Ernestine duchies

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Coat of arms of the Ernestines on a boundary stone

The Ernestine duchies, also called the Saxon duchies, were a changing number of small states in the present German state of Thuringia, governed by dukes of the Ernestine line of the house of Wettin. The Saxon duchy began fragmenting in the 15th Century as a result of the old German succession law that divided inheritances among all sons. All sons of a Saxon duke also inherited the title of Duke. Brothers sometimes ruled the territory inherited from their father jointly, and sometimes split it up. Some of the Ernestine duchies retained their separate existence until 1918. Similar events in the houses of Reuss and Schwarzburg led to all of Thuringia becoming a tangle of mini-states from the late 15th Century until the early 20th Century.

Count Bernhard of Anhalt, youngest son of Albert "the Bear" (1106-70), inherited parts of the old Saxon duchy, primarily around Lauenburg and Wittenberg, in 1180. He had two sons, Albert and Henry. Albert inherited the Duchy of Saxony. In 1260 Albert's sons divided Saxony into the duchies of Saxe-Lauenburg and Saxe-Wittenberg. Saxe-Wittenberg was recognized as the electorate of Saxony in the Golden Bull of 1356. When the last duke of Saxe-Wittenberg died without heir in 1422, the Emperor Sigismund gave the duchy to Frederick IV of the house of Wettin, Margrave of Meissen and Landgrave of Thuringia, who thereby became Frederick I, Elector of Saxony. The name Saxony was then generally applied to all of the Wettin's domains, including those in Thuringia. Frederick I was succeeded by his son, Frederick II. After the death of Frederick II in 1464, his oldest son, Ernest, became elector, and Ernest and Duke Albert, the younger son, shared governance of the Wettin lands. In 1485, by the Leipziger division, the brothers split the Wettin possessions, with Ernest receiving northern Meissen, southern Thuringia, and Wittenberg, and Albert receiving northern Thuringia and southern Meissen.

Elector Ernest died in 1486, and was succeeded by his son, Frederick III, the Wise. Leipzig, the economic center of Saxony, as well as the seat of the only university in Saxony, was located in Albertine Saxony. Wanting a university in his lands, Frederick founded the University of Wittenberg in 1502. It was there that Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses. Frederick protected Luther, refusing to extradite him to Rome for trial. Frederick, as did other German princes, allowed Lutheran reforms to be implemented in his domain.

Frederick III died in 1525; he was succeeded by his brother, John the Steadfast (1525-1532). John was a leader in the Schmalkaldic League of Protestant princes in the Holy Roman Empire. John died in 1532 and was succeeded by his son John Frederick I. For the first ten years of his reign, John Frederick shared the rule of Ernestine Saxony with his step-brother, Duke John Ernest. John Frederick increasingly hardened his support of the Lutheran Reformation, while the Emperor, Charles V, avoided direct confrontation with the Protestant princes, as he needed their support in his struggle with France.

Charles eventually came to terms with France, and turned his attention to the Protestant lands of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1546 the Schmalkaldic League raised an army. Elector John Frederick led the league's troops south, but shortly thereafter John Frederick's cousin, Duke Maurice of Albertine Saxony, invaded Ernestine Saxony. John Frederick hurried back to Saxony, expelled Maurice from the Ernestine lands, conquered Albertine Saxony and proceeded to invade Bohemia (held directly by the Emperor, Charles V). Charles' forces drove the Schmalkaldic League troops back and decisively defeated them in the Battle of Mühlberg (1547). John Frederick was wounded and taken prisoner. The Emperor condemned him to death as a rebel, but stayed the execution because he did not want to take the time to capture Wittenberg, defended by John Frederick's wife Sybille. To save his life, John Frederick conceded in the Capitulation of Wittenberg to resign the Electorate and the government of his country in favor of Maurice of Albertine Saxony, and his condemnation was changed into imprisonment for life. When Elector Maurice attacked the Emperor, Duke John Frederick was released from prison, and given back the Landgraviate of Thuringia. He established his capital in Weimar, and started a university at Jena (to replace the one in Wittenberg lost to Maurice) before his death in 1554.

The two sons of John Frederick I shared the territory, with John Frederick II establishing residence in Gotha (Saxe-Gotha) and John William staying in Weimar (Saxe-Weimar). When John Frederick II died in 1566, John William tried to claim succession to Saxe-Gotha, but the sons of John Frederick II entered their own claim. The contenders reached agreement in 1572 in the Division of Erfurt by which John Casimir, the older son of John Frederick II received the territory of Saxe-Coburg, John Ernest II, the younger son of John Frederick II, received the territory of Saxe-Eisenach, and John Willam added the districts of Altenburg, Gotha and Meiningen to Saxe-Weimar. When John William died a year later, his older son, Frederick William I received Altenburg, Gotha and Meiningen with the title of Duke of Saxe-Altenburg while Saxe-Weimar went to the younger son, John II.

The Ernestine territories in Thuringia were divided up and recombined many times as Dukes left more than one son to inherit, and as various lines of the Ducal Ernestines died out. Eventually, primogeniture became the rule for inheritance in the Ernestine Duchies, but not before the number of Ernestine duchies had risen to ten at one point. By 1826 the remaining Ernestine duchies were the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, and the duchies of Saxe-Meiningen, Saxe-Altenburg and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. All of the Ernestine Duchies ended with the abolition of the monarchy and princely states in Germany shortly after the end of World War I.

Five of the Ernestine duchies were members of the Upper Saxon Circle of the Holy Roman Empire:

Saxe-Weimar
Saxe-Eisenach
Saxe-Coburg
Saxe-Gotha
Saxe-Altenburg

Membership in the Circle gave the ruler of a state a vote in the Reichstag. In the 1792 Session of the Reichstag, the Duke of Saxe-Weimar was also the Duke of Saxe-Eisenach, and had two votes; the Duke of Saxe-Altenburg was also the Duke of Saxe-Gotha, and had two votes; and the Duke of Saxe-Coburg had one vote.

The other Ernestine duchies were never members of the Imperial Circle, and were subordinate to the five duchies that did belong to the Imperial Circle.