Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Electoral Saxony and Ducal Saxony

When writing to Heinrich in the post below ML calls him Duke in Saxony and one might wonder what happened to Johann Friedrich. Actually Heinrich is probably still the head of Friesland until his brother Duke Georg expires in 1539. This is the Albertine line with the main cities of Dresden and Leipzig. Electoral Saxony (Ernestine) with Wittenberg and Altenburg is the domain of Johann Friedrich. I used to have a neat map of the two Saxonies. But the boundaries of Saxony have changed over the years and today it is not the same as it was in ML's day. Duke Georg was the arch-enemy of Luther
but Heinrich introduced the Reformation in Ducal Saxony as he succeeded his brother Georg all of whose nine children preceded him in death.

No comments: