John, Elector of Saxony

John
Portrait by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1526
Elector of Saxony
Reign5 May 1525 – 16 August 1532
PredecessorFrederick III
SuccessorJohann Frederick I
Born30 June 1468
Meissen, Electorate of Saxony, Holy Roman Empire
Died16 August 1532(1532-08-16) (aged 64)
Schweinitz, Electorate of Saxony, Holy Roman Empire
Burial
Spouse
(m. 1500; died 1503)
(m. 1513; died 1521)
Issue
Detail
Johann Frederick I, Elector of Saxony
Maria, Duchess of Pomerania
John Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Coburg
HouseHouse of Wettin
FatherErnest, Elector of Saxony
MotherElisabeth of Bavaria
ReligionRoman Catholic (1468–1525)
Lutheran (1525–1532)

John (30 June 1468 – 16 August 1532),[1] known as John the Steadfast or John the Constant (Johann, der Beständige), was Elector of Saxony from 1525 until 1532 from the House of Wettin.

He is notable for organising the Lutheran Church in the Electorate of Saxony from a state and administrative level. In that, he was aided by Martin Luther, whose "Saxon model" of a Lutheran church was also soon to be implemented beyond Saxony, in other territories of the Holy Roman Empire. Luther turned to the Elector for secular leadership and funds on behalf of a church largely shorn of its assets and income after the break with Rome.[2]

He played a part in the Protestation at Speyer.

  1. ^  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainChisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "John, Elector of Saxony". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 446.
  2. ^ Brecht, 2:260–63, 67; Mullett, 184–86.