| Frederick III | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Portrait byLucas Cranach the Elder | |
| Elector of Saxony | |
| Reign | 26 August 1486 – 5 May 1525 |
| Predecessor | Ernest |
| Successor | John |
| Born | 17 January 1463 Torgau,Electorate of Saxony,Holy Roman Empire |
| Died | 5 May 1525(1525-05-05) (aged 62) Castle Lochau nearAnnaburg, Electorate of Saxony, Holy Roman Empire |
| Burial | |
| House | Wettin(Ernestine line) |
| Father | Ernest, Elector of Saxony |
| Mother | Elisabeth of Bavaria |
| Religion |
|
| Signature | .PNG) |
Frederick III (17 January 1463 – 5 May 1525), also known asFrederick the Wise (German:Friedrich der Weise), wasPrince-elector ofSaxony from 1486 to 1525, who is mostly remembered for the protection given to his subjectMartin Luther, the seminal figure of theProtestant Reformation. Frederick was the son ofErnest, Elector of Saxony and his wifeElisabeth, daughter ofAlbert III, Duke of Bavaria.
He was one of the most powerful early defenders of Martin Luther, as the elector successfully protected him from theHoly Roman Emperor, thePope and others.[1] He was ostensibly led, not by religious conviction about the possible truth of Luther's propositions, but rather by personal belief in a fair trial for any of his subjects (a privilege guaranteed by theimperial statutory law) and therule of law.
The prince-elector is considered to have remained aRoman Catholic all his life, yet gradually inclining toward doctrines of theReformation and supposedlyconverting on his deathbed.[2]
Hiscourt painter from 1504 on was the Renaissance masterLucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553).
Born inTorgau, he succeeded his father aselector in 1486; in 1502, he founded theUniversity of Wittenberg with his childhood friendJohann von Staupitz,[3] where theologiansMartin Luther andPhilip Melanchthon would teach a while later.
Frederick was among the German princes who pressed the need of reform uponMaximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, and in 1500, he became president of the newly formed council of regency (Reichsregiment).
Frederick wasPope Leo X's candidate forHoly Roman Emperor at the1519 imperial election; thus the Pope had awarded him theGolden Rose of virtue on 3 September 1518 in an effort to persuade him to accept the throne. However, Frederick helped secure the election ofCharles V by agreeing to support Charles and to convince his fellow electors to do the same if Charles repaid an outstanding debt to the Saxons dating back to 1497.[4]
Frederick collected manyrelics in hisCastle Church; his inventory of 1518 listed 17,443 items, including a thumb fromSt. Anne, a twig fromMoses' burning bush, hay of the holymanger, andmilk from the Virgin Mary. Money was paid in order to venerate these relics and thus escape years inpurgatory, according to the current belief inindulgence at that context.[5] Thus, according to some calculations, a diligent and pious person who rendered appropriate devotion to each of these relics at that time would be able to merit 1,902,202 years worth of penance (an earthly equivalent of time otherwise spent in purgatory, removed by indulgences).[6] Two years later, the collection exceeded 19,000 pieces.[7]
A manuscript from 1591 purports to record a dream of Frederick on about October 30, 1517 which foreshadowed Luther and the work of theReformation.[8] It was later widely circulated, e.g. by Adventist prophet Ellen White, as a prophetic sign of divine support for Luther and the Reformation, and to explain why Frederick III, a Catholic, protected Luther.[9]
Martin Luther, anAugustinianfriar whose spiritual director was Johann von Staupitz, was ordained to thepriesthood in 1507, and on the following year, in 1508, he began teachingtheology at theUniversity of Wittenberg, which was located in theElectorate of Saxony, i.e., inside the territory ruled by Prince-elector Frederick III.[10] Therefore, Luther was a subject of the elector, by living at his domains.
Luther received two bachelor's degrees, one in biblical studies on 9 March 1508, and another in theSentences byPeter Lombard in 1509.[11] On 19 October 1512, he was awarded hisDoctor of Theology. On 21 October 1512, Luther was received into the senate of the theological faculty of theUniversity of Wittenberg,[12] succeeding von Staupitz as chair of theology.[13] He spent the rest of his career in this position at the University of Wittenberg. In 1515, he was made provincialvicar ofSaxony andThuringia, which required him to visit and oversee eleven monasteries in his province.[14]
From 1510 to 1520, Luther lectured on the Psalms, and on the books of Hebrews, Romans, and Galatians. As he studied these portions of the Bible, he came to view the use of terms such aspenance andrighteousness by the Catholic Church in new ways. He became convinced that the church was corrupt in its ways and had lost sight of what he saw as several of the central truths of Christianity. The most important for Luther was the doctrine ofjustification—God's act of declaring a sinner righteous—by faith alone through God's grace. He began to teach that salvation or redemption is a gift of God'sgrace, attainable only through faith in Jesus as theMessiah.[15] "This one and firm rock, which we call the doctrine of justification", he writes, "is the chief article of the whole Christian doctrine, which comprehends the understanding of all godliness."[16]
After a while, Luther came to reject several teachings and practices of theRoman Catholic Church; in particular, he disputed the view onindulgences. Luther attempted to resolve these differences amicably, first proposing an academic discussion of its practice and efficacy.
In 1516,Johann Tetzel, aDominican friar, was sent to Germany by the Roman Catholic Church to sell indulgences to raise money in order to rebuildSt. Peter's Basilica in Rome.[17]
Then, on 31 October 1517, Luther wrote to his bishop, Albrecht von Brandenburg, protesting against the sale of indulgences. He enclosed in his letter a copy of his "Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences",[a] which came to be known as theNinety-five Theses.
In 1520,Pope Leo X demanded that Luther renounce all of his writings, and when Luther refused to do so,excommunicated him in January 1521.
Then, to give him the right to a fair trial, Elector Frederick ensured thatMartin Luther would be heard before theDiet of Worms in 1521; afterHoly Roman Emperor Charles V condemned Luther as an outlaw at the Diet, the elector also secured an exemption from theEdict of Worms for Saxony.
The Elector then protected Luther from the Pope's enforcement of the edict by faking a highway attack on Luther's way back to Wittenberg, abducting and then hiding him for several years atWartburg Castle after theDiet of Worms.[1]
Luther's disappearance during his return to Wittenberg was planned byFrederick III, who had him intercepted on his way home in the forest near Wittenberg by masked horsemen impersonating highway robbers. They escorted Luther to the security of theWartburg Castle atEisenach,[19] where he remained desguised as "Junker Jörg".
Frederick protected Luther to safeguard the reputation of Saxony's University and to protect Saxony from external interference; since Saxony was a electorate for the imperial throne, neither the Popes nor the Habsburg emperors were willing to affect the imperial election by pursuing the matter against Frederick.[20]
During his stay at Wartburg, which he referred to as "myPatmos",[21] Luther translated theNew Testament from Greek into German and poured out doctrinal and polemical writings.
In the summer of 1521, Luther widened his target from individual pieties like indulgences and pilgrimages to doctrines at the heart of Church practice.
InOn the Abrogation of the Private Mass, he condemned as idolatry the idea that themass is a sacrifice, asserting instead that it is a gift, to be received with thanksgiving by the whole congregation.[22] His essayOn Confession, Whether the Pope has the Power to Require It rejected compulsoryconfession and encouraged private confession andabsolution, since "every Christian is a confessor."[23] In November, Luther wroteThe Judgement of Martin Luther on Monastic Vows. He assured monks and nuns that they could break their vows without sin, because vows were an illegitimate and vain attempt to win salvation.[24]
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Despite actively protecting Luther from the hostile menaces against him, the elector had little personal contact with the reformer himself, but Frederick'streasurer Degenhart Pfaffinger spoke on his behalf to Luther,[25] as Pfaffinger had supported the elector since their pilgrimage to theHoly Land together.[26]
The pronouncements by Luther from Wartburg Castle were made the context of rapid developments at Wittenberg, of which he was kept fully informed while residing at the fortress.Andreas Karlstadt, supported by the ex-AugustinianGabriel Zwilling, embarked on a radical programme of reform there in June 1521, exceeding anything envisaged by Luther. The reforms provoked disturbances, including a revolt by the Augustinian friars against their prior, the smashing of statues and images in churches, and denunciations of the magistracy.[27]
After secretly visiting Wittenberg in early December 1521, Luther wroteA Sincere Admonition by Martin Luther to All Christians to Guard Against Insurrection and Rebellion.[27]
Wittenberg became even more volatile after Christmas when a band of visionary zealots, the so-calledZwickau prophets, arrived, preaching revolutionary doctrines such as the absolute equality of man,adult baptism, and Christ's imminent return.[28] When the town council asked Luther to return, he decided it was his duty to act.[29]
Luther secretly returned toWittenberg on 6 March 1522. He wrote to the elector: "During my absence, Satan has entered my sheepfold, and committed ravages which I cannot repair by writing, but only by my personal presence and living word."[30] For eight days inLent, beginning on Invocavit Sunday, 9 March, Luther preached eight sermons, which became known as the "Invocavit Sermons". In these sermons, he hammered home the primacy of coreChristian values such as love, patience, charity, and freedom, and reminded the citizens to trust God's word rather than violence to bring about necessary change.[31]
The effect of Luther's intervention was immediate at the city. After the sixth sermon, the Wittenberg jurist Jerome Schurf wrote to the elector: "Oh, what joy has Dr. Martin's return spread among us! His words, through divine mercy, are bringing back every day misguided people into the way of the truth."[32]
Luther next set about reversing or modifying the new church practices. By working alongside the authorities to restore public order, he signaled his reinvention as a conservative force within the Reformation.[33]
Despite his victory in Wittenberg, after banishing the Zwickau prophets, Luther would still have to fight elsewhere against both the established Catholic Church and also the radical reformers who threatened the new order by fomenting social unrest and violence.[34]
Frederick III was a lifelongRoman Catholic, but he might have converted toLutheranism on hisdeathbed in 1525 depending on how his receiving of aProtestant communion is viewed.
The elector leaned heavily towards Lutheranism throughout his later years, guaranteeing safety for his subject and Protestant reformerMartin Luther, so that he would not receive the same fate as ofJan Huss and otherpre-reformers, after he was tried forheresy andexcommunicated by the Pope.
Frederick the Wise was one of the first German prince-electors to import horses based on the MedianNisaean breed to Germany, referring to them as “Turks.” They were bred at his stud farms in Bleesern and Torgau, making Bleesern the oldest surviving tame stud farm in Central Europe.
Frederick maintained contact with the House of Gonzaga, who bred similar horses in Mantua (the building is now known as thePalazzo Té). These horses laid the foundation for the development of equestrian art in Germany, which replaced the knightly style of riding with a stiff leg (known asà la brida orGhisa).
Equestrian art flourished after Bleesern came under the control of the Albertine line and with the arrival of the Neapolitan riding master Carlo Theti in Dresden, during the reigns of Augustus of Saxony and Christian I.
Frederick died unmarried in 1525, aged 62 years old, at Lochau, a hunting castle nearAnnaburg (30 km southeast of Wittenberg), and was buried in theCastle Church atWittenberg, with a grave tomb sculpted byPeter Vischer the Younger.
As he was unmarried and had no offspring, he was succeeded asprince-elector of Saxony by his brotherJohnthe Steadfast, as former duke andheir presumptive of his older brother. John had been Lutheran even before succeeding Frederick as elector, and continued with his policies of supporting theReformation, having made theLutheran church the officialstate church inSaxony in 1527.
| Ancestors of Frederick III, Elector of Saxony |
|---|
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
This article incorporates text from a publication in thepublic domain: Jackson, Samuel Macauley, ed. (1914). "Frederick III, The Wise".New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (third ed.). London and New York: Funk and Wagnalls.Frederick III, Elector of Saxony Born: 17 January 1463 Died: 5 May 1525 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Elector of Saxony 1486–1525 | Succeeded by |
