Frederick was the son of Ernest, Elector of Saxony and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Albert, Duke of Bavaria. He succeeded his father as Elector in 1486; in 1502, he founded the University of Wittenberg, where Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon taught.
Frederick was Pope Leo X's candidate for Holy Roman Emperor in 1519, but helped secure the election of Charles V. Frederick secured an exemption from the Edict of Worms for Saxony, and ensured Luther would be heard before the Diet of Worms in 1521.
He protected Luther from the Emperor and Pope by taking him into custody at Wartburg Castle after the Diet of Worms. Frederick himself had little personal contact with Luther and remained a Roman Catholic.
Frederick III, called the Wise, elector of Saxony, eldest son of Ernest, elector of Saxony, and Elizabeth, daughter of Albert, duke of Bavaria-Munich (d.1508), was born at Torgau, and succeeded his father as elector in 1486.
Frederick was among the princes who pressed the need of reform upon the German king Maximilian I in 1495, and in 1500 he became president of the newly-formed council of regency (Reichsregiment).
In 1519, Frederick, who alone among the electors refused to be bribed by the rival candidates for the imperial throne, declined to be a candidate for this high dignity himself, and assisted to secure the election of Charles V. He died unmarried at Langau, near Annaberg, on the 5th of May 1525.
Frederick in an engraved portrait by Albrecht Dürer, 1524
Frederick was the son of Ernest, Elector of Saxony and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Albert III, Duke of Bavaria.
Frederick was among the princes who pressed the need of reform upon the German king Maximilian I, and in 1500 he became president of the newly-formed council of regency (Reichsregiment).
Feeds |
Contact