Saxony

Saxony was originally a settlement area of the Saxons comprising the area of the modern German states of Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony-Anhalt and most of Schleswig-Holstein. Saxony was subdued by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from about 772 and was created as a stem duchy in 843 with the Treaty of Verdun. The Duchy of Saxony, like most Germanic states, fluctuated in size, land area and power throughout the majority of the medieval era until the formation of the modern country of Germany in 1918.

Rulers of Saxony

Louis the Child, King of East Francia - 900-911

Conrad the Younger, King of Germany - 911-912

Henry the Fowler, Duke of Saxony - 912-936

Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor - 936-973

Bernard I, Duke of Saxony - 973-1011

Bernard II, Duke of Saxony - 1011-1059

Ordulf, Duke of Saxony - 1059-1072

Magnus, Duke of Saxony - 1072-1106, Billung dynasty

Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor - 1106-1112

Otto of Ballenstedt, Duke of Saxony - 1112-1115

Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor - 1115-1137

Henry the Proud, Duke of Saxony - 1137-1139

Albert the Bear, Duke of Saxony - 1138-1142

Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Duke of Bavaria - 1142-1180, Welf Dynasty

The Duchy Crumbles

At this point in the Duchy of Saxony's history, everything fell apart. In 1176 Henry the Lion, the ruler of Saxony and Bavaria and one of the most powerful princes of northern Germany, refused to aid his cousin Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa in his campaign against the cities of Lombardy at the Battle of Legnano. In 1180 the ban of the empire was proclaimed against Henry at Würzburg (in abstentia), and 1181 the old Duchy of Saxony was cut up at the Diet of Gelnhausen into many small portions. The greater share of its western portion was given, as the Duchy of Westphalia, to the Archbishop of Cologne. The Saxon bishops, who had before this possessed sovereign authority in their territories, though under the suzerainty of the Duke of Saxony, gained imperial immediacy subject only to the imperial government. Saxon archbishops turned into prince-archbishops, such as the Prince-Archbishops of Bremen and Magdeburg, and the prince-bishops of Halberstadt, Lübeck, Ratzeburg, Schwerin as well as Verden, etc. The case was the same with a large number of secular countships and cities.

Armor

• 16th Century

Cleveland Museum of Art: Armor of the Royal Guard of Saxony

Clothing

• Pre-Period

5th - 6th centuries: How to Make an Early (Pagan) Anglo-Saxon Costume [Patterns and Descriptions for a complete outfit]

5th - 6th centuries: Anglian Information Page: 5th-6th Century women's dress [Patterns and Description]

400 - 900: Clothing and Appearance of the Pagan Anglo-Saxons by Angelcynn

Pre-perod - 1066: Clothed Seemly and Proper: The Saxons by Jehanne de Huguenin [Patterns and description]

• 7th Century

400 - 900: Clothing and Appearance of the Pagan Anglo-Saxons by Angelcynn

Pre-perod - 1066: Clothed Seemly and Proper: The Saxons by Jehanne de Huguenin [Patterns and description]

• 8th Century

400 - 900: Clothing and Appearance of the Pagan Anglo-Saxons by Angelcynn

Pre-perod - 1066: Clothed Seemly and Proper: The Saxons by Jehanne de Huguenin [Patterns and description]

• 9th Century

Pre-perod - 1066: Clothed Seemly and Proper: The Saxons by Jehanne de Huguenin [Patterns and description]

• 10th Century

995 - 1066: Historic Life: 11th Century Anglo-Saxon and Norman Clothing

10th - 11th century: How to Make a Late Anglo-Saxon Costume [Patterns and Descriptions for a complete outfit]

1066 - abt 1199: Clothed Seemly and Proper, the Second Part: The late 11th and 12th centuries by Jehanne de Huguenin [Description]

• 11th Century

Anglo Saxon Women's Clothing for the 11th century

995 - 1066: Historic Life: 11th Century Anglo-Saxon and Norman Clothing

10th - 11th century: How to Make a Late Anglo-Saxon Costume [Patterns and Descriptions for a complete outfit]

1066 - abt 1199: Clothed Seemly and Proper, the Second Part: The late 11th and 12th centuries by Jehanne de Huguenin [Description]

• 12th Century

1066 - abt 1199: Clothed Seemly and Proper, the Second Part: The late 11th and 12th centuries by Jehanne de Huguenin [Description]

• 13th Century

Walpurgis in the 13th Century

13th - middle 14th centuries: Headwear: How to Make a Toque [Patterns and Description]

• 14th Century

13th - middle 14th centuries: Headwear: How to Make a Toque [Patterns and Description]

• 15th Century

• 16th Century

"Cranach" Gown

abt 1530s: A Saxon Lady’s Outfit As Seen in the Works of Lucas Cranach by Kass McGann [Images and Description, Patterns for Purchase]

Cranach Gown Part 1: Research from Truth is Stranger than Fashion blog

Cranach Gown Part 2: Skirt Construction Part 1 from Truth is Stranger than Fashion blog

16th c: Early German-Saxon (Cranach) Gowns from Sophie Stitches

Manuscripts

• 12th Century

c. 1173-1175: Gospels of Henry the Lion (Evangeliar Heinrichs des Löwen)

Uncertain Fol from the gospels

Fol from Genesis

Henry the Lion and Mathilde of England (Enlargement from Genesis)

• 13th Century

c. 1240: Goslar Gospels (Goslarer Evangeliar)

Fol. 10v: Die Anbetung der Könige (Ausschnitt)

From the Gospel of Luke

Left Fol Enlargement

Lower Right Fol Enlargement

Fiction

The following are fictitious or legendary accounts loosely based on period instances:

Tales and Legends of Saxony and Lusatia (1877)

Maurice, the elector of Saxony; an historical romance, Vol 1 (1844)

Maurice, the elector of Saxony; an historical romance, Vol 2 (1844)

Maurice, the elector of Saxony; an historical romance, Vol 3 (1844)

References

• Wikipedia: Duchy of Saxony
• Wikipedia: Saxony
• The Anabaptists: being an account of the progress of the Reformation in Germany, from the Diet of Worms to the death of Frederic, Elector of Saxony (1836)