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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: AUD-BAI |
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AUGUSTUS I . (15261586), elector of Saxony, was the younger son of Henry, duke of Saxony, and consequently belonged to the Albertine branch of the Wettin family. Born at Freiberg on the 31st of July 1526, and brought up as a Lutheran, he received a good education and studied at the university of Leipzig
Augustus
Augustus
family, to Maurice. On the 7th of October 1548 Augustus was married at Torgau to Anna, daughter of Christian III., king.of Denmark, and took up his residence at Weissenfels. But he soon desired a more imposing establishment
The first care of the new elector was to come to terms with John Frederick, and to strengthen his own hold upon the electoral position. This object was secured by a treaty made at Naumburg in February 1554, when, in return for the grant of Altenburg and other lands, John Frederick recognized Augustus as elector of Saxony. The elector, however, was continually haunted by the fear that the Ernestines would attempt to deprive him of the coveted dignity, and his policy both in Saxony and in Germany was coloured by this fear. In imperial politics Augustus acted upon two main principles: to cultivate the friendship of the Habsburgs, and to maintain peace between the contending religious parties. To this policy may be traced his share in bringing about the religious peace of Augsburg in 1555, his tortuous conduct at the diet of Augsburg eleven years later, and his reluctance to break entirely with the Calvinists. On one occasion only did he waver in his allegiance to the Habsburgs. In 1568 a marriage was arranged between John Casimir, son of the elector palatine, Frederick III., and Elizabeth, a daughter of Augustus, and for a time it seemed possible that the Saxon elector would support his son-in-law in his attempts to aid the revolting inhabitants of the Netherlands. Augustus also entered into communication with the Huguenots; but his aversion to foreign complications prevailed, and the incipient friendship with the elector palatine soon gave way to serious dislike. Although a sturdy Lutheran the elector hoped at one time to unite the Protestants, on whom he continually urged the necessity of giving no cause of offence to their opponents, and he favoured the movement
The hostility between the Albertines and the Ernestines gave serious trouble to Augustus. A preacher named Matthias Flacius held an influential position in ducal Saxony, and taught a form of Lutheranism different from that taught in electoral Saxony. This breach was widened when Flacius began to make personal attacks on Augustus, to prophesy his speedy downfall, and to incite Duke John Frederick to make an effort to recover his rightful position. Associated with Flacius was a knight, William of Grumbach
Grumbach
The form of Lutheranism taught in electoral Saxony was that of Melanchthon, and many of its teachers and adherents, who were afterwards called Crypto-Calvinists, were favoured by the elector. When Augustus, freed from the fear of an attack by the Ernestines, became gradually estranged from the elector palatine and the Calvinists, he seemed to have looked with suspicion upon the Crypto-Calvinists, who did not preach the pure doctrines of Luther. Spurred on by his wife the matter reached a climax in 1574, when letters were discovered, which, while revealing a hope to bring over Augustus to Calvinism, cast some aspersions upon the elector and his wife. Augustus ordered the leaders of the Crypto-Calvinists to be seized, and they were tortured and imprisoned. A strict form of Lutheranism was declared binding upon all the inhabitants of Saxony, andmany persons were banished from the country. In 1576 he made a serious but unsuccessful attempt to unite the Protestants upon the basis of some articles drawn
change in Saxony, however, made no difference to the attitude of Augustus on imperial questions. In 1576 he opposed the proposal of the Protestant princes to. make a grant for the Turkish War conditional upon the abolition of the clause concerning ecclesiastical reservation, and he continued to support the Habsburgs.Much of the elector's time was devoted to extending his territories. In 1573 he became guardian to the two sons of John William, duke of Saxe- Weimar
As a ruler of Saxony Augustus was economical and enlightened. He favoured trade by encouraging Flemish emigrants to settle in the country, by improving the roads, regulating the coinage and establishing the first posts. He was specially interested in benefiting agriculture, and added several fine buildings to the city of Dresden. His laws were numerous and comprehensive. The constitution of 1572 was his work, and by these laws the church, the universities and the police were regulated, the administration of justice was improved, and the raising of taxes placed upon a better footing (see SAXONY). In October 1585 the electress Anna died, and a few weeks later Augustus married Agnes Hedwig, a daughter of Joachim
See C. W. Bottiger and T. Flathe, Geschichte Sachsen, Band ii. (Gotha, 1870) ; M. Ritter, Deutsche Geschichte im Zeitalter der Gegenreformation, Band i. (Stuttgart, 1890) ; R. Calinich, Kampf and Untergang des Melanchthonismus in Kursachsen ( Leipzig
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