This article lists dukes, electors, and kings ruling over different territories named Saxony from the beginning of the Saxon Duchy in the 6th century to the end of the German monarchies in 1918.
The electors of Saxony from John the Steadfast onwards were Lutheran until Augustus II of Saxony converted to Catholicism in order to be elected King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. His descendants (including all Kings of Saxony) have since been Catholic.
Old Saxony
The original Duchy of Saxony comprised the lands of the Saxons in the north-western part of present-day Germany, namely, the contemporary German state of Lower Saxony as well as Westphalia and Western Saxony-Anhalt, not corresponding to the modern German state of Saxony.
Frankish king Charlemagne conquered Saxony and integrated it into the Carolingian Empire. In the later 9th century, power began to shift from the (Eastern) Frankish king to the local Saxon rulers, resulting in the emergence of the Younger stem duchy.
Independent Saxony Hadugato (fl. c. 531) Berthoald (fl. c. 622) Theoderic (fl. c. 743–744) Widukind (c. 777–785), leader against Charlemagne Albion (fl. c. 785–811)
Saxony as part of Frankish kingdom(s)
Dukes of Saxony Image Name Reign Notes Hattonid Dynasty Banzleib 838 – 840Comes et marchio Liudolfing/Ottonian Dynasty Liudolf I 850 – 12 March 864 or 866 Comes et marchio Bruno 12 March 864 or 866 – 2 February 880 Comes et marchio Otto I the Illustrious 2 February 880 – 30 November 912First duke of the Younger stem duchy Henry I the Fowler 30 November 912 – 2 July 936 King 919–936 Otto II the Great 2 July 936 – 961 King 936–973, emperor 962–973 Billung Dynasty Hermann 961 – 27 March 973 Bernard I 27 March 973 – 9 February 1011 Bernard II 9 February 1011 – 29 June 1059 Ordulf 29 June 1059 – 28 March 1072 Magnus 28 March 1072 – 23 August 1106 Supplinburg Dynasty Lothar 1106 – 4 December 1137 King 1125–1137, emperor 1133–1137 Ascanian Dynasty Otto the Rich 1112 Appointed by Emperor Henry V in opposition to Duke Lothar.Otto was the son-in-law of Duke Magnus Billung and the father of later Duke, Albert the Bear. House of Mansfeld Hoyer I, Count of Mansfeld 1115 Appointed by Emperor Henry V in opposition to Duke Lothar. Welf Dynasty Henry the Proud 4 December 1137 – 20 October 1139 Son-in-law of Lothar; also duke of Bavaria Ascanian Dynasty Albert the Bear 20 October 1139 – 1142 Son of Otto the Rich and grandson of Magnus Billung; also Margrave of Brandenburg Welf Dynasty Henry the Lion 1142–1180 son of Henry the Proud and grandson of Lothair III; also Duke of Bavaria
With the removal of the Welfs in 1180, the Duchy of Saxony was sharply reduced in territory. Westphalia fell to the archbishop of Cologne, while the Duchy of Brunswick remained with the Welfs. The Ascanian dukes had their base further east, near the Elbe, in what is sometimes called the younger Duchy of Saxony, resulting in the name Saxony moving towards the east. After the division, the counting of the dukes started anew. Though the first Ascanian duke is competingly counted as Bernard III (because of two predecessors of the same name before 1180) or as Bernard I, his successor, Albert I is already usually counted as the first, although before 1180 he had one predecessor of the same name, Albert the Bear.
In the 10th century Emperor Otto I had created the County Palatine of Saxony in the Saale-Unstrut area of southern Saxony. The honour was initially held by a Count of Hessengau, then from the early 11th century by the Counts of Goseck, later by the counts of Sommerschenburg, and still later by the landgraves of Thuringia. When the Wettin landgraves succeeded to the Electorate of Saxony, the two positions merged.
The Younger Saxony: The Duchy and the Electorate
The new dukes replaced the Saxon horse emblem () and introduced their Ascanian family colours and emblem () added by a bendwise crancelin, symbolising the Saxon ducal crown, as new coat-of-arms of Saxony (). The later rulers of the House of Wettin adopted the Ascanian coat-of-arms.
After the division, the counting of the dukes started anew. Though the first Ascanian duke is counted either as Bernard III (because of two predecessors of the same name before 1180) or as Bernard I, his successor, Albert I is counted as the first, although before 1180 he had one predecessor of the same name, Albert the Bear.
House of Ascania
Partitions of Saxony under Ascanian rule
+ Duchy of Saxony(1180–1296)Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg(1296–1356)Raised to:Electorate of Saxe-Wittenberg(1356–1422) Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg(1296–1303) Duchy ofSaxe-Ratzeburg(1303–1315) Duchy ofSaxe-Mölln(1303–1401) Duchy ofSaxe-Bergdorf(1303–1315)Renamed asDuchy ofSaxe-Ratzeburg(1315-1401)Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg(Ratzeburg line)(1401–1689)
Table of rulers (Note: Both lines follow the numbering established in this table until 1296, when they were created. From 1296 on, each line follows independently the succession of Saxon dukes until 1296)