Ernest
Elector of Saxony Landgrave of Thuringia
Electorate of Saxony
Reign	7 September 1464 – 26 August 1486
Predecessor	Frederick II
Successor	Frederick III
Landgrave of Thuringia
Reign	17 September 1482 – 26 August 1486
Predecessor	William II
Successor	Frederick VI
Spouse	Elisabeth of Bavaria-Munich
Issue
Christina, Queen of Denmark Prince Frederick Prince Ernst Prince Albrecht Prince Johann Margarete, Duchess of Brünswick-Lüneburg Prince Wolfgang
House	House of Wettin
Father	Frederick II, Elector of Saxony
Mother	Margarete of Austria-Styria
Born	24 March 1441(1441-03-24) Meissen
Died	26 August 1486 (aged 45) Colditz

Ernst, Elector of Saxony (Meissen, 24 March 1441 – 26 August 1486 in Colditz) was Elector of Saxony from 1464 to 1486.

Biography

Ernst was founder of the Ernestine line of Saxon princes, ancestor of George I of Great Britain, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, as well as his wife and cousin Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, and their cousins Leopold II of Belgium and Empress Carlota of Mexico.

He was the second son (but fourth in order of birth) of the eight children of Frederick II, Elector of Saxony and Margarete of Austria, sister of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor.

The death of his older brother Frederick (1451) made him the new heir apparent to the position of Elector of Saxony.

In 1455 Ernst was kidnapped, along with his brother Albert, by the knight Kunz von Kaufungen an episode famous in German history as the "Prinzenraub" (i. e. The Stealing of the Princes).

In 1464, he succeeded his father as Elector of Saxony, and annexed Thuringia in 1482, and three years later (Treaty of Leipzig, 1485) shared his territory with his brother Albert, until he arranged the division of the common possession.

In the Division of Leipzig he received an area around Wittenberg, the southern Thuringian part, the Vogtland and parts of the Pleissnerland. As a residence he selected Wittenberg. He provided for the welfare of the country and introduced the constitution.

One year after the division elector Ernest died in Colditz, at the age of 46 years, the consequence of a fall from a horse.

Ancestry

Children

In Leipzig on 19 November 1460 Ernst married Elisabeth of Bavaria-Munich. They had seven children:

1. Christine (b. Torgau, 25 December 1461 - d. Odense, 8 December 1521), married on 6 September 1478 to King Johann I of Denmark.
2. Frederick III, Elector of Saxony (b. Torgau, 17 January 1463 - d. Lockau, 5 May 1525).
3. Ernst (b. Meissen, 26 June 1464 - d. Halle, 3 August 1513), Archbishop of Magdeburg (1476-1480), Bishop of Halberstadt (1480-1513).
4. Albrecht (b. Meissen, 8 May 1467 - d. Aschaffenburg, 1 May 1484), Administrator of Mainz.
5. Johann, Elector of Saxony (b. Meissen, 30 June 1468 - d. Schweinitz, 16 August 1532).
6. Margarete (b. Meissen, 4 August 1469 - d. Weimar, 7 December 1528), married on 27 February 1487 to Duke Heinrich of Brünswick-Lüneburg.
7. Wolfgang (b. Meissen, ca. 1473 - d. Torgau, ca. 1478).

See also

• Rulers of Saxony
• Wettin (dynasty)

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.