The Electorate of Saxony was an Electorate of the Holy Roman Empire. Centred on the Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg with its capital at Dresden, Saxony was one of the most significant states within the empire. Formally known as the Prince-Elector of Saxony, its rulers came first from the House of Ascania from 1356 to 1422, then the House of Wettin until 1806, when it was replaced by the Kingdom of Saxony.
Establishment of the Saxon Electorate
From the end of the 12th, a narrow circle of imperial electors emerged among highest princes, both secular and ecclesiastical, thus gradually excluding other, less powerful nobles from the electoral process. The dukes of Saxony had prominent roles in various imperial elections, and their electoral rights were affirmed both through practice and formal documents. Already before the Golden Bull of 1356, the Electoral College was reduced in practice to seven major princes: the archbishops of Mainz, Trier and Cologne, plus the king of Bohemia, the count palatine of the Rhine, the duke of Saxony, and the margrave of Brandenburg. Tying electoral rights to specific domains took place already in the early 13th century, and solidified from then on. In the case of the Saxon Electorate, the specific territory tied to was the Ascanian Duchy of Saxony, that emerged in 1180.
Ascanian Electorate of Saxony
The old Stem Duchy of Saxony of the Early Middle Ages corresponded roughly to the present German State of Lower Saxony. In 1180, the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa deprived the Saxon duke Henry the Lion from the House of Welf of his ducal titles and domains, while also dividing the vast Saxon duchy. The western parts were placed under the Archbishop of Cologne, while the eastern parts were awarded to the House of Ascania, together with the ducal dignity. Thus, the Ascanian count Bernhard III became the new Saxon duke, but his jurisdiction was limited to the eastern regions of the old Stem Duchy of Saxony. Since Bernhard's feudal domains were situated on Saxon eastern frontiers, along the Elbe river, his Duchy of Saxony came to be associated with Ascanian possessions both in eastern Saxony (Eastphalia) and in trans-Elbian regions, around Lauenburg and Wittenberg.
Duke Bernhard (d 1212) was succeeded by his younger son Albert I (r. 1212–1260), who inherited the Saxon ducal title and trans-Elbian possessions around Wittenberg and Lauenburg, while Bernhard's older son Henry I inherited all Eastphalian and some trans-Elbian possessions, that became the Principality of Anhalt (1218). Thus, the Saxon ducal domains were reduced to possessions of Albert I around Lauenburg and Wittenberg. After his death in 1260, his sons John I and Albert II (r. 1260–1298) initially ruled together, but in practice started to divide territorial jurisdictions already since 1269, without formal separation. The final division was formalised in 1296, between John's sons and their uncle Albert II, thus creating two distinctive Saxon duchies, the Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg and the Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg. Since both were claiming the Saxon electoral dignity, a long dipute emerged between two ducal brances, and lasted until 1356.
The Ascanians of Saxe-Wittenberg, Albert II and Rudolf I (r. 1298–1356) acquired the Burgraviate of Magdeburg and the County of Brehna, and succeeded in asserting themselves as holders to the Saxon electoral privilege, that was not institutionally regulated until 1356 and the Golden Bull, the fundamental law of the Holy Roman Empire that established the procedure for electing the German king by seven prince-electors. Through it Emperor Charles IV permanently granted the electoral privilege to the Duke of Saxony, being the Duke Rudolf I of Saxe-Wittenberg, and decreed the indivisibility of the Saxon ducal territory. The dukes of Saxe-Wittenberg thus rose to a place among the highest-ranking princes of the Empire. In addition to being one of the seven German electorates, Saxe-Wittenberg had possession of the office of arch-marshal of the Holy Roman Empire.
In terms of size, Saxe-Wittenberg remained a rather insignificant territory in the Empire with an area of only about 4,500 to 5,000 square kilometres. There were no large urban centres, but its location along the middle Elbe gave the duchy strategic importance.
Wettin Electorate of Saxony
In 1422, Elector and Duke Albert III of Saxe-Wittenberg, died without direct male heirs, thus ending the Ascanian-Wittenberg line. His closest male cousin, from the Ascanian-Lauenburg line, was Duke Eric V of Saxe-Lauenburg, who claimed the inheritance. In spite of that, the King Sigismund confiscated the duchy as a vacant imperial fiefdom. In the same time, a major ally of Sigismund, margrave Frederick I of Meissen from the House of Wettin, also claimed the Saxon inheritance. Since Frederick I's support for Sigismund's efforts during the religious Hussite Wars of 1419–1434 was of great importance to the king, he awarded the Saxon inheritance to the Wettin claimant, granting both the Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg and the Saxon electoral dignity to Frederick I in 1423.
The Wettins, who had been margraves of the March of Lusatia since 1089 and of Meissen since 1125, gained a strategically important area to the north of their territories with Saxe-Wittenberg. It gave them a transportation connection to important northern German cities such as Magdeburg and a stronger integration into the middle Elbe country which was densely populated and important economically. Access to the Elbe made it possible for them to participate in trade with the Hanseatic League, which included several cities along the river. The former colonised land between the Saale and Elbe was connected to the long-settled land in the west through its political upgrade, which occurred at almost the same time that the Hohenzollerns were granted the Electorate of Brandenburg. The Wettins rose to become the leading power in central Germany. Politically, they proved to be committed administrators of the Empire and built up a compact territory, especially through purchases in the 15th century. From the area around Wittenberg the name "Saxony" gradually spread to encompass all the Wettin territories on the upper Elbe.
The Saxon Electorate and other Wettin domains
Since the ruler's place of residence and his visibility to the people gained in importance in the early phase of the Renaissance, the Wettins created a new seat in the Dresden valley of the Elbe towards the end of the 15th century. Dresden became the permanent residence of the elector, his councilors and administrative officials.
The elector's increased expenses for equipping and maintaining an army and for his own court could no longer be met as before. The solution was to levy new types of taxes, which required the consent of the estates of the realm. The meeting of the estates that Elector Frederick II (r. 1428–1464) organised in 1438 is considered to be the first state parliament (Landtag) in Saxony. The estates were given the right to meet without being summoned by the ruler when there were reforms in taxation. As a result, state parliaments were held more and more frequently, and the Wettin "state of the estates" (Ständestaat) that lasted until the 19th century was formed.
As was common in other German houses, the Wettins regularly divided their possessions among sons and brothers, which often led to intra-family tensions. After the death in 1440 of Frederick IV, Landgrave of Thuringia, the Landgraviate of Thuringia reverted to the Electorate. Disagreements between the landgrave's nephews Elector Frederick II and William III led to the Division of Altenburg of 1445, in which William III received the Thuringian and Franconian parts and Frederick the eastern part of the Electorate.
Disputes over the division led to the Saxon Fratricidal War. After five years of fighting, the situation remained unchanged, although large areas of the country had been devastated. The war was ended with the Peace of Pforta on 27 January 1451. The treaty confirmed the Altenburg partition, temporarily dividing the Wettin domain into an eastern and a western part. The western part of Saxony, which had been ruled by a collateral line of the Wettins since 1382, reverted to the main Wettin line after the death in 1482 of its last representative, Duke William III of Saxony. The unity of the country was then restored.
Of great importance for the development of the country was the agreement reached in 1459 between Elector Frederick II and George of Poděbrady, King of Bohemia, in the Treaty of Eger. It brought about a hereditary settlement and a clear demarcation of the borders between the Kingdom of Bohemia and Saxony.
Joint rule of Ernest and Albert
When Elector Frederick II died in Leipzig on 7 September 1464, his eldest son Ernest (r. 1464–1486) succeeded him at the age of 23. It marked the beginning of an almost twenty-year period of joint rule with his brother Duke Albert. Initially the two ruled in harmony, favoured by the onset of a long economic upswing and increasing urban development. Agreement on political actions and decisions was ensured by a joint court in Dresden Castle. Together the brothers had the Albrechtsburg Castle built in Meissen on the French model. In their policy, they pursued additional accommodation with Bohemia and provided active military assistance to the Empire against the Ottoman Empire and in the War of the Burgundian Succession.
The period of the joint reign of Ernest and Albert saw extensive silver discoveries in the Ore Mountains that stimulated a sustained economic boom. The mining dividends enabled the Saxon princes to pursue a broad domestic and foreign policy agenda. They purchased lands within the Wettin dominion and expanded their territory to the north and east.
Leipzig became an important economic centre of the Holy Roman Empire after the emperor granted it the right to hold fairs three times a year. At the imperial fairs the electors were able to convert their silver into cash, and with their filled coffers they started an active building program. Due to Leipzig's newly granted market and staple rights, traffic increased on the major trade routes that met in the city, and Leipzig became an important trading centre for the whole of Europe. The customs revenues along the route in turn benefited the electoral treasury. In 1480 the printer Konrad Kachelofen from Nuremberg settled in Leipzig and with his letterpress began the Leipzig tradition of book printing.
In 1483 Elector Ernest and Duke Albert established the Leipzig High Court. It was staffed by nobles and burghers and was the first independent public authority in Electoral Saxony that was detached from the prince and court. An effective local and central administration secured the rule of the electors. Internal order was restored after the unrest and insecurity that robber barons had caused in Germany. Blood feuds were eliminated, the roads were secured from robbery, and an efficient legal system was established. Saxony became culturally, economically, and governmentally advanced compared to the other German states of the time.
After the western part of Saxony reverted to the main Wettin line following the death Duke William III in 1482, Saxony became the second power in the Holy Roman Empire next to the Habsburg domains. The family network of the Wettins expanded to include members who were ecclesiastical dignitaries in Magdeburg, Halberstadt and Mainz, with additional claims to duchies on the lower Rhine.
Ernestine Electorate of Saxony
Tensions that had their origins in family relations increased between the two brothers Ernest and Albert and culminated in the Partition of Leipzig of 11 November 1485. It was not originally intended to be permanent, but in the end it significantly weakened the powerful position of the Electorate of Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire and led to open confrontation.