John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony
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John Frederick I (30 June 1503 in
Early years
John Frederick was the eldest son of John, Elector of Saxony by his first wife, Sophie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. His mother died fourteen days after his birth, on 12 July 1503.
John Frederick received his education from George Spalatin, whom he highly esteemed during his whole life. Spalatin was Martin Luther's friend and advisor and thus, through Spalatin's schooling, John Frederick developed a devotion to the teachings of Luther. His knowledge of history was comprehensive, and his library, which extended over all sciences, was one of the largest in Germany.
He cultivated a personal relationship with Luther, beginning to correspond with him in the days when the bull of excommunication was first issued against the Reformer, and showing himself a convinced adherent of Luther. He carefully observed the development of the reformatory movement. He read Luther's writings, urged the printing of the first complete (Wittenberg) edition of his works, and in the latter years of his life promoted the compilation of the Jena edition. At the Elector's Schloss Hartenfels at Torgau, he constructed a chapel specifically designed to be a Lutheran place of worship and invited Martin Luther to deliver the inaugural sermon. The influence of Lutheranism at John Frederick's court is also visible in the translation by Veit Warbeck of the French romance the Magelone, made in preparation of John Frederick's marriage in 1527; Catholic elements are suppressed.[1]
His father introduced him into the political and diplomatic affairs of the time, and he conducted the first negotiations of a treaty with
During the second diet of Speyer (1529) he temporarily assumed the reins of government in place of his father. The intrigues of Archduke Ferdinand induced him after the diet to draw up an imperial statute for the Evangelical estates, which shows that he was more decidedly convinced of the right and duty of defense than his father. He accompanied the latter to the Diet of Augsburg in 1530, signed with him the Augsburg Confession and was active in the proceedings. His attitude did not remain unnoticed, and won him the dislike of Emperor Charles V.
Elector of Saxony
In 1532, John Frederick succeeded his father as elector. In the beginning he reigned with his half-brother, John Ernest, but in 1542 became sole ruler.
Chancellor Gregor Brück, who for years had guided the foreign relations of the country with ability and prudence, remained also his councilor, but his open and impulsive nature often led him to disregard the propositions of his more experienced adviser, so that the country was in frequent danger, especially as John Frederick was not a far-sighted politician.
He consolidated the Lutheran State Church by the institution of an electoral
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He followed the efforts at agreement at the
In spite of the warnings of the emperor, of Brück, and of Luther, he arbitrarily set aside in 1541 the election of
When the
Prisoner
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Emperor Charles V condemned John Frederick to death as a convicted rebel; but, not to lose time in the siege of Wittenberg, which was defended by John Frederick's wife,
To save his life, protect his wife and sons, and avert further hostilities, John Frederick conceded the Capitulation of Wittenberg, and, after having been compelled to resign the government of his country in favor of Maurice, his condemnation was changed into imprisonment for life.
Final days
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The sudden attack upon the emperor by Elector Maurice made an end of John Frederick's imprisonment, and he was released on 1 September 1552. He firmly refused to bind himself to comply in matters of religion with the decisions of a future council or diet, declaring that he was resolved to adhere until his grave to the doctrine contained in the Augsburg Confession.
His homeward journey was a triumphal march. He met his family after an absence of five years at Wolfersdorf Castle which he had built as a hunting lodge earlier, and he renamed it Schloss Froehliche Wiederkunft ("Palace of Happy Returning").
He removed the seat of government to Weimar and reformed the conditions of his country, but died within two years. A special object of his care was the University of Jena, which he planned in place of Wittenberg, which he had lost (1547). He died in Weimar.
Marriage and family
In Torgau on 9 February 1527 John Frederick married Sibylle of Cleves, daughter of John III, Duke of Cleves and sister to Anne of Cleves, who was briefly Queen of England as the fourth wife of King Henry VIII. They had four sons:
- John Frederick II, Duke of Saxony (b. Torgau, 8 January 1529 – d. as imperial prisoner at Schloss Steyer, Upper Austria, 19 May 1595)
- John William, Duke of Saxe-Weimar(b. Torgau, 11 March 1530 – d. Weimar, 2 March 1573)
- John Ernest (b. Weimar, 5 January 1535 – d. Weimar, 11 January 1535)
- Duke of Saxe-Gotha(1554–1565) (b. Torgau, 16 January 1538 – d. Jena, 31 October
1565)
See also
References
- JSTOR 20657780.
- ^ Hauck, Albert (1910). The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge: Embracing Biblical, Historical, Doctrinal, and Practical Theology and Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Biography from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. Funk and Wagnalls Company. p. 212.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (third ed.). London and New York: Funk and Wagnalls.{{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) [1]- A. Beck, Johann Friedrich der Mittlere, 2 vols., Weimar, 1858
- F. von Bezold, Geschichte der deutschen Reformation. Berlin, 1886
- Biography on WHKLMA site
Translations
- A Prince's Response to the Augsburg Interim, translated by Nathaniel J. Biebert (Red Brick Parsonage, 2015).
External links
