Leipzig division
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The division of Leipzig - recorded in the so-called Preliminary Treaty of Leipzig of August 26, 1485 - was an important division of the Saxon territories in the history of Central Germany in the 15th century.
The division of Leipzig is considered to be the most serious wrong decision in Saxon history. In the long term, the weakening of the Saxon principality enabled Brandenburg-Prussia to become a hegemonic power .
prehistory
After the death of the Landgrave of Thuringia Wilhelm III. In 1482 and the resulting reversal of Thuringia to the brothers Ernst and Albrecht , who had jointly ruled the Wettin possessions since the death of Elector Friedrich II in 1464 , the Wettin possessions were reunited. However, there was friction between the brothers, in the course of which it was likely that a division of responsibilities was soon considered. Obviously, corresponding comparisons were already being made in 1483 and 1484. On June 17, 1485, a first partition agreement between the two brothers was negotiated in Leipzig. Albrecht should be left to choose the parts of the country and either Meißen or Weimar. Regardless of his choice, he was to pay his brother Ernst 25,000 guilders in two annual installments of 12,500 guilders each after the division had taken place. A division date was aimed for before September 29, 1485.
Content of the contract of August 26, 1485
The contract includes two divisions, the Weimar part and the Meißner part. Furthermore, the division of debts and additional income, as well as supply rights are clarified.
The Weimar part was based on the Duchy of Saxony , most of Thuringia, the care of Coburg , the Pleißenland and a strip of land between the Duchy of Saxony and the Pleißenland with the cities of Eilenburg , Grimma and Colditz . 69 cities and villages are listed in the Weimar section. In addition the rule of Schwarzburg and the rule of equals . Then a large number of bailiwicks and lords with their possessions are named on two pages. Ernst already states here that the Meissner part is the "more worthy" and that the owner of this part is to pay the owner of the Weimar part 100,000 guilders in four annual installments of 25,000 guilders each.
The Meißnische part was based on the Margraviate of Meißen , the Osterland , a strip of territory in northern Thuringia with Weissensee , Langensalza , Sangerhausen and the Quedlinburg Abbey . In the introduction Ernst puts his claim to the Duchy of Saxony, with which the electoral dignity is connected, first. The Principality of Sagan remains common property. Furthermore, the benefit from all mines in the country should be shared equally by both brothers. The mining area Schneeberg / Neustädtel is a special case. The mines located there within a mile radius are placed under joint administration. Then 57 cities and villages are listed. This is followed by the counties of Stollberg , Hohenstein , Beichlingen , Querfurt and the Lords of Schönburg . Then on another page bailiwicks and a large number of lords and their possessions are listed.
The debts are then offset. Claims and possessions worth 49,306 guilders in the Weimar part and 72,499 guilders in the Meißner part are pledged. The difference of 21,193 guilders is to be paid from the income from the common goods. The sum of 20,000 guilders owed to the Margrave of Brandenburg Johann , as well as other debts and prescriptions, some of which came from the Thuringian Landgrave Wilhelm , are also to be repaid equally by the two brothers. The debts of the city of Erfurt in the amount of 60,000 guilders to the Wettins are said to be due in equal parts to both brothers if they are settled.
The maintenance of the Electress of Saxony is also regulated . Since your treasure is in the Weimar part, the owner of the Meißner part is obliged to pay 3810 guilders annually for your maintenance. The same applies to the provision of Wilhelm's second wife, Katharina von Brandenstein, with an annual sum of 150 guilders.
The accumulated in both parts of the country Ungeld should be calculated twice a year in Leipzig and go to two equally divided between the brothers. The protection funds from the cities of Görlitz, Mühlhausen, Nordhausen and Erfurt also go in equal parts. A joint protection of the bishops of Meißen, Naumburg and Merseburg, as well as their possessions, is also agreed.
In the final declaration it is noted that if one of the brothers or their male descendants die without any further male descendants, that part of the country falls to the brother or his heir. It is also noted that this contract comes into force with Albrecht's signature. On August 27, 1485 Ernst handed the sealed contract over to his brother Albrecht.
Treaty of October 4, 1485
In a contract concluded in Leipzig on October 4, 1485 at the instigation of Albrecht, the 100,000 guilders to be paid in four annual installments is reduced to 50,000 guilders in two installments of 25,000 guilders each. The first payment is to be made exactly to the day after the signature of the contract of August 26, 1485.
Naumburg arbitration
On June 25, 1486, the Naumburg arbitration listed 27 points of inconsistencies from the partition contract between Ernst and Albrecht. As a result, these inconsistencies were clarified and contractually regulated.
Directory dated April 29, 1488
On April 29, 1488, an invoice was held in Leipzig about when and how much Albrecht gave his brother Ernst and his son, Elector Friedrich III. of the promised 75,000 guilders (25,000 guilders for the division and 50,000 guilders for the Meissner part). The first installment of 38,500 guilders was paid on November 11, 1486. Since, according to the contract of August 26, 1485, the first installment was due exactly one year after the division, one can assume November 11 as the day of the division. After the settlement, 6925 guilders were still missing. Albrecht was supposed to pay this on May 18, 1488. However, since the contract of August 26th was not kept with the slow payment until 1488 and the outstanding debt, November 11th 1485 as the date of division is only an assumption. There is no documented date because after the contract of August 26, 1485 no further contractual regulation for the division of the country was necessary.
Effects
After negotiating the amount of Albrecht's payments to Ernst, Albrecht consented to the contract. The date of the signature is not known. On February 24, 1486, Emperor Friedrich III confirmed . the "division" in Frankfurt am Main .
On the basis of this division of Leipzig, two lines of the House of Wettin emerged with the Ernestines and Albertines , which came into increasing conflict with one another (see also Saxon coin separation ). In the course of the Schmalkaldic War in 1547 in the Wittenberg surrender with the takeover of the Duchy of Saxony, the electoral dignity was transferred from the Ernestines to the Albertines in the person of Duke Moritz of Saxony . With the takeover of further parts of the country, the Ernestines only had parts of Thuringia and the maintenance of Coburg. The Ernestine Vogtland and a small area around Platten in the Ore Mountains also went to the Bohemian Crown . All other regulations listed in the division agreement were no longer applicable. In the Naumburg Treaty of February 27, 1554, Elector August ceded some parts of the country, such as the areas around Altenburg and Eisenberg, to the Ernestines.
The areas of the line of Albert III. could be held together over the years and founded the Kingdom of Saxony in 1806 . The Ernestines, however, were not so successful and their territory fragmented over the centuries. During a reorganization in 1826, there were the four duchies of Saxony-Meiningen , Saxony-Coburg and Gotha , Saxony-Altenburg and Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach , which were combined into Thuringia in 1920. See also: Thuringian states
literature
- HStA Dresden OU 8578, 8579.
- Schulze, Hermann: The house laws of the ruling German royal houses. Jena 1883 pp. 74 - 83: Main division comparison between Kurf. Ernst and Duke Albrecht of Saxony, erected in 1485 (Leipzig August 26, 1485).
- Kötzschke, Rudolf / Kretzschmar, Hellmut: Saxon history. Frankfurt / Main 1977. pp. 147 - 148: The division of Leipzig.
Individual evidence
- ^ The Teutsche Reichs-Archiv / [8]. Des Teutsches Reichs-Archiv Partis Specialis Continuatio II. Johann Christian Lüning, Leipzig: Lanckisch, 1712 pp. 237–246.
- ↑ Duke Albrecht the Courageous, ancestor of the royal house of Saxony. Friedrich Albert von Langenn, Leipzig 1838 p. 144
- ^ The Teutsche Reichs-Archiv / [8]. Des Teutsches Reichs-Archiv Partis Specialis Continuatio II. Johann Christian Lüning, Leipzig: Lanckisch, 1712 pp. 236/237
- ^ The Teutsche Reichs-Archiv / [8]. Des Teutsches Reichs-Archiv Partis Specialis Continuatio II. Johann Christian Lüning, Leipzig: Lanckisch, 1712 p. 246
- ^ The Teutsche Reichs-Archiv / [8]. Des Teutsches Reichs-Archiv Partis Specialis Continuatio II. Johann Christian Lüning, Leipzig: Lanckisch, 1712 p. 250/251
- ↑ on the documents and texts cf. with Manfred Schulze: Princes and Reformation ; Series: Late Middle Ages and Reformation, New Series 2, Vlg.JCB Mohr (Paul Siebeck), Tübingen 1991, ISBN 3-16-145738-2 , p. 112
- ↑ Christian Richter: The division of the Wettins in the Middle Ages up to the division of Leipzig , student paper, GRIN Vlg. For academic texts, 2006, ISBN 978-3-638-48531-9 , pp. 16-23.
- ↑ http://www.leipzig-lexikon.de/VERWALT/leipteil.htm , on October 17, 2015.