List of rulers of Saxony
| Monarchy of Saxony | |
|---|---|
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Provincial/State
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Frederick Augustus III
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| Details | |
| Style | His Majesty |
| First monarch | Hadugato |
| Last monarch | Frederick Augustus III |
| Formation | 531 |
| Abolition | 13 November 1918 |
| Appointer | Hereditary |
| Pretender(s) |
Disputed: Prince Rüdiger or Prince Alexander |
This article lists Dukes, Electors, and Kings ruling over different territories named Saxony from the beginning of the Saxon Duchy in the 9th century to the end of the Saxon Kingdom in 1918.
In the 10th century the Emperor Otto I created the County Palatine of Saxony in the Saale-Unstrut area of southern Saxony. The honour was initially held by a Count of Hessengau, then from the early 11th century by the Counts of Goseck, later by the Counts of Sommerschenburg, and still later by the Landgraves of Thuringia.
The original Duchy of Saxony comprised lands of the Saxon people in the north-western part of present-day Germany, namely, the contemporary German state of Lower Saxony as well as Westphalia and Western Saxony-Anhalt, not corresponding to the modern German state of Saxony.
With the final removal of the Welfs in 1180, the Duchy of Saxony was sharply reduced in territory. Westphalia fell to the Archbishop of Cologne, while the Duchies of Brunswick and Lüneburg remained with the Welfs. The Ascanian Dukes had their base further east, near the Elbe, resulting in the name Saxony moving towards the east. The post carve-up Saxony is therefore sometimes called the younger Duchy of Saxony. Also the counting of its dukes is discontinued. While the first post carve-up duke is competingly counted as Bernard III—because of two predecessors of the same name before 1180—or as Bernard I with his great-great-great-great grandson Bernard II being counted second. The second post carve-up duke Albert I is already usually counted as the first, although before 1180 he had one predecessor of the same name, being even his grandfather Albert the Bear.
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