This article will be permanently flagged as inappropriate and made unaccessible to everyone. Are you certain this article is inappropriate? Excessive Violence Sexual Content Political / Social
Email Address:
Article Id: WHEBN0000578487 Reproduction Date:
In order of seniority: Ernestine:
Albertine:
The House of Wettin is a dynasty of German counts, dukes, prince-electors and kings that once ruled territories of present-day German states of Saxony and Thuringia for 953 years. The royal house is one of the oldest of Europe. Its origins can be traced back to the town of Wettin, Saxony-Anhalt. The Wettins gradually rose to power within the Holy Roman Empire. Members of the royal family became the monarchs of several medieval states, starting with Saxon Eastern March in 1030. Other states they gained were Meissen in 1089, Thuringia in 1263 and Saxony in 1423.
The family divided into two ruling branches in 1485 by Treaty of Leipzig: the Ernestine and Albertine branches. The treaty finally ruined a chance for an emergence of a great power in Central Germany, thus helping Brandenburg-Prussia gain influence within the Empire. The older Ernestine branch played a predominant role during the Protestant Reformation. Many ruling monarchs outside Germany were tied to its cadet branch Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The Albertine branch, while less prominent, ruled the most of Saxony and played a part in Polish history.
The Austrian Holy Roman Emperor preferred the Albertine branch over the Ernestine branch, thus transferring the electoral dignity to the Albertines in 1547.
Agnates of the House of Wettin have, at various times, ascended the thrones of Great Britain, Portugal, Bulgaria, Poland-Lithuania, Saxony, and Belgium. Only the British and Belgian lines retain their thrones today.
The oldest member of the House of Wettin who is known for certain is Theodoric I of Wettin, also known as Dietrich, Thiedericus, and Thierry I of Liesgau (died c. 982). He was most probably based in the Liesgau (located at the western edge of the Harz). Around 1000, the family acquired Wettin Castle which was originally built by the local Slavic tribes ( See Sorbs), after which they named themselves. Wettin Castle is located in Wettin in the Hosgau on the Saale River. Around 1030, the Wettin family received the Eastern March as a fief.[1]
The prominence of the Wettins in the Slavic Saxon Eastern March or Ostmark caused Emperor Henry IV to invest them with the March of Meissen as a fief in 1089. The family advanced over the course of the Middle Ages: in 1263 they inherited the landgraviate of Thuringia (although without Hesse), and in 1423 they were invested with the Duchy of Saxony, centred at Wittenberg, thus becoming one of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire.
The family divided into two ruling branches in 1485 after being under control from Charles IV King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor, the sons of Frederick II, Elector of Saxony, divided the territories hitherto ruled jointly. The elder son Ernest, who had succeeded his father as Prince-elector, received the territories assigned to the Elector (Electorate of Saxony) and Thuringia, while his younger brother Albert obtained the March of Meissen, which he ruled from Dresden. As Albert ruled under the title of "Duke of Saxony", his possessions were also known as Ducal Saxony.
Ernest, Elector of Saxony (1441–1486)
Albert, Duke of Saxony (1443–1500)
The older Ernestine branch remained predominant until 1547 and played an important role in the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation. Their predominance ended in the Schmalkaldic War, which pitted the Protestant Schmalkaldic League against the Emperor Charles V. Although itself Lutheran, the Albertine branch rallied to the Empire's cause; Charles V rewarded them by forcing the Ernestines to sign away to the Albertines their rights to the Electorship.
The Albertine Wettin maintained most of the territorial integrity of Saxony, preserving it as a significant power in the region, and using small appanage fiefs for their cadet branches, few of which survived for significant lengths of time. The Ernestine Wettin, on the other hand, repeatedly subdivided their territory, creating an intricate patchwork of small duchies and counties in Thuringia.
The junior Albertine branch ruled as Electors (1547–1806) and Kings of Saxony (1806–1918) and also played a role in Polish history: two Wettin were Kings of Poland (between 1697–1763) and a third ruled the Duchy of Warsaw (1807–1814) as a satellite of Napoleon. After the Napoleonic Wars, the Albertine branch lost about 40% of its lands, including the old Electorate of Saxony, to Prussia, restricting it to a territory coextensive with the modern Saxony (see Final Act of the Congress of Vienna Act IV: Treaty between Prussia and Saxony 18 May 1815). Frederick Augustus III lost his throne in the German Revolution of 1918.
The present head of the Albertine "House of Saxony" is his great-grandson Prince Ruediger of Saxony, Duke of Saxony, Margrave of Meissen (* 23 December 1953). The headship of Prince Rüdiger is however contested by his second cousin, Alexander (* 1954), son of Roberto Afif, later by change of name Mr Gessaphe, and Princess Maria Anna of Saxony, a sister of the childless former head of the Albertines, Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen (d. 2012) who had adopted his nephew, granting him the name Prince of Saxony, contrary to the rules of male descent under the Salic Law. The dispute is detailed in the article Line of succession to the former Saxon thrones.
Dresden Castle
Meissen (near Dresden)
Moritzburg Castle (near Dresden)
Pillnitz Castle (near Dresden)
Weesenstein Castle (near Dresden)
Freudenstein Castle at Freiberg
Augustusburg Hunting Lodge (near Chemnitz)
Hubertusburg Castle (near Leipzig)
The senior Ernestine branch lost the electorship to the Albertine in 1547, but retained its holdings in Thuringia, dividing the area into a number of smaller states. One of the resulting Ernestine houses, known as Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld until 1826 and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha after that, went on to contribute kings of Belgium (from 1831) and Bulgaria (1908–1946), as well as furnishing husbands to queens regnant of Portugal (Prince Ferdinand) and the United Kingdom (Prince Albert). As such, the British and Portuguese thrones became possessions of persons who belonged to the House of Wettin.
From Order in Council, the name of the British royal family was legally changed to Windsor, prospectively for all time.
Veste Coburg, Ancestral seat of the House of Saxe-Coburg
Ehrenburg Palace, Coburg (summer residence)
Friedenstein Castle, Gotha (winter residence)
Reinhardsbrunn Castle, Gotha
Rosenau Castle, Coburg
Callenberg Castle
Wartburg near Eisenach (1250–1406 residence of the Wettins)
Moritzburg Palace in Zeitz
Merseburg Castle
Neu-Augustusburg Castle, Weißenfels
Wittenberg Castle, residence of Frederick III, "the Wise", built 1490–96
Hartenfels Castle in
Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen
Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg
Altenburg Castle
Saalfeld Castle
Schloss in Weimar
Eisenach Palace
Elisabethenburg Palace in Meiningen
Hildburghausen Castle
Counts of Wettin, Margraves of Landsberg
Margraves of Meissen
Margraves of Meissen and Landgraves of Thuringia
Elector of Saxony and Arch-Marshal of the Holy Roman Empire
King of Saxony (standard arms)
1 Transcontinental country. 2 Entirely in Southwest Asia but having socio-political connections with Europe.
After partitions:
Erfurt, Bauhaus, Berlin, Jena, Weimar
Dresden, Germany, Saxony-Anhalt, Berlin, Leipzig
Spain, Portuguese language, Lisbon, Porto, Madeira
Ottoman Empire, House of Vasa, House of Savoy, House of Bonaparte, House of Habsburg
House of Wettin, Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen, Friedrich Christian, Margrave of Meissen, Kingdom of Saxony, Lebanon
United Kingdom, Elizabeth II, House of Oldenburg, House of Vasa, House of Savoy
House of Ascania, House of Hohenzollern, House of Hesse, House of Oldenburg, House of Wettin
House of Braganza, House of Vasa, House of Savoy, House of Bonaparte, House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha