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John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony

Type Figure Region Saxony Time 1503–1554 Also known as John Frederick I、Elector of Saxony

John Frederick was Elector of Saxony and a leading Lutheran political figure of the 16th century, captured at Mühlberg in 1547 and stripped of his el…

Timeline

  1. 1503–1532Torgau · SaxonyBorn in Torgau, he grew up amid the Reformation and in 1532 succeeded his grandfather Frederick III the Wise as Elector of Saxony, becoming one of the most important secular protectors of Lutheranism.
  2. 1532–1546Wittenberg · SaxonyIn Wittenberg he supported Martin Luther and the Reformation, helped found the Schmalkaldic League in 1531, and in the 1540s as league leader confronted Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.
  3. 1547–1554Weimar · ThuringiaCaptured at the Battle of Mühlberg in 1547, he lost his electoral title and was imprisoned; released in 1552, he was granted territories in Thuringia and died at Weimar in 1554, his political failure profoundly shaping the course of the German Reformation.

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