Saxe-Merseburg

The Duchy of Saxe-Merseburg was a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire, with Merseburg as its capital. It existed from 1656 or 1657 to 1738 and was owned by an Albertine secundogeniture of the Saxon House of Wettin.

Key facts

Country.conventional_long_name: Duchy of Saxe-Merseburg
Country.common_name: Saxe-Merseburg
Country.era: Early modern Europe
Country.status: Vassal
Country.status_text: State of the Holy Roman EmpireSecundogeniture of Saxony
Country.empire: Holy Roman Empire
Country.government_type: Duchy
Country.year_start: 1657
Country.year_end: 1738
Country.event_pre: Death of Elector John George I
Country.date_pre: 1656
Country.event_start: Split off from Saxony

Article

5 sections

Contents

History
Rulers
Cadet lines
References
External links

== History == thumb|left|Coat of arms of the Duchy of Saxe-Merseburg, Doberlug castle, Doberlug-Kirchhain thumb|left|Merseburg|Merseburg Castle, [[Saxony-Anhalt]] The Wettin Elector John George I of Saxony stipulated in his will dated 20 July 1652 that his three younger sons should receive secundogeniture principalities. After the elector died on 8 October 1656, his sons concluded the "friend-brotherly main treaty" in the Saxon residence of Dresden on 22 April 1657 and a further treaty in 1663 delineating their territories and sovereign rights definitively. The treaties created three duchies: Saxe-Zeitz, Saxe-Weissenfels, and Saxe-Merseburg.