Electorate of Saxony Kurfürstentum Sachsen
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Anthem: Grand Saxony | |
Electoral boundaries of Saxony in 1595 | |
Status | Duchy of the Holy Roman Empire (1296–1356) Electorate (1357-) Rätian Republic (1534–) |
Capital | Wittenberg |
Common languages | Low Saxon High German |
Religion | Jungism (1507-) Catholicism (-1507) |
Government | Feudal monarchy Rätian constituency (1534-) |
Elector and Duke | |
• 1296–1298 |
Albert II of Ascania |
• 1468-1478 |
Wenceslaus III |
• 1489-1533 |
Edmund Alwin |
Historical era | Middle Ages |
• Definite partition from Saxony |
1296 |
• Raised to Duchy |
1494 |
1357 | |
1534 |
The Electorate of Saxony, also known as the Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg after its primary city, was a medieval duchy of the Holy Roman Empire, and after 1534 a member of the Rätian Union. The duchy was initially created from a partition of the stem duchy of Saxony and was ruled by the House of Ascania. In 1357 the Ascanian dukes obtained the status of an imperial elector.
With the extinction of the Ascanian male line in Saxe-Wittenberg in 1394 the duchy came to be ruled by the House of de la Marck, in personal union with the Margravate of Mark. Under the Marck dynasty Saxony became closely tied to the House of Lenzburg and the Swiss Confederacy, and had one duke elected to the position of Holy Roman Emperor, Wenceslaus III. During the Lenzburg-Premsylid War Saxony sided with the Lenzburgs and was defeated, stripping the duchy of its northern territory and placing rulership in the hands of a Premsylid-aligned, junior branch under Edmund Alwin. Under his rule the duchy pursued closer ties with the Thin White Duke of Thuringia and his descendants, and during the Reformation was one of the first nations to adopt the Jungist faith.
In 1534 the duchy adopted a Rätian style of government and joined the Rätian Union, comprising the majority of the titular Province of Saxony. The duchy received numerous partitions as Edmund Alwin and his successors Wolfgang I and Engelbert V divided the duchy among their descendants, leading to a patchwork of duchies under the Saxon moniker. During the Forty Years' War Saxony played a major role on the Jungist side, and was the site of several important battles.
Territories[]

Partitions of Saxony by 1618
The territory of the Electorate of Saxony was often split between different descendants upon an elector's death, with the eldest son inheriting the electoral distinction and the largest piece of the electorate's territory, known as the Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg. After the reign of Edmund Alwin, during which time the entire electorate and any subsequent partitions would be under the same umbrella as the Province of Saxony, these partitions intensified. A series of partitions occurred after Edmund Alwin in 1533, Wolfgang I in 1570, and Engelbert V in 1618, resulting in a total of 16 Saxon duchies, although many of them were short lived.

Family tree of the Saxon dukes
Saxe-Jessen[]
This area was inherited by Edmund Alwin's Catholic son, Edmund, who was eventually deposed by his brother Wolfgang. Edmund would later go on to become an Archbishop and then Pope of the Northern Catholic Church, while his daughter was installed as Duchess and married to the young son and heir of the Duke of Thuringia. The remnant Catholic presence in Jessen remained a problem for the Jungists for decades, right up until the 40 Years' War, when internal rebellions and terrorists attacks by the Catholic Jessen League occurred.
Saxe-Lochau[]
Saxe-Wolfen[]
Saxe-Lobnitz[]
In the wake of the Thuringian War of Succession and the war in Bayreuth, Edmund Alwin had at times sided with the Catholic Emperor, allowing Saxony to gain and annex land from Meissen. This was later incorporated into the Duchy of Saxe-Lobnitz and given to Wenceslaus, Edmund Alwin's nephew. As the son of Edmund Alwin's older brother, Wenceslaus believed he had a better claim to the Ducal throne than his cousins, but was pacified and awarded Saxe-Lobnitz.
[]
- County of Wasaborg: Formerly dependent on the Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg, created for illegitimate member of the Saxon royal family in the 15th century. Extant.
- Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg: Dependent on the Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg, result of partition in the 14th century created for junior line of Saxon royal family. Extant.
- County of Waldeck: Gained following Henrician Wars, ruled by the Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg. Later sold to Hesse.
- Duchy of Saxe-Leisnig: Gained following Henrician Wars, ruled by the Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg later inherited as secundogeniture.
- Duchy of Saxe-Stolberg: Gained following Henrician Wars, ruled by the Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg later inherited as secundogeniture.
- Duchy of Saxe-Walkenreid: Gained following Henrician Wars, ruled by the Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg later inherited as secundogeniture.
- County of Saxe-Belzig (formerly Saxe-Dreuss) ("Northern Saxony"): Separated from the Duchy of Saxony/Saxe-Wittenberg following Lenzburg-Premyslid War.
Fashion[]
Fashion has played a large role in the Duchy of Saxony's long history. The Engelbert hat has long been seen as a source for national pride. Named after and possibly invented by Engelbert I, the Duke of Saxony in the early to mid-fifteenth century, the hat was both waterproof and ingeniously designed. During the Lenzburg-Premyslid War, these Engelbert hats were banned by the Thin White Duke, on pain of death, to signal the ultimate defeat of Saxony's Duke Engelbert II. However, the hats were gradually reintroduced by Engelbert II's brother, the Duke of Saxony Edmund Alwin, in his later reign. He unsuccessfully attempted to rebrand them as "Edmundalwins".
During the Forty Years' War, the slogan, "Ciizens of Saxony, band together under one hat" was accompanied by a propaganda image of a large crowd of people standing under a giant Engelbert, which protected them from raining-down spears and arrows from Catholic armies. This unfortunately caused various people to go into battle wearing Engelberts for protection, and while Engelberts were waterproof, they were not, in fact, arrow or spear-proof. However, shortly after these incidents came to light, Saxon weaponry experts designed an Engelbert-styled helmet that was surprisingly useful in battle. It later became the signature helmet that could be used to identify Saxon soldiers.
Meanwhile, the controversial Madchenhose were invented in the 1420s or possibly the 1430s. These were essentially trousers for women, and caused widespread civil unrest. The Pope demanded a "Crusade against the latest heretical Saxon fashions", which resulted in various young women wearing the item to be attacked or beaten, often by members of the clergy. At one point, Engelbert the Duke of Saxony's granddaughter Louise, who was fond of wearing Madchenhose was brutally assaulted by nuns.
It was also a source of contention between Saxony's duke, Engelbert, and his son and heir, Henry. The latter favoured the continuation of the fashion, while the former was determined to ban it. Henry won this debate ultimately, after his father died. During the Protestant reformation, Madchenhose began to be commonly worn by Jungist women in the Ratian Union, and particularly in Saxony, as something of an anti-Catholic gesture. The Inquisition, meanwhile, declared the wearing of Madchenhose to be punishable by death. One woman attempted to design Madchenhose which exposed the wearer's ankle, but was crucified by a mob of Catholics and Jungists alike, who agreed that this was "going too far".
Gallery[]
Footnotes[]
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