a comprehensive education along with his younger brother Johann Wilhelm under the guidance of the legal scholar Basilius Monner. The two brothers were invited to take part in the Aulic Council, where they were able to develop their knowledge of diplomacy at a young age. After the Battle of Mühlberg and the capture of his father, John Frederick II, along with his brother John William, succeeded their father as the regents of the lands still retained by their family. After the death of their father, the brothers amicably divided the lands that were inherited from their father, and though he received Eisenach and Coburg in the divisionary treaty, John Frederick II chose Gotha as his place of residence while serving as head of the family. John Frederick's political aspirations were still directed towards the reinstatement of his family's right to the title of "Elector of Saxony," as well as the re-establishment of the lands that were lost due to his father's imprisonment.
In 1563 his prized general, Wilhelm von Grumbach attacked Würzburg and plundered the city and compelled the chapter and the bishop to restore his lands. He was placed under the imperial ban, but John Frederick II refused to obey the order of the Emperor Maximilian II to withdraw his forces. Meanwhile, Grumbach plotted the assassination of Saxon elector, Augustus; because of this, an end to alliances both inside and outside of Germany came about. In November 1566 John Frederick was placed under the imperial ban, placed against Grumbach earlier in the year, Augustus marched against Gotha. Resistance from the people of Gotha was not forthcoming, a mutiny led to the defeat of the town. Grumbach was delivered to his foes, after being tortured, was executed at Gotha on 18 April 1567; the Emperor imposed the Reichsacht over the current Elector of Saxony. The Reichsexekution was put into effect, in which John William, John Frederick's own brother, took part. After a siege of his castle in Gotha in 1566, John Frederick was defeated and spent the rest of his life as an imperial prisoner.
His possessions were confiscated by the emperor and handed over to John William, who became the sole ruler of the whole duchy of Saxony. In Weimar on 26 May 1555 John Frederick II married his first wife Agnes of Hesse, Dowager Electress of Saxony. Six months she suffered a miscarriage and died, on 4 November 1555. In Weimar on 12 June 1558 John Frederick II married his second wife Countess Palatine Elisabeth of Simmern-Sponheim, daughter of the Frederick III, Elector Palatine, they had four sons: John Frederick Frederick Henry John Casimir, Duke of Saxe-Coburg John Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Eisenach Later, the Emperor used the two surviving sons of John Frederick II against their uncle, John William. The duchy of Saxony was divided into three parts; the older son, John Casimir, received Coburg, the younger, John Ernest, received Eisenach. John William retained only the smaller part, the limited region of Weimar, but he added to his duchy the districts of Altenburg and Meiningen. Since it has several Ernestine dynasties, Thuringia was given in this division, the total possession of the Wettins that had always bordered each other were no longer combined.
From John William descends the house of Saxe-Weimar and the first house of Saxe-Altenburg, which separated from Saxe-Weimar. John Frederick II died in 1595 and was buried in a large tomb by sculptor Nikolaus Bergner at Morizkirche at Coburg, which his son John Casimir built for him and his wife, Elisabeth; the coffins are today in the crypt beneath the church. Karl August Engelhardt: Johann Friedrich der Mittlere, von Bösewichtern verblendet, in Gotha belagert, und bis an sein Ende gefangen. Gerlach, Dresden 1797. Ernst Wülcker: Johann Friedrich, Herzog zu Sachsen. in: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. Band 14, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1881, pp. 330–343. Thomas Klein, "Johann Friedrich II.", Neue Deutsche Biographie, 10, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, p. 530 Joachim Kruse: Herzog Johann Friedrich II. Der Mittlere von Sachsen und das ernestinische Familienepitaph in St. Moriz, vollendet 1598. Vol. I. in: Jahrbuch der Coburger Landesstiftung 52 pp. 1–334
Weimar
Weimar is a city in the federal state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east 80 kilometres southwest of Leipzig, 170 kilometres north of Nuremberg and 170 kilometres west of Dresden. Together with the neighbour-cities Erfurt and Jena it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with 500,000 inhabitants, whereas the city itself counts a population of 65,000. Weimar is well known because of its importance in German history; the city was a focal point of the German Enlightenment and home of the leading personalities of the literary genre of Weimar Classicism, the writers Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller. In the 19th century, famous composers like Franz Liszt made Weimar a music centre and artists and architects like Henry van de Velde, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Lyonel Feininger and Walter Gropius came to the city and founded the Bauhaus movement, the most important German design school of the interwar period.
However, the political history of 20th-century Weimar was inconsistent: it was the place where Germany's first democratic constitution was signed after the First World War, giving its name to the Weimar Republic period in German politics, as well as one of the cities mythologized by the National Socialist propaganda. Until 1948, Weimar was the capital of Thuringia. Today, many places in the city centre have been designated as UNESCO World Heritage sites and tourism is one of the leading economic sectors of Weimar. Relevant institutions in Weimar are the Bauhaus University, the Liszt School of Music, the Duchess Anna Amalia Library and two leading courts of Thuringia. In 1999, Weimar was the European Capital of Culture. Archaeological finds dating back to the Thuringii epoch show that the Weimar part of the Ilm valley was settled early, with a tight network of settlements where the city is today; the oldest records regarding Weimar date to 899. Its name changed over the centuries from Wimares through Wimari to Wimar and Weimar.
Another theory derives. The place was the seat of the County of Weimar, first mentioned in 949, one of the mightiest actors in early-Middle Ages Thuringia. In 1062 it was united with the County of Orlamünde to the new County of Weimar-Orlamünde, which existed until the Thuringian Counts' War in 1346 and fell to the Wettins afterwards; the Weimar settlement emerged around the count's wooden castle and two small churches dedicated to St Peter, to St James. In 1240, the count founded the dynasty's monastery in Oberweimar. Soon after, the counts of Weimar founded the town, an independent parish since 1249 and called civitas in 1254. From 1262 the citizens used their own seal; the regional influence of the Weimar counts was declining as the influence of the Wettins in Thuringia increased. Hence, the new small town was marginal in a regional context due to the fact that it was situated far away from relevant trade routes like the Via Regia; the settlement around St James Church developed into a suburb during the 13th century.
After becoming part of the Wettin's territory in 1346, urban development improved. The Wettins fostered Weimar by granting privileges to the citizens. Now Weimar became equal to other Wettinian cities like Weißensee and grew during the 15th century, with the establishment of a town hall and the current main church. Weimar acquired woad trade privileges in 1438; the castle and the walls were finished in the 16th century. After the Treaty of Leipzig Weimar became part of the electorate of the Ernestine branch of Wettins with Wittenberg as capital; the Protestant Reformation was introduced in Weimar in 1525. As the Ernestines lost the Schmalkaldic War in 1547, their capital Wittenberg went to the Albertines, so that they needed a new residence; as the ruler returned from captivity, Weimar became his residence in 1552 and remained as such until the end of the monarchy in 1918. The first Ernestine territorial partition in 1572 was followed by various ones Weimar stayed the capital of different Saxe-Weimar states.
The court and its staff brought some wealth to the city, so that it saw a first construction boom in the 16th century. The 17th century brought decline because of changing trade conditions. Besides, the territorial partitions led to the loss of political importance of the dukes of Saxe-Weimar and their finances shrunk; the city's polity weakened more and more and lost its privileges, leading to the absolutist reign of the dukes in the early 18th century. On the other hand, this time brought another construction boom to Weimar, the city got its present appearance, marked by various ducal representation buildings; the city walls were demolished in 1757 and during the following decades, Weimar expanded in all directions. The biggest building constructed in this period was the Schloss as the residence of the dukes. Between 1708 and 1717 Johann Sebastian Bach worked as the court's organist in Weimar; the period from the start of the regencies of Anna Amalia and her son Carl August through to Goethe's d
Saxe-Gotha
Saxe-Gotha was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in the former Landgraviate of Thuringia. The ducal residence was erected at Gotha; the duchy was established in 1640, when Duke Wilhelm von Saxe-Weimar created a subdivision for his younger brother Ernest I the Pious. Duke Ernest took his residence at Gotha, where he had Schloss Friedenstein built between 1643 and 1654. At the same time, the Duchy of Saxe-Eisenach was created for the third brother Albert IV. Albert died in 1644, Ernest inherited large parts of his duchy, though not the core territory around the residence at Eisenach and the Wartburg, which fell to his elder brother Wilhelm of Saxe-Weimar. Ernest could incorporate several remaining estates of the extinct House of Henneberg in 1660, vacant since 1583. In 1672 he received the major part of Saxe-Altenburg through his wife Elisabeth Sophie, after Altenburg's last duke Frederick William III had died without heirs. Ernest would be called Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.
When Ernest died in 1675, he left his seven sons a enlarged territory. The eldest, Frederick I at first ruled jointly with his brothers until in 1680 the duchy was divided; the area around Gotha and Altenburg passed to Frederick I, who retained the title of a Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. For history of the duchy, see Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. Ernest I the Pious, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg from 1672 Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, jointly with his brothers until 1680: Albert V, became Duke of Saxe-Coburg Bernhard I, became Duke of Saxe-Meiningen Heinrich, became Duke of Saxe-Römhild Christian, became Duke of Saxe-Eisenberg Ernest, became Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen John Ernest IV, became Duke of Saxe-SaalfeldWhen the house of Saxe-Gotha and Altenburg became extinct in 1825, Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg was split. Saxe-Gotha passed to the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld; the Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen received Saxe-Altenburg, gave the district of Hildburghausen to Saxe-Meiningen. After the abolition of German monarchies at the end of the First World War it became a part of the newly created state of Thuringia in 1920.
Saxe-Gotha, Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, Columbia University Press, accessed January 27, 2007
John Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Coburg
John Ernest was a Duke of Saxe-Coburg. John Ernest was born in Coburg as the third son of John, Elector of Saxony, his second wife Margaret of Anhalt-Köthen. After the death of his father, his half-brother, John Frederick I, became Elector of Saxony. For the first ten years, John Frederick shared the rule with John Ernest. In 1542 John Frederick I decided to rule alone, ceded the Franconian areas of the Wettin family lands to John Ernest. However, it was not until Battle of Mühlberg in 1547, in which the elder brother was captured by Emperor Charles V, that John Ernest could govern undisturbed in Coburg. John Ernest married Catherine, daughter of Philip I, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen, but the marriage was childless. After his death in Coburg, the city fell for a few months to John Frederick — released from the imperial detention — before his death, to his three sons, which governed the Ernestine lands together from 1554 for some years
Prince-elector
The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire, or Electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the Holy Roman Emperor. From the 13th century onwards, the Prince-Electors had the privilege of electing the Holy Roman Emperor who would receive the Papal coronation after assuming the titles of King in Germany and King of Italy. Charles V was the last to be a crowned Emperor. In practice, every emperor from 1440 onwards came from the Austrian House of Habsburg, the Electors ratified the Habsburg succession; the dignity of Elector carried great prestige and was considered to be second only to that of King or Emperor. The Electors had exclusive privileges that were not shared with the other princes of the Empire, they continued to hold their original titles alongside that of Elector; the heir apparent to a secular prince-elector was known as an electoral prince. The German element Kur- is based on the Middle High German irregular verb kiesen and is related etymologically to the English word choose.
In English, the "s"/"r" mix in the Germanic verb conjugation has been regularized to "s" throughout, while German retains the r in Kur-. There is a modern German verb küren which means'to choose' in a ceremonial sense. Fürst is German for'prince', but while the German language distinguishes between the head of a principality and the son of a monarch, English uses prince for both concepts. Fürst itself is related to English first and is thus the'foremost' person in his realm. Note that'prince' derives from Latin princeps, which carried the same meaning. Electors were reichsstände, they were, until the 18th century entitled to be addressed with the title Durchlaucht. In 1742, the electors became entitled to the superlative Durchläuchtigste, while other princes were promoted to Durchlaucht; as Imperial Estates, the electors enjoyed all the privileges of the other princes enjoying that status, including the right to enter into alliances, autonomy in relation to dynastic affairs and precedence over other subjects.
The Golden Bull had granted them the Privilegium de non appellando, which prevented their subjects from lodging an appeal to a higher Imperial court. However, while this privilege, some others, were automatically granted to Electors, they were not exclusive to them and many of the larger Imperial Estates were to be individually granted some or all those rights and privileges; the electors, like the other princes ruling States of the Empire, were members of the Imperial Diet, divided into three collegia: the Council of Electors, the Council of Princes, the Council of Cities. In addition to being members of the Council of Electors, several lay electors were therefore members of the Council of Princes as well by virtue of other territories they possessed. In many cases, the lay electors ruled numerous States of the Empire, therefore held several votes in the Council of Princes. In 1792, the King of Bohemia held three votes, the Elector of Bavaria six votes, the Elector of Brandenburg eight votes, the Elector of Hanover six votes.
Thus, of the hundred votes in the Council of Princes in 1792, twenty-three belonged to electors. The lay electors therefore exercised considerable influence, being members of the small Council of Electors and holding a significant number of votes in the Council of Princes; the assent of both bodies was required for important decisions affecting the structure of the Empire, such as the creation of new electorates or States of the Empire. In addition to voting by colleges or councils, the Imperial Diet voted on religious lines, as provided for by the Peace of Westphalia; the Archbishop of Mainz presided over the Catholic body, or corpus catholicorum, while the Elector of Saxony presided over the Protestant body, or corpus evangelicorum. The division into religious bodies was on the basis of the official religion of the state, not of its rulers, thus when the Electors of Saxony were Catholics during the eighteenth century, they continued to preside over the corpus evangelicorum, since the state of Saxony was Protestant.
The electors were summoned by the Archbishop of Mainz within one month of an Emperor's death, met within three months of being summoned. During the interregnum, imperial power was exercised by two imperial vicars; each vicar, in the words of the Golden Bull, was "the administrator of the empire itself, with the power of passing judgments, of presenting to ecclesiastical benefices, of collecting returns and revenues and investing with fiefs, of receiving oaths of fealty for and in the name of the holy empire". The Elector of Saxony was vicar in areas operating under Saxon law, while the Elector Palatine was vicar in the remainder of the Empire; the Elector of Bavaria replaced the Elector Palatine in 1623, but when the latter was granted a new electorate in 1648, there was a dispute between the two as to, vicar. In 1659, both purported to act as vicar; the two electors made a pact to act as joint vicars, but the Imperial Diet rejected the agreement. In 1711, while the Elector
John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony
Johann Frederick I, called Johann the Magnanimous, was Elector of Saxony and head of the Schmalkaldic League. Johann Frederick was the eldest son of Elector Johann by his first wife, Sophie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, his mother died fourteen days after his birth, on 12 July 1503. He received his education from George Spalatin, whom he esteemed during his whole life. Spalatin was Martin Luther's friend and advisor and thus, through Spalatin's schooling, Johann developed a devotion to the teachings of Martin Luther, his knowledge of history was comprehensive, his library, which extended over all sciences, was one of the largest in Germany. He cultivated a personal relationship with Martin Luther, beginning to correspond with him in the days when the bull of excommunication was first issued against the Reformer, showing himself a convinced adherent of Luther, he observed the development of the reformatory movement. He read Luther's writings, urged the printing of the first complete edition of his works, in the latter years of his life promoted the compilation of the Jena edition.
At the Elector castle at Torgau, he constructed a chapel designed to be a Lutheran place of worship and invited Martin Luther to deliver the inaugural sermon. The influence of Lutheranism at Johann Frederick's court is visible in the translation by Veit Warbeck of the French romance the Magelone, made in preparation of Johann Frederick's marriage in 1527, his father introduced him into the political and diplomatic affairs of the time, he conducted the first negotiations of a treaty with Hesse in Kreuzburg and Friedewald. He took an active part in the disturbances caused by the Pack affair, Luther was grateful to him for his exertions, in spite of his youth, for the maintenance of peace. During the second diet of Speyer he temporarily assumed the reins of government in place of his father; the intrigues of Archduke Ferdinand induced him after the diet to draw up a federal statute for the Evangelical estates, which shows that he was more decidedly convinced of the right and duty of defense than his father.
He accompanied the latter to the Diet of Augsburg in 1530, signed with him the Augsburg Confession and was active in the proceedings. His attitude did not remain unnoticed, won him the emperor's dislike. In 1532, Johann Frederick succeeded his father as elector. In the beginning he in 1542 became sole ruler. Chancellor Brück, who for years had guided the foreign relations of the country with ability and prudence, remained his councilor, but his open and impulsive nature led him to disregard the propositions of his more experienced adviser, so that the country was in frequent danger as John Frederick was not a far-sighted politician, he consolidated the Lutheran State Church by the institution of an electoral consistory and renewed the church visitation. He took a firmer and more decided stand than his father in favor of the Schmalkaldic League, but on account of his Lutheran convictions was involved in difficulties with the Landgrave of Hesse, who favored a union with the Swiss and Strasburg Evangelicals.
He was averse to all propositions of Popes Clement VII and Paul III to support calling a General Council, because he was convinced that it would only serve "for the preservation of the papal and anti-Christian rule". At the Diet of Schmalkalden in 1537 the council was refused, the elector treated the papal legate with open disregard and rejected the propositions of Dr. Held, the imperial legate, he followed the efforts at agreement at the conference of Regensburg in 1541 with suspicion and refused to accept the article on justification, drawn up under the supervision of Gasparo Contarini to suit both parties, Luther, his steady adviser, confirmed him in his aversion. The efforts at agreement failed, the elector contributed not a little to broaden the gulf by his interference in the ecclesiastical affairs of Halle and by aiding the Reformation, introduced there by Justus Jonas, his attitude became more and more stubborn and regardless of consequences, not to the advantage of the Protestant cause.
In spite of the warnings of the emperor, of Brück, of Luther, he arbitrarily set aside in 1541 the election of Julius von Pflug as the BIshop of Naumburg, instead instituted Nicolaus von Amsdorf as bishop, introduced the Reformation. In 1542 he expelled Duke Henry of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel from his country to protect the Evangelical cities Goslar and Brunswick and introduced the Reformation there. New war-like entanglements hindered Charles V from interfering and by yielding he succeeded in concealing his true intentions; the elector appeared at the diet of Speyer in 1544. The harmony of the emperor with the Evangelicals appeared never greater than at that time, he permitted the Regensburg declaration of 1541 to be embodied in the new recess and acknowledged all innovations which the Evangelicals had made between 1532 and 1541 because he needed the aid of the Protestants against France. John Frederick thought that peace had come and continued the ecclesiastical reforms in his country; the growing discord among the allies did not disturb him.
When the Schmalkaldic War broke out in 1546, he marched to the south at the head of his troops, but the unexpected invasion of his country by his cousin Duke Maurice compelled him to return. He succeeded in reconquering the large
Upper Saxon Circle (1512–1806) of the Holy Roman Empire
