Duke of Saxe-Weimar
| Duchy of Saxe-Weimar | ||||||||||
| Herzogtum Sachsen-Weimar | ||||||||||
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State of the Holy Roman Empire, then State of the Confederation of the Rhine |
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| Capital | Weimar | |||||||||
| Government | Feudal monarchy | |||||||||
| Historical era | Early modern period | |||||||||
| • | Division of Erfurt | 1572 | ||||||||
| • | Split off Saxe-Altenburg |
1602 |
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| • | Split off Eisenach and Gotha |
1640 |
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| • | Split off Saxe-Jena, and Saxe-Eisenach |
1672 |
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United with Saxe-Eisenach |
1741 | ||||||||
| • | Merged to form Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach |
1809 | ||||||||
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| Today part of |
 Germany
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Saxe-Weimar (German: Sachsen-Weimar) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the 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.
In the late 15th century much of what is now Thuringia, including the area around Weimar, was held by the Wettin Electors of Saxony. According to the 1485 Treaty of Leipzig, the Wettin lands had been divided between Elector Ernest of Saxony and his younger brother Albert III, with the western lands in Thuringia together with the electoral dignity going to the Ernestine branch of the family.
Ernest's grandson Elector 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 Habsburg emperor Charles V, was defeated, captured and 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 succeeded him as "Duke of Saxony", residing at 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.
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