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TheTreaty of Leipzig orPartition of Leipzig (GermanLeipziger Teilung) was signed on 11 November 1485 between ElectorErnest of Saxony and his younger brotherAlbert III, the sons of ElectorFrederick II of Saxony from theHouse of Wettin. The agreement perpetuated the division of the Wettin lands into a Saxon and aThuringian part, which in the long run obstructed the further development of aCentral German hegemonic power in favour ofBrandenburg-Prussia.
In 1423 Ernest's and Albert's grandfather, MargraveFrederick IV of Meissen had received theSaxon Electorate from the hands of theLuxembourg emperorSigismund. The Electorate — formerly theDuchy of Saxe-Wittenberg — together with the incorporatedMargraviate of Meissen and the Thuringianlandgraviate formed the united Wettin lands. After the death of Frederick in 1464, his lands were ruled jointly by his two sons, until 1485, when they were partitioned between them.
In the 1485 partition the elder, Ernest, as hereditary Elector of Saxony, necessarily received the Electoral lands around Wittenberg. The rest were partitioned on the "I'll cut, you choose" basis, with Ernest partitioning the lands into two sets, and Albert choosing one set for himself. Albert chose the eastern territory of the formerMargraviate of Meissen, while Ernest acquired most of the Thuringian regions in the west.[1] Ernest was said to be disappointed by this outcome, as he had hoped to rule the lands around Meissen, which had been ruled by theHouse of Wettin since the 12th century, rather than the newly acquired lands of southern Thuringia.[2]
Elector Ernest established the town ofWittenberg as the capital of the Saxon electorate and proclaimed himselfLandgrave of Thuringia. Duke Albert III establishedMeissen as the centre of the Albertine Saxon duchy and deemed himself Margrave of Meissen.
In the course of theProtestant Reformation the Ernestine and Albertine branches of the Wettin dynasty found themselves on opposing sides of the 1546/47Schmalkaldic War. As an ally of victorious EmperorCharles V of Habsburg, the Albertine DukeMaurice of Saxony gained the Wittenberg territory and the electoral dignity, after his defeated Ernestine cousin ElectorJohn Frederick I signed theCapitulation of Wittenberg. From that event, the Albertine line in the former Meissen Margraviate ruled the Electorate and laterKingdom of Saxony. The descendants of John Frederick I only retained the Thuringian territory which furthermore split into numerousErnestine duchies.
When after World War I the House of Wettin was deposed, the Albertine Saxon Kingdom was succeeded by theFree State of Saxony, while the four former Ernestine duchies formed, along with four minor states, theFree State of Thuringia following a referendum in which Saxe-Coburg (minus Gotha), however, voted to join Bavaria.