View source for Albert III, Duke of Saxony

{{distinguish|Albert III, Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Albert III
| image          = Albrecht der Beherzte, 1443-1500 (AT KHM GG4796).jpg
| caption = Portrait by [[Lucas Cranach the Younger]]
| succession    = [[Duke of Saxony]]
| reign         =7 September 1464{{snd}}12 September 1500
| predecessor   = [[Frederick II, Elector of Saxony|Frederick II]]
| successor     = [[George, Duke of Saxony|George]]
| succession1    = [[Margrave of Meissen]]
| reign1         =7 September 1464{{snd}}12 September 1500
| predecessor1   = [[Frederick VI, Margrave of Meissen|Frederick VI]]
| successor1     = [[George II, Margrave of Meissen|George II]]
| succession2    = [[Potestaat of Friesland|Hereditary Governor of Frisia]]
| reign2         = 20 July 1498 - 12 September 1500
| predecessor2   = [[Juw Dekama]]
| successor2     = [[Henry IV, Duke of Saxony|Henry IV]]
| spouse       =[[Sidonie Podiebrad of Bohemia]]
| issue          = [[Catherine of Saxony, Archduchess of Austria|Catherine, Archduchess of Austria]]<br> [[George, Duke of Saxony]]<br> [[Henry IV, Duke of Saxony]] <br>[[Duke Frederick of Saxony|Frederick, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights]]
| house    =[[House of Wettin]]
| father         =[[Frederick II, Elector of Saxony]]
| mother         =[[Margaret of Austria, Electress of Saxony|Margaret of Austria]]
| birth_date  ={{Birth date|1443|07|31|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Grimma]]
| death_date  ={{Death date and age|1500|09|12|1443|01|27|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Emden]]
| place of burial= [[Meissen Cathedral]]
| religion    =[[Roman Catholicism]]
}}
'''Albert III''' ({{langx|de|Albrecht}}) (31 July 1443{{snd}}12 September 1500) was a [[rulers of Saxony|Duke of Saxony]]. He was nicknamed '''Albert the Bold''' or '''Albert the Courageous''' and founded the ''Albertine line'' of the [[House of Wettin]].

==Biography==
[[File:Dresden Fürstenzug 086.JPG|thumb|left|Ernest, Elector of Saxony (1464–1486), Frederick II, Elector of Saxony (1428–1464) and Albert III, Duke of Saxony (1486–1500); from left to right, [[Fürstenzug]], Dresden, Germany]]
Albert was born in [[Grimma]] as the third and youngest son (but fifth child in order of birth) of [[Frederick II, Elector of Saxony|Frederick II the Gentle, Elector of Saxony]], and Margarete of Austria, sister of [[Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor]]. Later, he was a member of the [[Order of the Golden Fleece]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Prizer |first=William F. |date=1985 |title=Music and Ceremonial in the Low Countries: Philip the Fair and the Order of the Golden Fleece |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/853921 |journal=Early Music History |volume=5 |pages=113–153 |doi=10.1017/S0261127900000681 |jstor=853921 |s2cid=194049308 |issn=0261-1279|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

After escaping from the hands of [[Kunz von Kaufungen]], who had abducted him together with his brother [[Ernest, Elector of Saxony|Ernest]], he spent some time at the court of the emperor [[Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick III]] in [[Vienna]].<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Albert III. (duke of Saxony) |display=Albert III.|volume=1|pages=497-498}} Endnote: See
*F. A. von Langenn, ''Herzog Albrecht der Beherzte, Stammvater des königlichen Hauses Sachsen'' (Leipzig, 1838)
*O. Sperling, ''Herzog Albrecht der Beherzte von Sachsen als Gubernator Frieslands'' (Leipzig, 1892).</ref>

In [[Cheb|Eger (Cheb)]] on 11 November 1464 Albert married [[Sidonie Podiebrad|Zdenka (Sidonie)]], daughter of [[George of Podebrady]], King of [[Bohemia]]; but failed to obtain the Bohemian Crown on the death of George in 1471. After the death of his father in 1464, Albert and Ernest ruled their lands together, but in 1485 a division was made by the [[Treaty of Leipzig]], and Albert received the [[Meissen]] area, together with some adjoining districts, and founded the Albertine branch of the House of Wettin.<ref name="EB1911"/>

Regarded as a capable soldier by the emperor, Albert (in 1475) took a prominent part in the campaign against [[Charles the Bold]], [[Duke of Burgundy]], and in 1487 [[Siege of Wiener-Neustadt|led an expedition]] against [[Matthias Corvinus]], King of Hungary, which failed owing to lack of support on the part of the emperor.<ref name="EB1911"/>

From 1477 a new conflict arose with king [[Matthias Corvinus of Hungary]] who started to invade the Austrian Habsburg lands. The conflict is known as the [[Austrian–Hungarian War (1477–1488)]]. The Kaiser did not succeed in persuading the German electors and other imperial estates to provide military assistance. In the spring of 1483 Frederick fled Vienna to the safe city of [[Wiener Neustadt]], in 1485 Corvinus was able to conquer [[Vienna]] and had himself called “ Archduke of Austria ” (Dux Austriae). In August 1487, the Hungarians succeeded in taking Wiener Neustadt, the new imperial residence in eastern Lower Austria. Friedrich first had to flee to Graz and temporarily flee to Linz in Upper Austria. After the imperial war against Hungary had been decided at the Nuremberg Diet in 1487, Duke Albert was appointed as the supreme commander of the entire imperial army.  He was supposed to oppose Matthias' famous standing professional army, the [[Black Army of Hungary]]. After the Hungarian occupation of Vienna, Albrecht's task was to reconquer the lost Austrian territories. However, this failed due to the poor equipment of his army, so he had to wage a difficult defensive war under adverse circumstances. Duke Albrecht knew that no decisive help was to be expected from the Reich in the near future, but that the situation in the hereditary lands would deteriorate visibly. On 17 November 1487, Duke Albrecht informed Emperor Frederick that, under the ongoing military situation in his hereditary lands, a compromise with the King of Hungary would be the only rational solution. 
The war came to an end with an armistice in 1488, although the Habsburgs rankled with the peace.<ref name="GDL">{{cite web|url=https://www.gedaechtnisdeslandes.at/chronik/action/list/controller/Geschichte/chronik/waffenstillstand-mit-koenig-matthias-corvinus-zu-st-poelten.html |title=Chronik. Waffenstillstand mit König Matthias Corvinus zu St. Pölten |website=gedaechtnisdeslandes.at |editor=„Gedächtnis des Landes“ der Geschichtsdatenbank Niederösterreichs |date=26 July 2022}}</ref> At the beginning of December, Matthias Corvinus met with Albrecht of Saxony in Markersdorf an der Pielach, a little later an armistice was reached in St. Pölten on 6 December, which was extended several times until the death of the Hungarian king.<ref name="GDL" /><ref>Susanne Wolf: [http://www.regesta-imperii.de/fileadmin/user_upload/downloads/Regesta_Imperii_Beiheft_25.pdf] ''Die Doppelregierung Kaiser Friedrichs III. und König Maximilians (1486–1493)'', S. 173.</ref> 

In 1488 he was appointed [[List of Governors of the Habsburg Netherlands|Governor]] of the [[Habsburg Netherlands|Netherlands]] (until 1493)<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hruQ386SfFcC&q=In+1488+he+was+appointed+Governor+of+the+Netherlands+%28until+1493&pg=RA2-PA203|title=Contemporaries of Erasmus: A Biographical Register of the Renaissance and Reformation, Volumes 1-3, A-Z|last1=Bietenholz|first1=Peter G.|last2=Deutscher|first2=Thomas Brian|date=2003|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=9780802085771|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Albert-III-duke-of-Saxony |title=Albert III duke of Saxony |encyclopedia=Britannica |access-date=24 July 2019}}</ref> and marched with the imperial forces to free the Roman king [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian]] from his imprisonment at Bruges, and when, in 1489, the King returned to Germany, Albert was left as his representative to prosecute the [[Flemish revolts against Maximilian of Austria|war against the rebels]]. He was successful in restoring the authority of Maximilian in [[County of Holland|Holland]], [[County of Flanders|Flanders]], and [[Duchy of Brabant|Brabant]], but failed to obtain any repayment of the large sums of money which he had spent in these campaigns.<ref name="EB1911"/>

His services were rewarded in 1498 when Maximilian bestowed upon him the title of Hereditary Governor (''potestat'') of [[Friesland]], but he had to make good his claim by force of arms. He had to a great extent succeeded, and was paying a visit to Saxony, when he was recalled by news of a fresh rising. The duke recaptured [[Groningen (city)|Groningen]], but soon afterwards he died at [[Emden]]. He was buried at Meissen.<ref name="EB1911"/>

Albert, who was a man of great strength and considerable skill in feats of arms, delighted in tournaments and knightly exercises.  His loyalty to the emperor Frederick, and the expenses incurred in this connection, aroused some irritation among his subjects, but his rule was a period of prosperity in Saxony.<ref name="EB1911"/>

==Family and children==
With his wife Sidonie, Albrecht had nine children:
# [[Catherine of Saxony, Archduchess of Austria|Katharina]] (Meissen, 24 July 1468{{snd}}Göttingen, 10 February 1524), married firstly on 24 February 1484 in Innsbruck to Duke [[Sigismund of Austria]], and secondly on 1497 to Duke [[Eric I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg|Eric I of Brunswick-Calenberg]].
# [[George, Duke of Saxony|Georg "der Bärtige"]] (Meissen, 27 August 1471{{snd}}Dresden, 17 April 1539).
# [[Henry IV, Duke of Saxony|Heinrich V "der Fromme"]] (Dresden, 16 March 1473{{snd}}Dresden, 18 August 1541).
# [[Duke Frederick of Saxony|Frederick]] (Torgau, 26 October 1473{{snd}}Rochlitz, 14 December 1510), Grand Master of the [[Teutonic Knights]].
# Anna (Dresden, 3 August 1478{{snd}}Dresden, 1479).
# Stillborn child (1479).
# Louis (Torgau, 28 September 1481{{snd}}Torgau?, some days later / Torgau?, young after 1498) [?].
# John (born and died Torgau, 24 June 1484).
# John (Torgau, 2 December 1498{{snd}}Torgau?, some days later / Torgau?, young in September of the same year as his brother Louis) [?].

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[House of Wettin]]|27 January|1443|12 September|1500}}
{{s-reg}}
{{s-bef|rows=1|before=[[Frederick II, Elector of Saxony|Frederick II]]}}
{{s-ttl|rows=1|title=[[Duke of Saxony]]|years=1464–1500}}
{{s-aft|rows=1|after=[[George, Duke of Saxony|George]]}}
|-
{{s-gov}}
|-
{{s-vac|reason=Direct rule of [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian I]]|last=[[Engelbert II of Nassau]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands]]|years=1488 to 1492}}
{{s-vac|reason=Direct rule of [[Philip the Handsome]]|next=[[Engelbert II of Nassau]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Princes of Saxony}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Albert 03 of Saxony, Duke}}
[[Category:1443 births]]
[[Category:1500 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Grimma]]
[[Category:Dukes of Saxony]]
[[Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece]]
[[Category:House of Wettin]]
[[Category:Potestaats of Friesland]]
[[Category:Saxon princes]]
[[Category:Albertine branch]]
[[Category:Sons of prince-electors]]