The Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg (German: Herzogtum Sachsen-Wittenberg) was a medieval duchy of the Holy Roman Empire centered at Wittenberg, which emerged after the dissolution of the stem duchy of Saxony. The Ascanian dukes prevailed in obtaining the Saxon electoral dignity until their duchy was finally elevated to the Electorate of Saxony by the Golden Bull of 1356.
>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<
👉 Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg in the context of Electoral Circle
The Electoral Circle (German: Kurkreis), which was renamed in 1807 as the Wittenberg Circle (Wittenberger Kreis), was a historical territory that mostly emerged from the heartlands of the former Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg. The circle (or district) was created in the reign of Frederick the Wise of Saxony in 1499 and was part of the Electorate of Saxony. The German name Kurkreis referred to the electoral dignity or status of the Saxon prince electors (Kurfürsten) to whom this territory was linked.
In this Dossier
Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg in the context of Wittenberg
Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, 60 kilometers (37 mi) north of Leipzig and 90 kilometers (56 mi) south-west of the reunified German federal capital city of Berlin, and has a population of 46,008 (2018).
Wittenberg has close connections with Martin Luther (1483–1546) and the 16th century religious / theological movement of Protestantism begun here in the Reformation, and the large branch of Western Christianity started here of Evangelical Lutheranism, for which it received the honorific title Lutherstadt and has been called the "cradle of the Reformation" and "cradle of Protestantism". Several of Wittenberg's buildings are associated with the historical / religious events, including a preserved part of the Augustinian monastery of the local community of the world-wide Roman Catholic Order of St. Augustine in which Luther lived, first as a celibate monk and later as property owner with his later wife Katharina von Bora (c. 1499 – 1552), and family. Wittenberg was also the seat of the prince Elector of Saxony, a dignity held by the dukes of the Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg, making it one of the most powerful cities in the thousand-years-old Holy Roman Empire (A.D. c.800 / 962–1806) in Central Europe.
Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg in the context of Margravate of Meissen
The Margravate or Margraviate of Meissen (German: Markgrafschaft Meißen) was a medieval principality in the area of the modern German state of Saxony. It originally was a frontier march of the Holy Roman Empire, created out of the vast Marca Geronis (Saxon Eastern March) in 965. Under the rule of the Wettin dynasty, the margravate finally merged with the former Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg into the Saxon Electorate by 1423.
Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg in the context of Electorate of Saxony
The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony (German: Kurfürstentum Sachsen or Kursachsen), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356 to 1806 initially centred on Wittenberg that came to include areas around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. It was a major Holy Roman state, being an electorate and the original protecting power of Protestant principalities until that role was later taken by its neighbor, Brandenburg-Prussia.
In the Golden Bull of 1356, Emperor Charles IV designated the Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg an electorate, a territory whose ruler was one of the prince-electors who chose the Holy Roman emperor. After the extinction of the male Saxe-Wittenberg line of the House of Ascania in 1422, the duchy and the electorate passed to the House of Wettin. The electoral privilege was tied only to the Electoral Circle, specifically the territory of the former Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg.