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Rudolf III (c. 1378 – 11 June 1419), a member of the House of Ascania, was Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg and Elector of Saxony from 1388 until his death.
 | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (April 2017) |
| Rudolf III | |
|---|---|
| Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg | |
.jpg) Portrait by Lucas Cranach the Younger | |
| Elector of Saxony | |
| Reign | 1388–1419 |
| Predecessor | Wenceslaus I |
| Successor | Albert III |
| Born | c. 1378 Wittenberg, Saxony |
| Died | 11 June 1419 Bohemia |
| Burial | Franciscan monastery in Wittenberg |
| Spouse | Anna of Meissen Barbara of Legnica |
| House | Ascania |
| Father | Wenceslaus I, Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg |
| Mother | Cecilia of Carrara |
He was probably born at the Saxon Wittenberg residence, the eldest son of Duke Wenceslaus I of Saxe-Wittenberg and his wife Cecilia, daughter of Francesco I da Carrara, Lord of Padua.
Rudolf III took up government after his father's sudden death on 15 May 1388. Rudolf was involved in a long-running dispute with the Archbishopric of Magdeburg. He donated numerous gifts to the Wittenberg All Saints' Church.
Like his father, Rudolf was a loyal supporter of the Imperial House of Luxembourg. In 1419, Emperor Sigismund sent him to Bohemia, in order to quash the Hussite uprising that had begun with the Defenestration of Prague. He died on his way there, probably after being poisoned.
Rudolf was buried in the Franciscan monastery in Wittenberg. His coffin was moved to the crypt of the Wittenberg All Saints' Church in the 19th century, and to the family grave during the Second World War. As he had outlived his male heirs, he was succeeded by his younger brother Albert III.
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About 1387/89 Rudolf married with Anna of Meissen (d. 4 July 1395), a daughter of the Wettin landgrave Balthasar of Thuringia and secondly in March 1396 with Barbara (d. 17 May 1435), daughter of the Piast duke Rupert I of Legnica.
He had five children:
- Scholastica (1393–1463), married Duke Jan I of Żagań
- Rudolph (d. 1406),
- Wenceslas (d. 1407),
- Siegmund (d. 1407),
- Barbara (1405–1465), married Margrave John of Brandenburg-Kulmbach
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- Otto von Heinemann (1889), "Rudolf III. (Herzog und Kurfürst von Sachsen)", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 29, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 555–556
- Lorenz Friedrich Beck (2005), "Rudolf III.", Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 22, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 186–186
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