Saxe-Merseburg

Duchy of Saxe-Merseburg
*Herzogtum Sachsen-Merseburg*
Duchy of Saxe-Merseburg Herzogtum Sachsen-Merseburg
1657–1738
	Flag Coat of arms
Status	State of the Holy Roman Empire ; Secundogeniture of Saxony
Capital	Merseburg
Government	Duchy
Duke
• 1657–1691	Christian I
• 1691–1694	Christian II
• 1694	Christian III Maurice
• 1604–1731	Maurice Wilhelm
• 1731–1738	Heinrich
Historical era	Early modern Europe
• Death of Elector John George I	1656
• Split off from Saxony	1657
• Fell back to Saxony	1738
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Electorate of Saxony
Electorate of Saxony

Last updated October 25, 2023

The Duchy of Saxe-Merseburg was a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire, with Merseburg as its capital. It existed from 1656 or 1657 to 1738 and was owned by an Albertine secundogeniture of the Saxon House of Wettin.

History

The Wettin Elector John George I of Saxony stipulated in his will dated 20 July 1652 that his three younger sons should receive secundogeniture principalities. After the elector died on 8 October 1656, his sons concluded the "friend-brotherly main treaty" in the Saxon residence of Dresden on 22 April 1657 and a further treaty in 1663 delineating their territories and sovereign rights definitively. The treaties created three duchies: Saxe-Zeitz, Saxe-Weissenfels, and Saxe-Merseburg.

Prince Christian, the third eldest son, received, among other properties, the estates of the former Bishopric of Merseburg, secularised in 1565: the castles, cities and districts of Merseburg, Plagwitz, Rückmarsdorf, Delitzsch (with Delitzsch Castle), Bad Lauchstädt, Schkeuditz, Lützen, Bitterfeld, Zörbig, the County of Brehna as well as the Margraviate of Lower Lusatia, including the cities and castles of Lübben, Doberlug, Finsterwalde, Döbern, Forst and Guben. Many of these territories had belonged to the Diocese of Merseburg until it was secularized in 1562.

The area of Saxe-Merseburg stretched to the western city limits of Leipzig. The customs station was in what is now the inner city district of Lindenau.

After the death of the last male heir of the Saxon branch line in 1738, the Duchy of Saxe-Merseburg fell back to the Electorate of Saxony.

Rulers

Merseburg in 1650. Merseburg-1650-Merian.jpg — Merseburg in 1650.

1656-1691 Christian I (born: 27 October 1615 in Dresden; died: 18 October 1691 in Merseburg)
1691-1694 Christian II (born: 19 November 1653 in Merseburg; died: 20 October 1694 in Merseburg)
1694 Christian III Maurice (born: 7 November 1680 in Merseburg; died: 14 November 1694 in Merseburg), under the regency of Elector Frederick August I of Saxony and the guardianship of his mother Erdmuthe Dorothea of Saxe-Zeitz
1694-1731 Maurice Wilhelm (born: 5 February 1688 in Merseburg; died: 21 April 1731 in Merseburg), until 1712 under the regency of Elector Frederick August I of Saxony and the guardianship of his mother Erdmuthe Dorothea of Saxe-Zeitz
1731-1738 Heinrich (born: 2 September 1661 in Merseburg; died: 28 July 1738 in Doberlug), previously already Duke of Saxe-Merseburg-Spremberg

Cadet lines

To supply his three younger sons with incomes befitting a duke, Duke Christian I created apanages for his younger sons during his lifetime. These territories remained dependent on the main line and their sovereignty was severely restricted. They were named after their owner's residences and disappeared with the death of their first duke, because none of them fathered surviving male heirs. Before it died out, the Saxe-Merseburg-Spremberg line inherited all of Saxe-Merseburg.

Until 1715 August (born: 15 February 1655 in Merseburg; died: 27 March 1715 in Zörbig), Duke of Saxe-Merseburg-Zörbig
Until 1690 Philipp (born: 26 October 1657 in Merseburg; died: 1 July 1690 in Fleurus), Duke of Saxe-Merseburg-Lauchstädt
Until 1731 Heinrich (born: 2 September 1661 in Merseburg; died: 28 July 1738 in Doberlug), Duke of Saxe-Merseburg-Spremberg until 1731, inherited Saxe-Merseburg in 1731

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johann Adolf II, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels</span> Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels

Johann Adolf II, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels, was the last duke of Saxe-Weissenfels-Querfurt and a member of the House of Wettin. He was also a commander in the Saxon army.

Christian I of Saxe-Merseburg, was the first duke of Saxe-Merseburg and a member of the House of Wettin.

Christian II of Saxe-Merseburg, was a duke of Saxe-Merseburg and member of the House of Wettin.

Christian III Maurice, Duke of Saxe-Merseburg, was a duke of Saxe-Merseburg and member of the House of Wettin.

Maurice Wilhelm, Duke of Saxe-Merseburg was a duke of Saxe-Merseburg and member of the House of Wettin.

August, Duke of Saxe-Merseburg-Zörbig, was a German prince and member of the House of Wettin.

Heinrich, Duke of Saxe-Merseburg, was a duke of Saxe-Merseburg and member of the House of Wettin.

Maurice of Saxe-Zeitz was a duke of Saxe-Zeitz and member of the House of Wettin.

Moritz Wilhelm, a member of the Saxon House of Wettin, was the second and last Duke of Saxe-Zeitz from 1681 until his death.

Saxe-Weissenfels was a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire from 1656/7 until 1746 with its residence at Weißenfels. Ruled by a cadet branch of the Albertine House of Wettin, the duchy passed to the Electorate of Saxony upon the extinction of the line.

The Duchy of Saxe-Zeitz was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1656–57 as a secundogeniture of the Electoral Saxon house of House of Wettin. Its capital was Zeitz. The territory fell back to the Wettin electoral line in 1718.

Erdmuthe Dorothea of Saxe-Zeitz was the wife of Duke Christian II of Saxe-Merseburg, whom she married on 14 October 1679 at Moritzburg Palace in Zeitz.

Duke Christian Ulrich I of Württemberg-Oels was a German nobleman. He was the ruling Duke of Württemberg-Bernstadt from 1669 to 1697 and then the ruling Duke of Oels-Württemberg from 1697 until his death.

Dorothea Maria of Saxe-Weimar, was by birth Duchess of Saxe-Weimar from the Ernestine branch of the House of Wettin and by marriage Duchess of Saxe-Zeitz.

Johanna Magdalena of Saxe-Altenburg was a member of the House of Wettin. She was a Duchess of Saxe-Altenburg by birth and by marriage a Duchess of Saxe-Weissenfels-Querfurt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christiana of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg</span>

Princess Christiana of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, often referred to as Christiane was the consort of Christian I, Duke of Saxe-Merseburg, who was the ruling Duke of Saxe-Merseburg from 1650 until his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louise Elisabeth of Württemberg-Oels</span> Duchess consort of Saxe-Merseburg-Lauchstädt

Louise Elisabeth of Württemberg-Oels, was a Duchess of Württemberg-Oels by birth and by marriage Duchess of Saxe-Merseburg-Lauchstädt. In 1709, she revived the Ducal Württemberg-Oels Order of the Skull as a chivalric order for ladies.

Sophie Angelika of Württemberg-Oels, was a Duchess of Württemberg-Oels by birth and by marriage She became the Duchess of Saxe-Zeitz-Pegau-Neustadt.

Elisabeth of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, was a German noblewoman member of the House of Mecklenburg and by marriage Duchess of Saxe-Merseburg-Spremberg and Saxe-Merseburg.

References

Martina Schattkowsky/Manfred Wilde (Hg.): Sachsen und seine Sekundogenituren. Die Nebenlinien Weißenfels, Merseburg und Zeitz (1657–1746). Schriften zur Sächsischen Geschichte und Volkskunde, Band 33. Leipziger Universitätsverlag, Leipzig 2010, ISBN 978-3-86583-432-4.
Manfred Wilde: Das Barockschloss Delitzsch als Witwensitz der Herzöge von Sachsen-Merseburg. In: Barocke Fürstenresidenzen an Saale, Unstrut und Elster, edited by the Museumsverbund Die fünf Ungleichen, Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2007, pp. 264–276, ISBN 978-3-86568-218-5.

External links

Johann Huebner ... Three hundred and thirty-three Genealogical Tables, Table 170

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