Duke of Saxe-Eisenach
| Duchy of Saxe-Eisenach | ||||||||||
| Herzogtum Sachsen-Eisenach | ||||||||||
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State of the Holy Roman Empire (until 1806), State of the Confederation of the Rhine |
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Saxe-Eisenach from 1672, shown amongst the other 18th-century Ernestine duchies in Thuringia
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| Capital | Eisenach | |||||||||
| Government | Principality | |||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | |||||||||
| • | Division of Erfurt | 1572 | ||||||||
| • | Partitioned from S.-Coburg-Eisenach |
1596 | ||||||||
| • | Split between Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Altenburg |
1638 |
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| • | Partitioned from Saxe-Weimar |
1640 | ||||||||
| • | Split between Saxe-Gotha and Saxe-Weimar |
1644 | ||||||||
| • | Partitioned from Saxe-Weimar |
1662 | ||||||||
| • | Merged to form S.-Weimar-Eisenach |
1809 | ||||||||
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Saxe-Eisenach (German: Sachsen-Eisenach) was an Ernestine duchy ruled by the Saxon House of Wettin. The State intermittently existed at three different times in the Thuringian region of the Holy Roman Empire. The chief town and capital of all three duchies was Eisenach.
In the 15th century, much of what is now the German state of Thuringia, including the area around Eisenach, was in the hands of the Wettin dynasty, since 1423 Prince-electors of Saxony. In 1485, the Wettin lands were divided according to the Treaty of Leipzig, with most of the Thuringian lands going to Elector Ernest of Saxony and his descendants. The Ernestine Wettins also retained the title of Elector. However, when Ernest's grandson John Frederick the Magnanimous revolted against Emperor Charles V during the Schmalkaldic War, he was defeated at the 1547 Battle of Mühlberg and deprived of the electorate in favour of his Wettin cousin Maurice. According to the Capitulation of Wittenberg he was only allowed to retain the lands in Thuringia.
After John Frederick's son Duke John Frederick II in 1566 had been banned by Emperor Maximilian II due to his involvement in the Grumbach feuds, the Ernestine duchy was at first ruled by his younger brother John William. According to the 1572 Division of Erfurt, he partitioned the lands among himself and his minor nephews, the sons of John Frederick II: He himself retained the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar, while the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach passed to John Casimir and John Ernest, under the regency of their cousin Elector Augustus of Saxony.
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Wikipedia