Marriage of Anna of Saxony and Willem the Silent, Prince of Orange

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Anna of Saxony, Beilstein Castle, Christine van Dietz, Holy Roman Empire, Jan Rubens, Maurice of Saxony, Philip II of Spain, Willem of Orange

Anna of Saxony (December 23, 1544 — December 18, 1577) was the daughter and heiress of Maurice, Elector of Saxony, and Agnes of Hesse, eldest daughter of Philipp I, Landgrave of Hesse. Maurice’s only son, Albrecht, died in infancy. Anna was the second wife of Willem the Silent, Prince of Orange.

Willem the Silent (April 24, 1533 – July 10, 1584) was the main leader of the Dutch Revolt against the Spanish Habsburgs that set off the Eighty Years’ War (1568–1648) Willem was born at Dillenburg Castle in the County of Nassau-Dillenburg, in the Holy Roman Empire. He was the eldest son of Count Wilhelm I of Nassau-Dillenburg and Juliana of Stolberg.

Anna’s wealth drew many suitors; before the proposal of the Prince of Orange in 1560, there were negotiations with the Swedish royal house. She accepted the suit of Willem I of Orange, and on June 2, 1561 the marriage contract was signed in Torgau. Anna’s dowry would be the large sum of 100,000 thalers. The wedding took place on August 24, 1561 in Leipzig. On September 1, 1561 William of Orange, along with his young wife, relocated to the Netherlands.

The marriage produced five children, of whom three survived to adulthood:

Anna (born and died Brussels, 31 October 1562).
Anna (Breda, 5 November 1563 – Franeker, 13 June 1588), married on 25 November 1587 to William Louis, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg.
Maurice August Philip (Brussels, 8 December 1564 – Brussels, 3 March 1566).
Maurice (Dillenburg, 13 November 1567 – The Hague, 23 April 1625), later Prince of Orange and Governor of the Netherlands.
Emilia (Köln, 10 April 1569 – Geneva, 6 March 1629), married on 7 November 1597 to Manuel of Portugal.

Just a few months after the wedding, in 1562 difficulties arose between Anna and Willem. Anna received letters from her uncle meant for Willem stating he should work more towards pleasing her.

Both tried to end the rumours that they had an unhappy marriage. By 1565, it was well known in all the courts of the Holy Roman Empire and the Netherlands that the marriage was an unhappy one.

Her uncle August tried to save face by making claims that disputes arose due to his brother Ludwig antagonizing Willem. In 1566 Willem finally complained about the “contentious” nature of his wife to her Saxon uncle August and her Hessian uncle Landgrave Wilhelm IV of Hesse-Cassel (1532–1592).

After the death of her first son Maurice in 1566, Anna fell into severe depression and suicidal thoughts for the first time. She also tried to drown her grief with excessive alcohol consumption.

In 1567 Willem had to flee due to his opposition to the Habsburg Netherlands, and went with his wife to Dillenburg, the German headquarters of the family. On November 14, 1567 she bore a son and named him Maurice again. At the baptism of January 1568 a message arrived for William in Burgundy 11–19 stating that on December 20, 1567 all his Dutch lands and possessions had been confiscated.

When Willem on August 15, 1568 went back to Brabant to continue his war against the Spaniards, Anna decided on October 20, 1568 although pregnant again, to leave Dillenburg with her court (probably 43 people), to escape the antipathies of his mother and to create a new home in Cologne.

Their two children, Anna and Maurice, had been taken by her mother-in-law to Braunfels due to the risk of disease. The next year, after a fierce battle with Willem’s mother, she was able to bring her children back to him. Her daughter Emilia was born on April 10, 1569 in Cologne.

On March 4, 1569 Anna met her husband in Mannheim. Willem’s campaign against the Duke of Alba had failed, and King Felipe II of Spain had forced him out. After this, he left the Holy Roman Empire and went to support the Huguenots in France in their faith struggles.

Since Willem could no longer provide for the family, Anna looked to other means of support. She considered either persuading the Duke of Alba returning their confiscated goods, or demanding payment from Wilhelm IV of Hesse-Cassel as specified in the contract of 12,000 guilders or the castles of Diez or Hadamar. This would have meant a severe financial burden to be borne for Nassau. Anna became a substantial risk to the family.

To enforce their claims, they purchased the services of the successful lawyer Jan Rubens in the end of January 1569, the father of the painter Peter Paul Rubens, who had left Antwerp because of his Calvinist faith in 1568, and found refuge in Cologne.

The case was begun in January 1570 at the Royal Brussels to take fiscal action for their confiscated goods in the Netherlands.

Affair

Anna desired to see her husband again and met with him in May 1570 in Butzbach to discuss financial matters as well as other important topics. In June 1570, Anna and Willem moved in together again in Siegen for a few weeks, where she had settled with her three children. It was there where she began an affair with her lawyer Jan Rubens.

During the Christmas holidays from December 24 to 26 1570 Willem visited his family there again. It was likely a harmonious time, because he persuaded Anna to visit him in January 1571 in Dillenburg, where she even was willing to forego, for the time, payments from her jointure. She was pregnant again, this time from her lover. Willem accused Anna of adultery at this point and made plans to separate from her.

Rubens was often with Anna because he was their counsellor, financial advisor and attorney, and thus was suspected of adultery with Anna between March 7 and 10, 1571. He was arrested outside the city of Siegen when he was on his way to see her.

Rubens was blackmailed for a suitable confession. Anna was put under pressure too: either they must confess themselves or Rubens would be executed.

Anna agreed on March 26, 1571 to plead guilty. OnAugust 22, 1571 Anna’s last child, Christine, was born. On the basis of the allegation, Willem of Orange didn’t recognize the child as his daughter. Christine received the name van Dietz. On December 14, 1571 Anna had to sign their consent to the final separation from her husband. In addition, Willem of Orange was not willing to pay maintenance for her.

Imprisonment and death

In September 1572 Anna decided to challenge the Imperial Court’s ruling for her financial rights. At this time her Hessian and Saxon relatives had already made plans to turn Beilstein castle into a prison, to hold her captive as an adulteress. On October 1, 1572, she was brought there with her youngest daughter Christine. Three years later, her daughter was taken from her.

In March of that year, although the divorce was not finalized, the first news appeared of an impending remarriage of Willem of Orange. His chosen wife was the former Abbess of Jouarre, Charlotte de Bourbon-Montpensier, a daughter of Louis II of Bourbon, Duke of Montpensier, and his first wife, Jacqueline de Longwy.

Outraged at this news, some of Anna’s relatives demanded the return of large wedding gifts despite her possible infidelity. Her Uncle August also demanded of Willem, whom he now called “Head of all the rogues and rebels ” claimed one of the counties of Nassau, Hadamar and Diez.

August of Saxony also insisted that the marriage of the prince was not legally ended yet, and thus he had no right to remarry or confiscate her property. Anna did not admit her adultery in court, and if she did, then she could have proven that the prince had broken his marriage agreement. He also ordered the immediate transfer of his niece from Nassau to Saxony.

When Anna learned in December 1575 of her upcoming transferral to Saxony, she attempted suicide. After a long stay in Zeitz, she was taken to Dresden in December 1576. There, the windows of her room were walled up and fitted with additional iron bars. At the door was a square hole in the top panel that provided a narrow grid, which was closed off outside. Through this hole food and drinks were served to her. At the door there was also another iron gate, virtually guaranteeing no chance of escape.

As of May 1577, Anna was continuously hemorrhaging. She died on December 18, 1577, shortly before her 33rd birthday. Her bones reportedly lie in the cathedral of Meissen near her ancestors in a nameless tomb.

April 15, 1282: Birth of Frédérick IV, Duke of Lorraine

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Albrecht I of Germany, Charles IV of France, Duke of Austria, Duke of Lorraine, Edward II of England, Frédérick IV of Lorraine, Friedrich the Handsome, Holy Roman Empire, House of Habsburg, House of Wittlesbach, Ludwig IV of Bavaria, Philippe VI of France

Frédérick IV (April 15, 1282 – August 23, 1328), called the Fighter, was the Duke of Lorraine from 1312 to his death.

Frédérick was born in Gondreville, the son and successor of Theobald II, Duke of Lorraine and Isabella of Rumigny.

On October 18, 1314, at the Diet of Frankfurt, the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire failed to elect as successor to Heinrich VII, Holy Roman Emperor, either the Habsburg claimant, Friedrich the Handsome, the Duke of Austria, or the Wittelsbach, Ludwig IV of Bavaria.

By marriage to Elisabeth, daughter of Albrecht I of Germany, Frédérick was the brother-in-law of Friedrich the Handsome, called Friedrich III of Germany by his supporters, of whom Frédérick IV of Lorraine was one.

On September 28, 1322, at the Battle of Mühldorf, both Frédérick IV and Friedrich the Handsome were captured. This was an opportunity for Charles IV of France to strengthen the Lorrainer ties to France and he quickly procured the duke’s release on the promise that Lorraine would not interfere in imperial affairs.

In 1324, he participated in an expedition in Aquitaine against Edward II of England’s estates, for Charles IV had built a fortress illegally on Edward’s territory and had sent his uncle, Count Charles III of Valois, against the English possessions after Hugh le Despenser and the Younger Despenser imprisoned Isabella of France, Charles IV’s sister and Edward’s queen. He took part in the War of Metz in 1325 and 1326. He joined Philippe VI of France, on his succession in 1328, and fought and died at the Battle of Cassel.

Personal life
In 1304, Frédérick IV married Elisabeth of Austria (1285–1352), Elisabeth was the tenth of twelve children to Albert I of Germany and his wife Elisabeth of Gorizia-Tyrol.

They had the following children:

1.Rudolph (1320–1346), Duke of Lorraine
2. Margaret
3. Four children who died during childhood

April 14, 972: Marriage of Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor and Byzantine Princess Theophanu

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Byzantine Empire, Byzantine Princess Theophanu, Eastern Roman Empire, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Empire, John I Tzimiskes, Macedonian Dynasty, Otto I the Great, Otto II, Pope John XIII, Regent

Otto II (955 – December 7, 983), called the Red was Holy Roman Emperor from 973 until his death in 983.

Otto II was born in 955, the third son of the King of Germany Otto I (Crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 962) and his second wife Adelaide of Burgundy the daughter of Rudolf II of Burgundy and Bertha of Swabia.

By 957, Otto II’s older brothers Henry (born 952) and Bruno (born 953) had died, as well as Otto I’s son from his first wife Eadgyth, the Crown Prince Liudolf, Duke of Swabia.

Otto II was made joint-ruler of the Empire in 961, at an early age, and his father named him co-Emperor in 967 to secure his succession to the throne. His father also arranged for Otto II to marry the Byzantine Princess Theophanu.

Theophanu (c. AD 955 – June 15, 991) According to the marriage certificate issued on April 14, 972 Theophanu is identified as the niece or granddaughter of Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes (925–976, reigned 969–976) who was of Armenian and Byzantine Greek descent.

Recent research tends to concur that she was most probably the daughter of Tzimiskes’ brother-in-law (from his first marriage) Constantine Skleros (c. 920–989) and cousin Sophia Phokas, the daughter of Kouropalatēs Leo Phokas, brother of Emperor Nikephoros II (c. 912–969).

Marriage

Theophanu was not born “in the purple” as the Ottonians would have preferred. The Saxon chronicler Bishop Thietmar of Merseburg writes that the Ottonian preference was for Anna Porphyrogenita, a daughter of late Byzantine Emperor Romanos II. Theophanu’s uncle John I Tzimiskes had overthrown his predecessor Nikephoros II Phokas in 969.

Theophanu was escorted back to Rome for her wedding by a delegation of German and Italian churchmen and nobles. When the Ottonian court discovered Theophanu was not a scion of the Macedonian dynasty, as had been assumed, Otto I was told by some to send Theophanu away.

Otto’s advisors believed that Theophanu’s relation to the usurper John Tzimiskes would invalidate the marriage as a confirmation of Otto I as Holy Roman Emperor.

He was persuaded to allow her to stay when it was pointed out that John Tzimiskes had wed Theodora, a member of the Macedonian dynasty and sister to Emperor Romanos II. John was therefore a Macedonian, by marriage if not by birth.

A reference by Pope John XIII to Emperor Nikephoros II as “Emperor of the Greeks” in a letter while Otto’s ambassador, Bishop Liutprand of Cremona, was at the Byzantine court, had destroyed the first round of marriage negotiations.

With the ascension of John I Tzimiskes, who had not been personally referred to other than as Roman Emperor, the treaty negotiations were able to resume. However, not until a third delegation led by Archbishop Gero of Cologne arrived in Constantinople, were they successfully completed.

After the marriage negotiations completed, Theophanu and Otto II were married by Pope John XIII on April 14, 972.

According to Karl Leysers’ book Communications and Power in Medieval Europe: Carolingian and Ottonian, Otto I’s choice was not “to be searched for in the parlance of high politics” as his decision was ultimately made on the basis of securing his dynasty with the birth of the next Ottonian emperor.

Empress

Otto II succeeded his father on May 8, 973. Theophanu accompanied her husband on all his journeys, and she is mentioned in approximately one quarter of the emperor’s formal documents – evidence of her privileged position, influence and interest in affairs of the empire.

It is known that she was frequently at odds with her mother-in-law, Adelaide of Italy, which caused an estrangement between Otto II and Adelaide. According to Abbot Odilo of Cluny, Adelaide was very happy when “that Greek woman” died.

The Benedictine chronicler Alpert of Metz describes Theophanu as being an unpleasant and chattery woman. Theophanu was also criticized for having introduced new luxurious garments and jewelry into France and the Holy Roman Empire.

The theologian Peter Damian even asserts that Theophanu had a love affair with John Philagathos, a Greek monk who briefly reigned as Antipope John XVI.

Otto II died suddenly on December 7, 983 at the age of 28, probably from malaria. His three-year-old son, Otto III, had already been appointed King of the Romans during a diet held on Pentecost of that year at Verona.

At Christmas, Theophanu had him crowned by the Mainz archbishop Willigis at Aachen Cathedral, with herself ruling as Empress Regent on his behalf.

Upon the death of Emperor Otto II, Bishop Folcmar of Utrecht released his cousin, the Bavarian duke Heinrich the Quarrelsome from custody. Duke Heinrich allied with Archbishop Warin of Cologne and seized his nephew Otto III in spring 984, while Theophanu was still in Italy. Nevertheless he was forced to surrender the child to his mother, who was backed by Archbishop Willigis of Mainz and Bishop Hildebald of Worms.

Regency

Theophanu ruled the Holy Roman Empire as regent for a span of five years, from May 985 to her death in 991, despite early opposition by the Ottonian court.

Her first act as regent was in securing her son, Otto III, as the heir to the Holy Roman Empire. Theophanu also placed her daughters in power by giving them high positions in influential nunneries all around the Ottonian-ruled west, securing power for all her children. She welcomed ambassadors, declaring herself “imperator” or “imperatrix”, as did her relative contemporaries Irene of Athens and Theodora; the starting date for her reign being 972, the year of her marriage to the late Otto II.

Theophanu brought from her native east, a culture of royal women at the helm of a small amount of political power, something that the West—of which she was in rule of—had remained generally opposed to for centuries before her regency.

Theophanu and her mother-in-law, Adelaide, are known during the empress’ regency to have butted heads frequently–Adelaide of of Burgundy is even quoted as referring to her as “that Greek empress.” Theophanu’s rivalry with her mother-in-law, according to historian and author Simon Maclean, is overstated. Theophanu’s “Greekness” was not an overall issue. Moreover, there was a grand fascination with the culture surrounding Byzantine court in the west that slighted most criticisms to her Greek origin.

Theophanu did not remain merely as an image of the Ottonian empire, but as an influence within the Holy Roman Empire. She intervened within the governing of the empire a total of seventy-six times during the reign of her husband Otto II—perhaps a foreshadowing of her regency.

Though never donning any armor, she also waged war and sought peace agreements throughout her regency. Theophanu’s regency is a time of considerable peace, as the years 985-991 passed without major crises. Though the myth of Theophanu’s prowess as imperator could be an overstatement, according to historian Gerd Althoff, royal charters present evidence that magnates were at the core of governing the empire.

Althoff highlights this as unusual, since kings or emperors in the middle ages rarely shared such a large beacon of empirical power with nobility.

Due to illness beginning in 988, Theophanu eventually died at Nijmegen and was buried in the Church of St. Pantaleon near her wittum in Cologne in 991.

The chronicler Thietmar eulogized her as follows: “Though [Theophanu] was of the weak sex she possessed moderation, trustworthiness, and good manners. In this way she protected with male vigilance the royal power for her son, friendly with all those who were honest, but with terrifying superiority against rebels.”

Because Otto III was still a child, his grandmother Adelaide of Burgundy took over the regency until Otto III became old enough to rule on his own.

April 1, 1282: Birth of Holy Roman Emperor Ludwig IV. Part I.

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Bishop of Rome, Duke of Upper Bavaria, Friedrich the Fair of Habsburg, Golden Bull, Holy Roman Emperor Ludwig IV, Holy Roman Empire, Imperial Elector, Johann of Bohemia, Pope John XXII

Ludwig IV (April 1, 1282 – October 11, 1347), called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was King of the Romans from 1314, King of Italy from 1327, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1328.

Ludwig was born in Munich, the son of Ludwig II, Duke of Upper Bavaria and Count Palatine of the Rhine, and his third wife Matilda of Habsburg, a daughter of Rudolph I of Habsburg, King of Germany and Gertrude of Hohenberg.

Ludwig IV was Duke of Upper Bavaria from 1294 to 1301 together with his elder brother Rudolf I, andvwas Margrave of Brandenburg until 1323, and Count Palatine of the Rhine until 1329, and became Duke of Lower Bavaria in 1340. He became Count of Hainaut, Holland, Zeeland, and Friesland in 1345 when his wife Margaret inherited those domains.

Election as German King and conflict with Habsburg

The death of Holy Roman Emperor Heinrich VII in August 1313 necessitated the election of a successor. Heinrich VII’s son Johann, King of Bohemia since 1310, was considered by many prince-electors to be too young, and by others to be already too powerful.

Ludwig IV, Holy Roman Emperor and Duke of Upper Bavaria

One alternative was Friedrich the Fair, the son of Henry’s predecessor, Albrecht I, of the House of Habsburg. In reaction, the pro-Luxembourg party among the prince electors settled on Ludwig of Bavaria as its candidate to prevent Friedrich’s election.

On October 19, 1314, Archbishop Heinrich II of Cologne chaired an assembly of four electors at Sachsenhausen, south of Frankfurt. Participants were Ludwig’s brother, Rudolph I of the Palatinate, who objected to the election of his younger brother, Duke Rudolph I of Saxe-Wittenberg, and Heinrich of Carinthia, whom the Luxembourgs had deposed as King of Bohemia. These four electors chose Friedrich the Fair of Habsburg as the new German King.

The Luxembourg party did not accept this election and the next day a second election was held. Upon the instigation of Peter of Aspelt, Archbishop of Mainz, five different electors convened at Frankfurt and elected Ludwig as King.

These electors were Archbishop Peter himself, Archbishop Baldwin of Trier and King Johann of Bohemia – both of the House of Luxembourg – Margrave Waldemar of Brandenburg and Duke Johann II of Saxe-Lauenburg, who contested Rudolph of Wittenberg’s claim to the electoral vote.

This double election was quickly followed by two coronations: Ludwig was crowned at Aachen – the customary site of coronations – by Archbishop Peter of Mainz, while the Archbishop of Cologne, who by custom had the right to crown the new king, crowned Friedrich at Bonn. In the following conflict between the kings, Ludwig recognized in 1316 the independence of Switzerland from the Habsburg dynasty.

Friedrich the Fair of Habsburg

After several years of bloody war, victory finally seemed within the grasp of Friedrich, who was strongly supported by his brother Leopold. However, Friedrich’s army was decisively defeated in the Battle of Mühldorf on September 28, 1322 on the Ampfing Heath, where Friedrich and 1300 nobles from Austria and Salzburg were captured.

Ludwig IV held Friedrich captive in Trausnitz Castle (Schwandorf) for three years, but the determined resistance by Friedrich’s brother Leopold, the retreat of Johann of Bohemia from his alliance, and a ban by Pope John XXII, who excommunicated Ludwig in 1324, induced Ludwig to release Friedrich in the Treaty of Trausnitz of 13 March 1325.

In this agreement, Friedrich recognized Ludwig as legitimate ruler and undertook to return to captivity should he not succeed in convincing his brothers to submit to Ludwig IV.

Golden Bull of Ludwig IV 1328

As he did not manage to overcome Leopold’s obstinacy, Friedrich returned to Munich as a prisoner, even though the Pope had released him from his oath. Ludwig IV, who was impressed by such nobility, renewed the old friendship with Friedrich, and they agreed to rule the Empire jointly.

Since the Pope and the electors strongly objected to this agreement, another treaty was signed at Ulm on January 7, 1326, according to which Friedrich would administer Germany as King of the Romans, while Ludwig would be crowned as Holy Roman Emperor in Italy. However, after Leopold’s death in 1326, Friedrich withdrew from the regency of the Empire and returned to rule only Austria where he died on January 13, 1330.

10th Anniversary of the European Royal History Blog!

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British Monarchy, European Royalty, German Monarchy, History, Holy Roman Empire

From the Emperor’s Desk: Today is the 10th anniversary of starting my European Royal History Blog!

In 10 years I’ve written 1,599 articles for my blog and have had 735,552 hits on my blog!

https://europeanroyalhistory.wordpress.com/

So thank you to all my loyal readers and i will continue to deliver quality content!

Liam Foley 👑

Friedrich I, Duke and Elector of Saxony

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Elector and Duke of Saxony, Emperor Sigismund, Frederick of Saxony, Holy Roman Empire, Margrave of Meissen

Friedrich I, the Belligerent or the Warlike (April 11, 1370 – January 4, 1428), a member of the House of Wettin, ruled as Margrave Friedrich IV of Meissen from 1407 and Elector of Saxony (as Friedrich I) from 1423 until his death.

He is not to be confused with his cousin Landgrave Friedrich IV of Thuringia, the son of Landgrave Balthasar.

Friedrich I of Saxony was the eldest son of Friedrich III, Landgrave of Thuringia, and Catherine of Henneberg.

After the death of his uncle Wilhelm I, Margrave of Meissen in 1407, he was made governor of the Margraviate of Meissen together with his brother Wilhelm II as well as with his cousin Friedrich IV (son of Balthasar), until their possessions were divided in 1410 and 1415.

In the German town war of 1388 he assisted Friedrich V of Hohenzollern, burgrave of Nuremberg, and in 1391 did the same for the Teutonic Order against Wladislaus II of Poland. Friedrich supported Rupert III, Elector Palatine of the Rhine, in his struggle with King Wenceslaus for the Imperial throne, probably because Wenceslaus refused to fulfill a promise to give him his sister Anna in marriage.

The danger to the Holy Roman Empire rom the Hussites induced Friedrich to ally himself with Emperor Sigismund; and he took a leading part in the war against them, during the earlier years of which he met with considerable success.

For his victory at the Battle of Brüx in 1421, Friedrich was granted the ranks of Duke and Elector of Saxony. In the prosecution of this enterprise Friedrich spent large sums of money, for which he received various places in Bohemia and elsewhere in pledge from Sigismund, who further rewarded him on January 6, 1423 with the vacant electoral Duchy of Saxony-Wittenberg; and Friedrich’s formal investiture followed at Ofen on the August 1, 1425.

Thus ascended Friedrich IV, Margrave of Meissen, who called himself Friedrich I now as Duke and Elector of Saxony. Thus spurred to renewed efforts against the Hussites, the elector was endeavouring to rouse the German princes to aid him in prosecuting this war when the Saxon army was almost annihilated at Aussig on the 16 August 16, 1426.

After the death of his brother Wilhelm II, Friedrich became the ruler over the entire possession of The House of Wettin except Thuringia.

In 1409, Friedrich and his brother Wilhelm founded the University of Leipzig, for the benefit of German students who had left the University of Prague after the events relating to the Western Schism.

Friedrich died in 1428 at Altenburg. He was buried as the first Wettin in the centre of what is now known as the Princes Chapel in Meissen Cathedral. The cathedral is now accessible to the public for a small fee and the tomb is readily seen.

Family

Friedrich I married Catherine of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1442), the only daughter and second child of Heinrich I Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg from his first marriage to Sophie of Pomerania, daughter of Duke Wartislaw VI of Pomerania.

Friedrich I of Saxony was succeeded by his eldest son.
Friedrich II, Elector of Saxony (1412–1464).

January 18, 1701 ~ Elector Friedrich III of Brandenburg, Crowns himself King Friedrich I in Prussia in Königsberg.

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Augustus the Strong, Duchy of Prussia, Elector of Brandenburg, Emperor Leopold, Frederick I of Prussia, Frederick III of Brandenburg, Holy Roman Empire, King in Prussia, Kingdom of Poland

Friedrich I. ( July 11, 1657 – February 25, 1713), of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was (as Friedrich III) Elector of Brandenburg (1688–1713) and Duke of Prussia in personal union (Brandenburg-Prussia). The latter function he upgraded to royalty, becoming the first King in Prussia (1701–1713).

Born in Königsberg, he was the third son of Friedrich Wilhelm, The Great Elector of Brandenburg by his father’s first marriage to Louise Henriette of Orange-Nassau, eldest daughter of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange and Amalia of Solms-Braunfels. His maternal cousin was King William III of England.

Upon the death of his father on 29 April 1688, Friedrich became Elector Friedrich III of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia. Right after ascending the throne Friedrich founded a new city southerly adjacent to Dorotheenstadt and named it after himself, the Friedrichstadt.

The Hohenzollern state was then known as Brandenburg-Prussia. The family’s main possessions were the Margraviate of Brandenburg within the Holy Roman Empire and the Duchy of Prussia outside of the Empire, ruled as a personal union.

Although he was the Margrave and Prince-Elector of Brandenburg and the Duke of Prussia, Elector Friedrich III desired the more prestigious title of king. However, according to Germanic law at that time, no kingdoms could exist within the Holy Roman Empire, with the exception of the Kingdom of Bohemia which belonged to the Holy Roman Emperor of the House of Habsburg.

Friedrich persuaded Emperor Leopold I to allow Prussia to be elevated to a kingdom by the Crown Treaty of November 16, 1700. This agreement was ostensibly given in exchange for an alliance against King Louis XIV of France and Navarre in the War of the Spanish Succession, along with the provision of 8,000 Prussian troops to Leopold’s service.

Friedrich argued that Prussia had never been part of the Holy Roman Empire, (it was once a fief of the Kingdom of Poland) and he ruled over it with full sovereignty. Therefore, he said, there was no legal or political barrier to letting him rule it as a kingdom.

Friedrich crowned himself on January 18, 1701 in Königsberg. Although he did so with the Emperor’s consent, and also with formal acknowledgement from Augustus II the Strong, Elector of Saxony, who held the title of King of Poland, the Polish-Lithuanian Diet (Sejm) did raise objections, and viewed the coronation as illegal.

In fact, according to the terms of the Treaty of Wehlau and Bromberg, the House of Hohenzollern’s sovereignty over the Duchy of Prussia was not absolute but contingent on the continuation of the male line (in the absence of which the duchy would revert to the Polish crown). Therefore, out of deference to the region’s historic ties to the Polish crown, Friedrich made the symbolic concession of calling himself “King in Prussia” instead of “King of Prussia”.

His sovereignty was, in any case, limited to Prussia and did not reduce the rights of the Emperor in the portions of Friedrich’s domains that were still part of the Holy Roman Empire.

In other words, while he was a king in Prussia, he was still only an Imperial Elector of Brandenburg under the suzerainty of the Holy Roman Emperor.

Legally, the Hohenzollern state was still a personal union vested in Friedrich who now was both Elector of Brandenburg and the King in Prussia. In other words, Brandenburg and Prussia we’re not politically united as a singular state.

However, in practice and reality, at the time Friedrich crowned himself as King in Prussia, the Emperor Leopold’s authority over the Electorate of Brandenburg (and the rest of the Empire itself) was only nominal, and it soon came to be treated as part of the Prussian Kingdom rather than as a separate entity. His grandson, Friedrich II the Great, was the first Prussian king formally to style himself “King of Prussia” (from 1772 onwards).

With the rise of the Prussian Kingdom, and with the Habsburg Emperors generally only having authority within their native hereditary lands such as the Archduchy of Austria, began a rivalry for the supremacy of the entirety of Germany.

January 17, 1463: Birth of Friedrich III the Wise, Elector of Saxony

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Diet of Worms, Elector of Saxony, Frederick the Wise, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, Holy Roman Empire, Martin Luther, Pope Leo X, Protestant Reformation, Roman Catholic Church

Friedrich III (January 17, 1463 – May 5, 1525), also known as Friedrich the Wise, was Elector of Saxony from 1486 to 1525, who is mostly remembered for the worldly protection of his subject Martin Luther.

Born in Torgau, Friedrichbwas the son of Ernst, Elector of Saxony and his wife Elisabeth of Bavaria, daughter of Albrecht III, Duke of Bavaria and his wife Anna of Brunswick-Grubenhagen-Einbeck, who was herself a daughter of Duke Eric I of Brunswick-Grubenhagen and his wife, Elisabeth of Brunswick-Göttingen.

Friedrich succeeded his father as elector in 1486; in 1502, he founded the University of Wittenberg, where Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon taught.

Friedrich was among the princes who pressed the need of reform upon Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, and in 1500, he became president of the newly formed council of regency (Reichsregiment).

Friedrich III was Pope Leo X’s candidate for Holy Roman Emperor in 1519 after the death of Emperor Maximilian I. The Pope had awarded him the Golden Rose of virtue on September 3, 1518 in an effort to persuade him to accept the throne. However, Friedrich III helped secure the election of Maximilian’s grandson Charles of Austria, who was also King Carlos I of Spain, Friedrich agreed to support Charles and to convince his fellow electors to do the same if Charles repaid an outstanding debt to the Saxons dating to 1497.

Friedrich collected many relics in his castle church; his inventory of 1518 listed 17,443 items, including a thumb from St. Anne, a twig from Moses’ burning bush, hay of the holy manger, and milk from the Virgin Mary.

Money was paid in order to venerate these relics and thus escape years in purgatory. A diligent and pious person who rendered appropriate devotion to each of these relics could merit 1,902,202 years worth of penance (an earthly equivalent of time otherwise spent in Purgatory, removed by indulgences). Two years later, the collection exceeded 19,000 pieces.

Friedrich is most known for ensuring that Martin Luther would be heard before the Diet of Worms in 1521 and secured an exemption from the Edict of Worms for Saxony. He further protected Luther from the Pope’s enforcement of the edict by faking a highway attack on Luther’s way back to Wittenberg, abducting and then hiding him at Wartburg Castle after the Diet of Worms.

Friedrich died unmarried at Lochau, a hunting castle near Annaburg (30 km southeast of Wittenberg), in 1525 and was buried in the Schlosskirche at Wittenberg with a grave by Peter Vischer the Younger. He was succeeded by his brother Duke Johann the Steadfast as Elector of Saxony.

Issue of conversion in 1525

Friedrich III was a lifelong Roman Catholic, but he might have converted to Lutheranism on his deathbed in 1525 depending on how his receiving of a Protestant communion is viewed. He leaned heavily towards Lutheranism throughout his later years, as demonstrated by his guaranteeing the safety for his subject and Protestant reformer Martin Luther when he was tried for heresy and excommunicated by the Pope.

Friedrich III took communion as outlined in Lutheranism on his deathbed. That can be seen as a conversion to Lutheranism, although he never officially or clearly indicated that he converted. By the time of his death, he was proclaimed to have “converted to the evangelical faith” and Saxony was now “evangelical”. His protection of Martin Luther and allowed Lutheranism to flourish in his realm, protecting him from the Holy Roman Emperor.

His successor, Johann, Elector of Saxony, had been Lutheran even before he became Elector. Johann made the Lutheran church the official state church in Saxony in 1527.

January 12, 1519: Death of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor

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Charles V Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, Holy Roman Empire, King Louis XI of France, Mary of Burgundy, Pope Julius II

Maximilian I (March 22, 1459 – January 12, 1519).

Maximilian was the son of Friedrich III, Holy Roman Emperor, and Eleanor of Portugal, a Portuguese infanta (princess), daughter of King Duarte of Portugal and his wife Eleanor of Aragon.

He ruled jointly with his father for the last ten years of the latter’s reign, from c. 1483 until his father’s death in 1493.

Maximilian was elected King of the Romans on 16 February 16, 1486 in Frankfurt-am-Main at his father’s initiative and crowned on April 9, 1486 in Aachen. Much of th Austrian territories and Vienna were under the rule of king Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, as a result of the Austrian–Hungarian War (1477–1488). Maximilian was now a king without lands. After the death of king Matthias, from July 1490, Maximilian began a series of short sieges that reconquered cities and fortresses that his father had lost in Austria.

Maximilian was never crowned by the pope, as the journey to Rome was blocked by the Venetians.

In 1508, Maximilian, with the assent of Pope Julius II, took the title Erwählter Römischer Kaiser (“Elected Roman Emperor”), thus ending the centuries-old custom that the Holy Roman Emperor had to be crowned by the Pope.

Maximilian expanded the influence of the House of Habsburg through war and his marriage. In 1477 Maximilian married Mary of Burgundy, the only child of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and his wife Isabella of Bourbon, she inherited the Burgundian lands at the age of 19 upon the death of her father in the Battle of Nancy on 5 January 1477. She spent most of her reign defending her birthright; in order to counter the appetite of the French king Louis XI for her lands.

Maximilian and Mary’s wedding contract stipulated that their children would succeed them but that the couple could not be each other’s heirs. Mary tried to bypass this rule with a promise to transfer territories as a gift in case of her death, but her plans were confounded. After Mary’s death in a riding accident on March 27, 1482 near the Wijnendale Castle, Maximilian’s aim was now to secure the inheritance to his and Mary’s son, Philipp the Handsome.

Maximilian lost his family’s original lands in today’s Switzerland to the Swiss Confederacy. Through marriage of his son Philipp the Handsome to eventual Queen Joanna of Castile in 1498, Maximilian helped to establish the Habsburg dynasty in Spain, which allowed his grandson Charles to hold the thrones of both Castile and Aragon, and he was the eventual successor to the Imperial Throne of the Holy Roman Empire.

The historian Thomas A. Brady Jr. describes him as “the first Holy Roman Emperor in 250 years who ruled as well as reigned” and also, the “ablest royal warlord of his generation.”

After 1517 Maximilian began to focus entirely on the question of his succession. His goal was to secure the throne for a member of his house and prevent François I of France from gaining the imperial throne.

In 1501, Maximilian fell from his horse and badly injured his leg, causing him pain for the rest of his life. Some historians have suggested that Maximilian was “morbidly” depressed: from 1514, he travelled everywhere with his coffin.

Maximilian died in Wels, Upper Austria, on January 12, 1519 at the age of 59. The death of Maximilian seemed to put the succession at risk. However, The Fugger family provided Maximilian a credit of one million gulden, which was used to bribe the prince-electors. However, the bribery claims have been challenged. At first, this policy seemed successful, and Maximilian managed to secure the votes from Mainz, Cologne, Brandenburg and Bohemia for his grandson Charles.

Maximilian’s son, Philipp the Handsome (King Felipe I of Castile by right of his wife) had died in 1506. The resulting “election campaign” was unprecedented due to the massive use of bribery. Within a few months the election of his grandson as Holy Roman Emperor Charles V was secured. Charles had also succeeded his maternal grandfather, King Fernando II-V of Aragon and Castile in 1516 and became King Carlos I of a united Spain. With his election as Emperor, Charles V ruled an empire as vast and as powerful as that of Charlemagne ‘s centuries earlier.

January 10, 1430: Founding of the Order of the Golden Fleece

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Austria, Duke of Burgundy. War of the Spanish Succession, Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Empire, House of Habsburg, Kingdom of Spain, Order of the Gold Fleece, Philip the Good

The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece is a Catholic Order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philippe III the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in 1430, to celebrate his marriage to Isabella of Portugal. Today, two branches of the order exist, namely the Spanish Fleece and the Austrian Fleece; the current grand masters are Felipe VI, King of Spain and Archduke Charles von Habsburg, head of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, respectively. The Grand Chaplain of the Austrian branch is Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna.

The Order of the Golden Fleece was established on January 10, 1430, by Philippe III the Good, Duke of Burgundy (on the occasion of his wedding to Isabella of Portugal), in celebration of the prosperous and wealthy domains united in his person that ran from Flanders to Switzerland.

This was Philippe’s third marriage. His bride was Isabella of Portugal, a daughter of King João I of Portugal and Philippa of Lancaster, the daughter of the English Prince, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and Blanche of Lancaster. The wedding actually took place in Bruges on January 7, 1430, after a proxy marriage the year before.

The Order is restricted to a limited number of knights, initially 24 but increased to 30 in 1433, and 50 in 1516, plus the sovereign. The order’s first king of arms was Jean Le Fèvre de Saint-Remy.

It received further privileges unusual to any order of knighthood: the sovereign undertook to consult the order before going to war; all disputes between the knights were to be settled by the order; at each chapter the deeds of each knight were held in review, and punishments and admonitions were dealt out to offenders, and to this the sovereign was expressly subject; the knights could claim as of right to be tried by their fellows on charges of rebellion, heresy and treason, and Charles V conferred on the order exclusive jurisdiction over all crimes committed by the knights; the arrest of the offender had to be by warrant signed by at least six knights, and during the process of charge and trial he remained not in prison but in the gentle custody of his fellow knights.

The separation of the two existing branches took place as a result of the War of the Spanish Succession. The grand master of the order, Carlos II of Spain (a Habsburg) had died childless in 1700, and so the succession to the throne of Spain and the Golden Fleece initiated a global conflict.

Philippe III the Good. Duke of Burgundy

On one hand, Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, claimed the Imperial Crown as an agnatic member of the House of Habsburg, which had held the throne for almost two centuries.

However, the late King Carlos II had named Philippe of Bourbon, Duke of Anjou who was his sister (Infanta Marie Theresa’s) grandchild, as his successor in his will. Marie Theresa was the wife of King Louis XIV of France and Navarre.

Both the Habsburgs from the Habsburg lands and the Bourbons, as the new Kings of Spain, claimed sovereignty of the order. Both noble houses basically invoked their claims regarding the Spanish crown.

The House of Habsburg’s claim relied on Article 65 of the Statutes. Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI was able to claim sovereignty of the Netherlands, the Burgundian heartland, during the War of the Spanish Succession and thus he could celebrate the order’s festival in Vienna in 1713.

After the defeat of the Habsburgs in 1714, Philippe was recognized as King Felipe V of Spain and the fate of the order was never clearly decided. The two dynasties, namely the Kings of Spain and Habsburgs of Austria, have ever since continued granting the Golden Fleece in relative peace.

The Golden Fleece, and particularly the Spanish branch of the order, has been referred to as the most prestigious and historic order of chivalry in the world. De Bourgoing wrote in 1789 that “the number of knights of the Golden Fleece is very limited in Spain, and this is the order, which of all those in Europe, has best preserved its ancient splendour”.

Each collar is fully coated in gold, and is estimated to be worth around €50,000 as of 2018, making it the most expensive chivalrous order.

Current knights of the order include Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Emperor Akihito of Japan, former Tsar Simeon II of Bulgaria, and Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands, amongst 13 others. Knights of the Austrian branch include 33 noblemen and princes of small territories in Central Europe, most of them of German or Austrian origin.