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The Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg was a medieval duchy
Duchy

A duchy is a territory, fiefdom, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess.Some duchies were sovereignty in areas that would become unified realms only during the Modern era ....
 of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early modern Europe under a Holy Roman Emperor....
, which emerged after the dissolution of the stem duchy
Stem duchy

Stem duchies were associated with the Frankish Kingdom, especially the Eastern Francia, in the Early Middle Ages. In contrast to later duchies, these entities were not defined by strict administrative boundaries but by the area of settlement of major Germanic tribes....
 of Saxony
Duchy of Saxony

The medi?val Duchy of Saxony was a late Early Middle Ages "Carolingian stem duchy" covering the greater part of Northern Germany. It covered the area of the modern German states of Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt and most of Schleswig-Holstein....
.

Count Otto of Ballenstedt
Otto, Count of Ballenstedt

Otto, Count of Ballenstedt, called Otto the Rich , was the first Ascanian prince to call himself count of Anhalt, and was also briefly named duke of Duchy of Saxony....
, ancestor of the House of Ascania, had already held the title of a Duke of Saxony in 1122. In 1134 his son Albert the Bear at first received the Saxon Northern March from Emperor Lothair III of Supplinburg
Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor

Lothair III of Supplinburg , was rulers of Saxony , King of Germany , and Holy Roman Emperor from 1133 to 1137. He was the son of Count Gebhard of Supplingburg....
. When in 1138 Lothair's successor Conrad III of Germany
Conrad III of Germany

Conrad III was the first List of German monarchs of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. He was the son of Frederick I, Duke of Swabia, Duke of Swabia, and Agnes of Germany, a daughter of the Salian Dynasty Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor....
 had deprived his Welf rival Henry the Proud of the Saxonian Duchy in 1138 he gave it to Albert, who however could not prevail against the local nobility and finally had to renounce in favour of Henry the Proud's son Henry the Lion
Henry the Lion

Henry the Lion was a member of the Guelph dynasty and Rulers of Saxony, as Henry III, from 1142, and List of rulers of Bavaria, as Henry XII, from 1156, which duchies he held until 1180....
.






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The Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg was a medieval duchy
Duchy

A duchy is a territory, fiefdom, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess.Some duchies were sovereignty in areas that would become unified realms only during the Modern era ....
 of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early modern Europe under a Holy Roman Emperor....
, which emerged after the dissolution of the stem duchy
Stem duchy

Stem duchies were associated with the Frankish Kingdom, especially the Eastern Francia, in the Early Middle Ages. In contrast to later duchies, these entities were not defined by strict administrative boundaries but by the area of settlement of major Germanic tribes....
 of Saxony
Duchy of Saxony

The medi?val Duchy of Saxony was a late Early Middle Ages "Carolingian stem duchy" covering the greater part of Northern Germany. It covered the area of the modern German states of Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt and most of Schleswig-Holstein....
.

Count Otto of Ballenstedt
Otto, Count of Ballenstedt

Otto, Count of Ballenstedt, called Otto the Rich , was the first Ascanian prince to call himself count of Anhalt, and was also briefly named duke of Duchy of Saxony....
, ancestor of the House of Ascania, had already held the title of a Duke of Saxony in 1122. In 1134 his son Albert the Bear at first received the Saxon Northern March from Emperor Lothair III of Supplinburg
Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor

Lothair III of Supplinburg , was rulers of Saxony , King of Germany , and Holy Roman Emperor from 1133 to 1137. He was the son of Count Gebhard of Supplingburg....
. When in 1138 Lothair's successor Conrad III of Germany
Conrad III of Germany

Conrad III was the first List of German monarchs of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. He was the son of Frederick I, Duke of Swabia, Duke of Swabia, and Agnes of Germany, a daughter of the Salian Dynasty Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor....
 had deprived his Welf rival Henry the Proud of the Saxonian Duchy in 1138 he gave it to Albert, who however could not prevail against the local nobility and finally had to renounce in favour of Henry the Proud's son Henry the Lion
Henry the Lion

Henry the Lion was a member of the Guelph dynasty and Rulers of Saxony, as Henry III, from 1142, and List of rulers of Bavaria, as Henry XII, from 1156, which duchies he held until 1180....
. Albert later took part in the Wendish Crusade
Wendish Crusade

The Wendish Crusade was an 1147 campaign, one of the Northern Crusades and also a part of the Second Crusade, led primarily by the Kingdom of Germany inside the Holy Roman Empire and directed against the Polabian Slavs ....
 of 1147 and in 1157 established the Margraviate of Brandenburg
Margraviate of Brandenburg

The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....
. He died in 1170.

In 1180 Henry the Lion was deposed as Saxonian Duke by Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa
Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor

Frederick I Barbarossa was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt am Main on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1154, and finally crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV on 18 June 1155....
. The duchy was divided and Albert's son, Bernard of Anhalt received the eastern half (Eastphalia
Eastphalia

Eastphalia is a historical region in northern Germany, encompassing the eastern part of the historic Duchy of Saxony, roughly demarcated by the rivers of Leine and Saale....
), while Philip von Heinsberg, Archbishop of Cologne became Duke of Westphalia
Duchy of Westphalia

The Duchy of Westphalia was a historic territory in the greater region of Westphalia, located in the east of modern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany....
. Bernard died in 1212 and his sons again divided the heritage: Henry
Henry I, Count of Anhalt

Henry I, Count of Anhalt , was a member of the House of Ascania and Count of Anhalt.He was the oldest son of Bernhard, Count of Anhalt, Duke of Saxony and Count of Anhalt, by his wife, Judith of Poland, daughter of Mieszko III the Old....
 took the old Ascanian possessions around Ballenstedt where he established the County of Anhalt
Anhalt

Anhalt is a historical county in central Germany, located between the Harz Mountains and the river Elbe. It now forms part of the state of Saxony-Anhalt....
, while his brother Albert I
Albert I, Duke of Saxony

Albert I was a Duke of Duchy of Saxony, Angria, and Westphalia; Lord of Nordalbingia; Count of Anhalt; and Prince-elector and Archmarshal of the Holy Roman Empire....
 retained the eastern estates on the Elbe
Elbe

The River Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It originates in the Krkonose Mountains of northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Germany and flowing into the North Sea....
 river around the towns of Wittenberg
Wittenberg

Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a town in Germany in the States of Germany Saxony-Anhalt, on the Elbe River. It has a population of about 50,000....
 an Belzig
Belzig

Belzig is a historic town in Brandenburg, Germany located about southwest of Berlin. It is the capital of the Potsdam-Mittelmark district....
, he added to this territory the lordship of Lauenburg/Elbe
Lauenburg/Elbe

Lauenburg/Elbe is a town in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated at the northern bank of the river Elbe, east of Hamburg. It is the southernmost town of Schleswig-Holstein....
, still calling himself Duke of Saxony. Albert's heirs, Albert II and John I, in 1260 divided his possessions into Saxe-Wittenberg and Saxe-Lauenburg, respectively.

The dukes of Saxe-Wittenberg and Saxe-Lauenburg each claimed the electoral
Prince-elector

The Prince-Electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of Imperial election the Holy Roman Emperors....
 right of the stem duchy of Saxony. Duke Rudolf II of Saxe-Wittenberg, son of Albert II, supported Charles IV of Luxembourg
Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles IV , born Wenceslaus , was the eleventh king of Bohemia from the House of Luxembourg, and Holy Roman Emperor.He was the eldest son and heir of John of Bohemia, who died on 26 August 1346, thus Charles inherited the Count of Luxembourg and the King of Bohemia....
 as antiking
Antiking

An Antiking is a would-be king who, due to succession disputes or simple political opposition, declares himself king in opposition to a reigning monarch....
 to Louis IV of Wittelsbach
Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor

Louis IV , called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was the Duke of Bavaria from 1294/1301 together with his brother Rudolf I, Duke of Bavaria, Electoral Palatinate until 1329, King of Germany from 1314, and Holy Roman Empire from 1328....
 and on that account received the electoral dignity with the Golden Bull of 1356
Golden Bull of 1356

The Golden Bull of 1356 was a decree issued by a Reichstag in Nuremberg headed by Emperor Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor that fixed, for a period of more than four hundred years, important aspects of the constitutional structure of the Holy Roman Empire....
. Saxe-Wittenberg thereupon came to be known as the Electorate of Saxony
Electorate of Saxony

The Electorate of Saxony or Duchy of Upper Saxony was an independent hereditary Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356?1806. It was the successor state of the Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg and was itself replaced in Napoleonic times by the Kingdom of Saxony ....
. When the Ascanian line in Saxony died out in 1422, the electorate passed to the House of Wettin.