"Here I march, I can do no other."
Elector Frederick Henry the Temperate, also called the Holy Prince, 1532-1560
1532
The Elector John the Steadfast dies and is succeeded by his elder son, Frederick Henry. Frederick Henry decided to rule with his younger brother John Frederick rather than divide the lands of Ernestine Saxony, with the Elector granting his younger brother a pension and the promise of feudal rents from any lands acquired by Ernestine Saxony during his reign. The Emperor Charles V is forced to break off his efforts to enforce doctrinal uniformity on the reforming churches due to a Turkish invasion, and makes with the Protestants the Peace of Nurnberg. Partly from a desire to steer Martin Luther away from doctrinal controversies with other Protestants and further provocations against the Catholic Church, the Elector Frederick John charges Luther with the responsibility of creating a plan for starting a new system of schools to impart basic literacy, numeracy and knowledge of the Christian faith to all children in Ernestine Saxony.
The influential courtier and scholar Georg Spalatin is chosen as Frederick Henry’s chancellor.
1533
The Elector Frederick Henry writes a pamphlet On Christian Freedom that champions Luther’s ideas about the legitimacy of dissent within the Christian church but also proposes that dissent should be permitted within limits rightfully set by the prince. Frederick Henry argues one limit should be doctrinal faithfulness to some credible interpretation of the Biblical text. He argues that another should be that the preaching not invite treason by the listeners or readers against the state or the prince. The pamphlet, published with contributions and edits from Luther and Melanchthon, create fresh outrage between the Saxon Elector and the Catholic Church.
Luther reports to Frederick Henry on a plan to use the local churches to educate the children of Saxony, but which would empty Ernestine Saxony’s treasury at a moment when crucial spending on the Saxon army would be necessary because of the likelihood of war to protect the reforming churches.
In foreign affairs, the Elector makes plans to visit his uncle King Henry VIII in England early the next year, to discuss English membership in the Schmalkaldic League of Protestant princes, potential English assistance to Saxony in the event of war, and matters of Protestant theology. It is plain from the two rulers’ correspondence before the visit that some unspecified further dynastic alliance is to be considered.
1534
The most momentous event of the year for Saxony is the Elector Frederick Henry’s visit to the court of his uncle, Henry VIII. Because of the family relation, the two realms’ shared Protestantism, and the fact that Saxony was one of the few states in Europe that recognized the legitimacy of Henry’s marriage to Anne Boleyn, Frederick Henry’s reception at Hampton Court is sumptuous. Henry VIII admonishes him to restrain the restless clerics of Saxony—especially Martin Luther. In return for the promise that Frederick Henry would keep the reforming clerics in hand and forbear provoking conflict with the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry VIII informally assents to enter the Schmalkaldic League. Beyond diplomacy, however, the visit exerts great influence over the young Elector. The relative opulence of the Tudor court and Henry VIII’s authority as absolute monarch greatly impresses Frederick Henry, and he returns to Saxony resolved to build in the heart of Germany a power like Henry’s England.
Almost as important as England’s entrance into the alliance of German Protestant princes, Henry VIII and Frederick Henry agree to the marriage of Henry Brandon, the Earl of Lincoln, to Frederick’s only sister Catherine. Henry, the only son of Charles Brandon, the Duke of Suffolk, and Henry’s sister Mary Tudor, is line for the English throne behind Henry VIII’s children and those of Margaret’s older sister Margaret Tudor. Brandon becomes the English ambassador to Ernestine Saxony and by extension the Schmalkaldic League.
In Frederick Henry’s absence, Ernestine Saxony is ruled by his mother the Electress Elizabeth and John Frederick as co-regents. Given the fragility of the situation with the emperor, allowing John Frederick to rule alone would have created too great a temptation for outsiders to interfere in the Ernestine Wettins’ dynastic politics.
Returning to Wittenberg, Frederick Henry begins making large investments into building Saxony’s defenses. He officially rejected Luther’s initial plan for educating the schoolchildren of Saxony in favor of a more gradual approach in which individual gymnasia (schools) would be built, first in the larger towns of Saxony, and later in the countryside. He set aside funds to found a gymnasium in Wittenberg, and assigned Luther the task of establishing it and laying the groundwork for the establishment of others. In the meantime, Philipp Melanchthon is given the far more delicate task of drafting beyond the outlines set forth in On Christian Freedom a set of principles for what constitutes permissible preaching and doctrine within Saxony.
1535
The year is dominated by a debate between the Saxon Reformation leaders and Frederick Henry: he signals to them his insistence on a wide doctrinal definition of acceptable religious thought so as to allow the Lutherans to make common cause with other evangelical factions within Christianity. Their responses, to the effect that the Elector ought not to attempt to dictate matters of doctrine, only stiffens his resistance, and he demands prior approval of all their representations of matters of faith to the Catholic Church going forward. They in turn seen this as evidence of the pernicious influence of Henry VIII of England, but relent. Melanchthon thus publishes the Pastoral Guide for the Churches of Saxony, which manages to permit a wide diversity of acceptable Christian doctrine while at the same time instantiating the Elector as an important figure in the religious life of the realm. Almost immediately, various protestant groups like the Anabaptists begin flooding into Saxony, eager to find religious freedom. Partly as a concession to Martin Luther, Frederick Henry permits him to begin working on the doctrinal positions for the reforming churches in the next round of negotiations with the papacy.
The first classes are held in the Wittenberg gymnasium. Luther also begins contacting protestant former members of the religious orders to become teachers at the gymnasia he intends to found across Saxony.
Also, Frederick Henry wins a crucial diplomatic victory when England accedes to membership in the Protestant Schmalkaldic League, as the ambassadors of Henry VIII sign the Treaty of Wittenberg.
1536
Frederick Henry founds the College of Pastors at the University of Wittenberg, designed to train priests in reformist theology, and appoints Luther as its head. Frederick also directs the founding of a gymnasium at Eisenach, the second in Ernestine Saxony.
Evangelical pastors across Germany begin preaching the duty to defend the Elector Frederick Henry, to whom they give the honorific “the Holy Prince.” Luther expresses his distaste with the title, and Frederick Henry announces that it offends his modesty. Nonetheless, the men of many church congregations across Germany swear to defend Frederick Henry from the Emperor and the Pope—the more radical the doctrine, and hence the more vulnerable the congregation, the more absolute the proclaimed loyalty to Frederick Henry.
In England, the Second Succession Act excludes the children of Margaret Tudor, the Queen of Scotland from the succession. This has the effect of lifting the Earl of Lincoln to second in line for the English throne, behind only the young princess Elizabeth (since the princess Mary is now legally Henry’s illegitimate child).
1537
Martin Luther presents to Frederick Henry his refined confession of faith, the Schmalkaldic Articles. On the advice of Philip Melanchthon, Frederick Henry and the other leaders of the Schmalkaldic League decline to present it to the Emperor and the Pope because of Luther’s controversial positions on some theological issues, but allow it to be published and distributed to the public regardless. Simultaneously, Frederick Henry and his most important ally in Protestant Germany, Philip the Magnanimous of Hesse, sign a closer defense arrangement that will require either to come to the defense of the other immediately in the event of attack (implicitly from the Emperor).
Frederick Henry announces the founding of the third protestant gymnasium in Saxony, at Coburg in the fortress known at the Coburg Veste. At the same time, Frederick Henry begins work on impressive new fortifications on the Veste and a set of apartments for the Elector for when he visits the western reaches of the realm.
In an effort to raise money for his military preparations, the Elector Frederick Henry creates a state messenger service in which delivery is guaranteed from his personal coffers.
The Earl of Lincoln and Catherine have their first child, which they name Frederick Henry after his uncle. Henry VIII becomes furious when it is reported to him that the baby is celebrated in Wittenberg as a future king of England.
1538
The Elector Frederick Henry—fearing the independence of the evangelical militias that have arisen in Germany to support the reforming churches, and seeking to regularize them and discipline them into an actual army— forms the Schwarmer Legion. This branch of the Saxon Army would be under the command of his brother, and would be explicitly dedicated to safeguarding the Protestant princes of Germany and their realms.
Worries about whether Frederick Henry—heretofore single-mindedly focused on the struggle over the German church—would marry and produce an heir become more pronounced. The dowager Electress Elizabeth conspires briefly to secure a future marriage for Frederick Henry with her niece and Henry’s first cousin, the five-year old Princess Elizabeth of England. However, the urgency of securing the Ernestine line militates in favor of a bride immediately capable of becoming pregnant.
In 1538 Frederick Henry enters into negotiations with the King of Denmark for that country’s entry into the Schmalkaldic League. The official treaty signed later in the year provides not only for Denmark’s full participation in the alliance. However, in the two rulers’ meetings negotiations begin with King Frederick I of Denmark for the marriage of his daughter, also named Elizabeth.
As the Schmalkaldic League continues to increase its reach, Frederick Henry also opens personal negotiations with the Elector of Brandenburg for its entry into the League.
1539
At Brandenburg, the Electors of Saxony and Brandenburg and the Landgrave of Hesse meet and formally contract the treaty whereby Brandenburg enters the Schmalkaldic League, shifting the balance of power in northern Germany decisively in favor of the Protestants.
Frederick Henry founds a new gymnasium at Plauen, Plauen being the last sizeable town in the Ernestine Saxon lands without a gymnasium. Frederick Henry also begins construction on new fortifications at Wittenberg sufficient to withstand a major siege.
As Luther’s health declines, the leadership of the Wittenberg Pastors College and the directorship of the Saxon public education system fall to Melanchthon, who is now seen as the undisputed leader of the German Reformation. Luther continues to write and publish on his own, and continues to be publicly honored for his contributions to the movement by Frederick Henry.
With his own match to Princess Elizabeth of Denmark all but decided, Frederick Henry makes arrangements to marry his brother John Frederick to Sibylle, daughter of John III, the Duke of Cleves.
1540
Frederick Henry welcomes a delegation of Zwinglians and Anabaptists to Wittenberg and offers them inclusion in the Schmalkaldic League, which they eagerly accept. This is a further provocation to Charles V, and all sides recognize it as bringing Germany a step closer to war.
As the financial strain of buying weaponry, building fortifications and supporting the new schools continue to drain the Saxon treasury, Frederick Henry decides to expand the services offered by the state-run Saxon Post. The Saxon Post Office could now serve as a means to transmit money across distances by the use of paper notes at less cost and with greater security than actually transporting it.
Despite the ongoing financial stress, Frederick Henry announces the founding of the new library at the University of Wittenberg, which would be at its completion one of the largest in Europe.
John Frederick’s engagement to Sibylle of Cleves briefly becomes much more propitious when Sibylle’s sister Anne marries Henry VIII. The marriage however is quickly annulled.