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Frederick III (Elector of Saxony)

Type Figure Region Saxony Time 1463–1525 Also known as Elector Frederick of Saxony

Elector of Saxony (1486–1525), a member of the Wettin dynasty known in Western historiography as Frederick the Wise, who founded the University of Wi…

Timeline

  1. 1511–1516Wittenberg · SaxonyHe recruited humanist scholars to the University of Wittenberg and collected large numbers of relics and artworks, making Saxony a major center of German scholarship. Around 1512 he supported discussions of theological reform at the university, laying the institutional groundwork for Luther's later public debates.
  2. 1517–1520Wittenberg · SaxonyAfter Luther posted the Ninety-five Theses in 1517, Frederick refused to carry out the pope's order to arrest him and provided castle shelter in his capacity as elector. When Luther publicly burned the papal bull in 1520, Frederick continued to protect the reformer with political caution, giving the Reformation room to take root within the empire.

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