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| John | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byLucas Cranach the Elder, 1526 | |
| Elector of Saxony | |
| Reign | 5 May 1525 – 16 August 1532 |
| Predecessor | Frederick III |
| Successor | Johann Frederick I |
| Born | 30 June 1468 Meissen,Electorate of Saxony,Holy Roman Empire |
| Died | 16 August 1532(1532-08-16) (aged 64) Schweinitz, Electorate of Saxony, Holy Roman Empire |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | |
| Issue Detail | Johann Frederick I, Elector of Saxony Maria, Duchess of Pomerania John Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Coburg |
| House | House of Wettin |
| Father | Ernest, Elector of Saxony |
| Mother | Elisabeth of Bavaria |
| Religion | Roman Catholic (1468–1525) Lutheran (1525–1532) |
John (30 June 1468 – 16 August 1532),[1] known asJohn the Steadfast orJohn the Constant (Johann, der Beständige), wasElector ofSaxony from 1525 until 1532 from theHouse of Wettin.
He is notable for organising the Lutheran Church in the Electorate of Saxony from a state and administrative level. In that, he was aided byMartin Luther, whose "Saxon model" of a Lutheran church was also soon to be implemented beyond Saxony, in other territories of theHoly Roman Empire. Luther turned to the Elector for secular leadership and funds on behalf of a church largely shorn of its assets and income after the break with Rome.[2]
He played a part in theProtestation at Speyer.
Born inMeissen, John was the fifth of the seven children ofErnest, Elector of Saxony andElisabeth of Bavaria.From 1486 onward he was the heir presumptive of his childless brotherFrederick the Wise. John received a part of the paternal inheritance and afterwards assisted his kinsman,Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, in several campaigns. On his brother's death in 1525 John inherited the title of elector and as an early adherent of Luther was soon prominent among Protestant reformers.[1] As his nickname "The Steadfast" indicates, he resolutely continued the policies of his brother toward protecting the progress of theProtestant Reformation.
Having assisted in suppressing an uprising during theGerman Peasants' War in 1525, John helpedPhilip I, Landgrave of Hesse, found theLeague of Gotha, formed in 1526 for the protection of the Reformers. He was active at theDiet of Speyer in 1526, and signed a protest against the recess of the diet. That gave him an opportunity to reform the church in Saxony, where a plan for divine service was drawn up by Luther. Thus in 1527 theLutheran Church was established as thestate church inErnestine Saxony, with the Elector as Chief Bishop. John, who had already been a zealousLutheran for some time, now exercised full authority over the Church, introduced the Lutheran Confession, ordered the deposition of all priests who continued in the Catholic faith, and directed the use of a vernacular liturgy drawn up by Luther. He was a leader of theSchmalkaldic League of Protestant states formed in 1530 to defend the Reformation, and assented to theNuremberg religious peace in 1532.[1]
As his nickname betrays, he had the same positive attitude to the Reformation as his older brother. His steadfastness and his courage to maintain his confessional position probably brought him the most fame with his contemporaries. Christian beliefs were the basis of his political decisions, which were regarded as very just[by whom?]. In political matters, he was often very hesitant[according to whom?]. In his collaboration with Philip I, with whom he was closely connected by virtue of his common religious beliefs, Philip was the driving force for and outspoken advocate of a more for an aggressive foreign policy while John, on the other hand, was particularly concerned with the question of whether to defend himself as a Protestant against the Emperor.
As the patron of Martin Luther, John maintained a very close, almost friendly relationship with the leading theologian of the Protestants. Luther often expressed a positive opinion about John, especially for his behavior at theDiet of Augsburg in 1530, and praised him thus: "I am sure that the Elector Johann of Saxony had the Holy Spirit. In Augsburg he proved this admirably by his confession. John said, 'Tell my scholars that they are doing what is right, praise and honor God, and take no regard for me or my country.'" By his insistence on the Protestant profession of faith, John even went so far as to dismiss those Protestant theologians who were too compliant to the Emperor.In 1529, John belonged to the princely representatives of the Protestant minority (protestation) at the Reichstag in Speyer.
In the almost 40 years that John governed as a duke over theElectorate of Saxony, he was often overshadowed by the person of his brotherFrederick, who, as the eldest of theHouse of Wettin and the incumbentElector, decisively determined the policy of Saxony. John is sometimes wrongly portrayed in the history and politics of the Electorate of Saxony as a background figure at the beginning of the Reformation, in contrast to his brother Frederick and his son and successor John Frederick[by whom?].
The Evangelical Church in Germany honors John's significance during the Reformation, with a memorial day in the Evangelische Namenkalender on 16 August.
He died inSchweinitz. After his death he was, like his brother Frederick, buried in the famousCastle Church inWittenberg with a grave byHans Vischer. He was succeeded by his eldest sonJohann Frederick.
InTorgau on 1 March 1500 Johann married firstlySophie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, daughter ofMagnus II, Duke of Mecklenburg. They had one son:
On 13 November 1513 Johann married secondlyMargaret of Anhalt-Köthen inTorgau. They had four children:
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One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "John, Elector of Saxony".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 446.
John, Elector of Saxony Born: 30 June 1468 Died: 16 August 1532 | ||
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| Preceded by | Elector of Saxony 1525–1532 | Succeeded by |
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