View source for Saxe-Weimar

{{short description|Former duchy in Thuringia, Germany}}
{{coord missing|Thuringia}}
{{Infobox country
|native_name            = {{native name|de|Herzogtum Sachsen-Weimar}}
|conventional_long_name = Duchy of Saxe-Weimar
|common_name            = Saxe-Weimar
|era                    = [[Early modern period]]
|status                 = Vassal
|status_text            = [[List of states in the Holy Roman Empire|State]] of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], then <br />State of the [[Confederation of the Rhine]]
|empire                 = Holy Roman Empire
|government_type        = [[Feudal monarchy]]
|year_start             = 1572
|year_end               = 1809
|event_start            = Division of Erfurt
|date_start             = 
|event1                 = Split off<br />{{spaces|4}}[[Saxe-Altenburg]]
|date_event1            = &nbsp;<br />1602
|event2                 = Split off<br />{{spaces|4}} [[Saxe-Eisenach|Eisenach]] and [[Saxe-Gotha|Gotha]]
|date_event2            = &nbsp;<br />1640
|event3                 = Split off [[Saxe-Jena]],<br />{{spaces|4}}and  [[Saxe-Eisenach]] 
|date_event3            = &nbsp;<br />1672
|event4                 = [[Personal union|United]] with<br />{{spaces|4}}[[Saxe-Eisenach]]
|date_event4            = 1741
|event_end              = Merged to form<br />{{spaces|4}}[[Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach]]
|date_end               = &nbsp;
|p1                     = Duchy of Saxony (1547–1572){{!}}Duchy of Saxony {{nowrap|(1547–1572)}}
|flag_p1                = Banner of Saxony (1^1).svg
|s1                     = Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
|flag_s1                = Flagge Großherzogtum Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach (1813-1897).svg
|image_flag             = Großherzogin Sachsen-Weimar.svg
|flag_size              = 110px
|image_coat             = Blason Duché de Saxe-Weimar.svg
|image_map              = SajoniaWeimar Map.svg
|image_map_caption      = <span style="background: #81007f;">{{spaces|4}}</span>&nbsp;Saxe-Weimar, shown within the other [[Ernestine duchies]] and <span style="background: #ff00fc;">{{spaces|4}}</span>&nbsp;[[Saxe-Jena]], joined to Saxe-Weimar in 1690
|capital                = [[Weimar]]
|common_languages={{ubl|[[German language|German]]|[[Upper Saxon German]]|[[Thuringian dialect]]|[[Yiddish]]}}
|today                  = [[Germany]]
| stat_year1             = 1800<ref>Wilson, Peter (1998). ''German Armies: War and German Society, 1648–1806.'' London: UCL Press. Page 158.</ref>
| stat_area1             = 1612
| stat_pop1              = 79,000
}}
'''Saxe-Weimar''' ({{langx|de|Sachsen-Weimar}}) was one of the [[History of Saxony|Saxon]] duchies held by the [[Ernestine duchies|Ernestine]] branch of the [[House of Wettin|Wettin]] dynasty in present-day [[Thuringia]]. The chief town and capital was [[Weimar]]. The Weimar branch was the most genealogically senior extant branch of the [[House of Wettin]].

== History ==

===Division of Leipzig===
In the late 15th century much of what is now Thuringia, including the area around Weimar, was held by the Wettin [[Electorate of Saxony|Electors of Saxony]]. According to the 1485 [[Treaty of Leipzig]], the Wettin lands had been divided between Elector [[Ernest, Elector of Saxony|Ernest of Saxony]] and his younger brother [[Albert III, Duke of Saxony|Albert III]], with the western lands in Thuringia together with the [[Prince-elector|electoral dignity]] going to the Ernestine branch of the family.<ref name=EB1911>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach |volume=24}}</ref> 
[[File:Schloss Weimar - Panorama.jpg|thumb|left|240px|[[Schloss Weimar]], the ducal residence]]
Ernest's grandson Elector [[John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony|John Frederick I of Saxony]] forfeited the electoral dignity in the 1547 [[Capitulation of Wittenberg]], after he had joined the revolt of the Lutheran [[Schmalkaldic League]] against the [[House of Habsburg|Habsburg]] emperor [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]], was defeated, captured and [[Imperial ban|banned]]. Nevertheless, according to the 1552 [[Peace of Passau]] he was pardoned and allowed to retain his lands in Thuringia. Upon his death in 1554, his son [[John Frederick II, Duke of Saxony|John Frederick II]] succeeded him as "Duke of Saxony", residing at [[Gotha (town)|Gotha]]. His attempts to regain the electoral dignity failed: in the course of the 1566 revolt instigated by the robber baron [[Wilhelm von Grumbach]], the duke was banned and imprisoned for life by Emperor [[Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian&nbsp;II]].

===Division of Erfurt===
John Frederick II was succeeded by his younger brother [[John William, Duke of Saxe-Weimar|John William]] at [[Weimar]], who in a short time also fell out of favour with the emperor by his alliance with King [[Charles IX of France]]. In 1572 Maximilian II enforced the Division of [[Erfurt]], whereby the Ernestine lands were divided among Duke John William and the two surviving sons of imprisoned John Frederick II. John William retained the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar, while his minor nephews received the southern and western territories around [[Coburg]] and [[Eisenach]].

This division was the first of numerous partitions; over the next three centuries the lands were divided when dukes had more than one son to provide for and re-combined when dukes died without direct heirs, but all of the lands stayed in the Ernestine branch of the Wettin family.  As a result, the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar shrank and grew more than once. The Thuringian states throughout this period typically consisted of several non-contiguous parcels of territory of various sizes. Facing their lack of political power, the rulers of these petty states built up splendid monarchical households at their residences and pursued greater cultural achievements.

Duke John William, chafing under the loss, died in 1573, succeeded by his son [[Frederick William I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar|Frederick William I]]. Upon his death in 1602 Saxe-Weimar was again divided among his younger brother [[John II, Duke of Saxe-Weimar|John II]] and Frederick William's minor son [[John Philip, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg|John Philipp]], who received the territory of [[Saxe-Altenburg]]. John's son Duke [[Johann Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar|Johann Ernst I of Saxe-Weimar]] on occasion of the burial of his mother [[Dorothea Maria of Anhalt]] in 1617 established the literary [[Fruitbearing Society]].

===Thirty Years' War===
At the outbreak of the [[Thirty Years' War]], Duke Johann Ernst I supported the Protestant [[Kingdom of Bohemia|Bohemian]] estates under the "Winter King" [[Frederick V, Elector Palatine|Frederick V of the Palatinate]], who were defeated at the 1620 [[Battle of White Mountain]]. Stripped of his title by Emperor [[Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand II]], he remained a fierce opponent of the Catholic Habsburg dynasty and died on [[Ernst von Mansfeld]]'s Hungarian campaign in 1626.

His younger brother [[Wilhelm, Duke of Saxe-Weimar|Wilhelm]], regent since 1620, assumed the dignities upon his death. At first also an advocate of Protestant concerns, after the death of King [[Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden]] he chose to accord with the 1635 [[Peace of Prague (1635)|Peace of Prague]] that his Albertine cousins had negotiated with the emperor – against the opposition of his younger brother General [[Bernard of Saxe-Weimar]], who entered into the [[Early modern France|French]] service under [[Cardinal Richelieu]]. Nevertheless, like many German estates, the Weimar lands were devastated by combat actions as well as by [[Bubonic plague|plague]] epidemics.

When in 1638 the Ernestine [[Saxe-Eisenach]] and [[Saxe-Coburg]] branch became extinct upon the death of Duke [[John Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Eisenach|John Ernest]], Wilhelm of Saxe-Weimar inherited large parts of his estates. In 1640 however he had to involve his younger brothers [[Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha|Ernest I]] and [[Albert IV, Duke of Saxe-Eisenach|Albert IV]], thereby (re-)establishing the Duchies of [[Saxe-Gotha]] and the short-lived [[Saxe-Eisenach]], which was again dissolved upon Duke Albert's death in 1644.

Another rearrangement of the Ernestine lands took place in 1672 after Duke [[Frederick William III, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg|Frederick William III of Saxe-Altenburg]], descendant of Duke John Phillip, had died without heirs and his cousin Duke [[Johann Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Weimar|Johann Ernst II of Saxe-Weimar]] inherited parts of his duchy, which originally had been split off the Saxe-Weimar territory in 1602. Johann Ernst II immediately divided the enlarged Saxe-Weimar lands between himself and his younger brothers [[John George I, Duke of Saxe-Eisenach|John George I]] and [[Bernhard II, Duke of Saxe-Jena|Bernhard II]], who received the Duchies of [[Saxe-Eisenach]] and [[Saxe-Jena]], which reverted to Saxe-Weimar upon the death of Bernhard's son Duke [[Johann Wilhelm, Duke of Saxe-Jena|Johann Wilhelm]] in 1690.

===Weimar Classicism===
[[File:Oer-Weimarer Musenhof.jpg|thumb|240px|[[Theobald von Oer]]: ''The Weimar Court of the Muses'' (1860); Schiller reads at [[Schloss Tiefurt]], Wieland, Herder and Goethe among the listeners]]
Upon the death of John George's descendant [[Wilhelm Heinrich, Duke of Saxe-Eisenach|Wilhelm Heinrich]] in 1741, Duke [[Ernest Augustus I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach|Ernest Augustus I of Saxe-Weimar]] also inherited the Duchy of Saxe-Eisenach. He then ruled both duchies in [[personal union]] and decisively forwarded the development of his estates by the implementation of the [[primogeniture]] principle.

His son Ernest Augustus II, who succeeded him in 1748, died in 1758, whereafter Empress [[Maria Theresa of Austria|Maria Theresa]] appointed his young widow, Duchess [[Duchess Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel|Anna Amalia]], regent of the country and guardian of her infant son, [[Karl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach|Charles Augustus]].<ref name=EB1911/> The regency of the energetic Anna Amalia and the reign of Charles Augustus, who was raised by the writer [[Christoph Martin Wieland]], formed a high point in the history of Saxe-Weimar.<ref name=EB1911/> Both dedicated patrons of literature and art, Anna Amalia and Charles Augustus attracted to their court the leading [[Germans|German]] scholars, including [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]], [[Friedrich Schiller]] and [[Johann Gottfried Herder]], and made their residence in Weimar an important cultural center in an era referred to as [[Weimar Classicism]].

In 1804, Duke Charles Augustus entered into European politics by marrying his son and heir [[Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach|Charles Frederick]] to Grand Duchess [[Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia (1786–1859)|Maria Pavlovna]], sister of Emperor [[Alexander I of Russia]]. However, at the same time he joined [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]] in the [[War of the Fourth Coalition]] against the [[First French Empire|French Empire]], and after the defeat at the [[Battle of Jena-Auerstedt]], was forced to accede to the Napoleonic [[Confederation of the Rhine]] in 1806. In 1809, Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach, which had been united only in the person of the duke, were formally merged into the Duchy of [[Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach]].

==Dukes of Saxe-Weimar==
[[File:20040504600DR Buttstädt Rathaus Wappen am Erker.jpg|thumb|Arms of Saxe-Weimar displayed in [[Buttstädt]]]]
{{See also|House of Wettin}}
* [[John William, Duke of Saxe-Weimar|Johann Wilhelm]] (1554–73)
* [[Frederick William I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar|Frederick William I]] (1573–1602), son of Johann Wilhelm
** [[John II, Duke of Saxe-Weimar|Johann II]] (1602–05), brother
''8 of his sons would co-govern the duchy''
** [[Johann Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar|Johann Ernest I]] (1605–20)
** [[Duke Frederick of Saxe-Weimar|Frederick]] (1605-1622)
** [[Wilhelm, Duke of Saxe-Weimar|Wilhelm]] (1605–62)
** [[Albert IV, Duke of Saxe-Eisenach|Albert]] (1606-40)
** [[John Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Weimar|Johann Frederick]](1606-1628)
** [[Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha|Ernest]] (1606-1640)
** Frederick Wilhelm (1606-1619)
** [[Bernard of Saxe-Weimar|Bernard]] (1606-1639)

* [[Johann Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Weimar|Johann Ernest II]] (1662–83), son of Wilhelm
* [[William Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Weimar|Wilhelm Ernest]] (1683–1728), son of Johann Ernest II
* [[Johann Ernst III, Duke of Saxe-Weimar|Johann Ernest III]] (1683–1707), son of Johann Ernest II
* [[Ernest Augustus I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach|Ernest August I]] (1707–48), son of Johann Ernest III
* [[Ernest Augustus II, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach|Ernest August II]] (1748–58), son of Ernest August I
* [[Charles Augustus, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach|Karl August]] (1758–1809), son of Ernest August II

Merged with Saxe-Eisenach to form [[Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach]]

== See also ==
* [[Ernestine duchies]]
* [[History of Saxony]]
* [[:Category:People from Saxe-Weimar|People from Saxe-Weimar]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051205094521/http://www.bartleby.com/65/sa/SaxeWeim.html Saxe-Weimar], ''The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia'', Sixth Edition, Columbia University Press (2001–2005), accessed December 22, 2005

==External links==
* [http://www.friesian.com/germany.htm German genealogies]
* [http://genroy.free.fr/swe.html Genealogy of Dukes of Saxe-Weimar] {{in lang|fr}}

{{Ernestine duchies}}
{{Upper Saxon Circle}}
{{States of the Confederation of the Rhine}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Saxe-Weimar| ]]
[[Category:Dukes of Saxe-Weimar| ]]
[[Category:1572 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire]]
[[Category:1809 disestablishments in Europe]]
[[Category:Ernestine duchies|Weimar]]
[[Category:History of Weimar]]
[[Category:House of Wettin]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1572]]
[[Category:States of the Confederation of the Rhine]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1809]]