Maurice, Duke of Saxe-Zeitz


Maurice of Saxe-Zeitz was a duke of Saxe-Zeitz and member of the House of Wettin.
Born in Dresden, he was the youngest surviving son of John George I, Elector of Saxony, and his second wife Magdalene Sibylle of Prussia.

Life

Together with his brothers, Maurice was educated at the court of the Elector of Saxony in Dresden. Among his teachers, Field Marshal Kurt of Einsiedel took an outstanding role. From August 1642 until September 1645, Maurice and his brother Christian took a Grand Tour through northern Germany and the Netherlands.
In 1645, shortly after his return home, Maurice was selected by Prince Ludwig I of Anhalt-Köthen to be a member of the Fruitbearing Society.
In 1650, he was appointed Bailiwick of Thuringia by the Teutonic Knights. He selected as his chancellor and president to his consistory the noted state scientist and theologian Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff. As Hofprediger he chose the dramatist Johann Sebastian Mitternacht.
The Elector Johann Georg I, in his will 20 July 1652, ordered a division of the Albertine territories that was carried out on 22 April 1657 in Dresden. Maurice inherited the town of Zeitz and became its first duke.
In order to have an appropriate official residence, Maurice decided to remove the old bishop's castle and build a splendid new residence in baroque style that was called Schloss Moritzburg. The construction began in 1657 and was finished in 1678. The duke died there.

Marriages and issue

In Dresden on 19 November 1650, Maurice married Sophie Hedwig of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, a daughter of Philip, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and at the same time his brother Christian also married her sister Christiana of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. The opera Paris und Helena was composed for the occasion by Heinrich Schütz. Maurice and Sophie had two sons:
  1. Johann Philipp.
  2. Maurice.
In Weimar on 3 July 1656, Maurice married for a second time to Dorothea Maria of Saxe-Weimar, daughter of the Duke Wilhelm. They had ten children:
  1. Eleonore Magdalene.
  2. Wilhelmine Eleonore.
  3. Erdmuthe Dorothea, married on 14 October 1679 to Duke Christian II of Saxe-Merseburg.
  4. Maurice Wilhelm, Duke of Saxe-Zeitz.
  5. Johann Georg.
  6. Christian August, Cardinal, Archbishop of Gran and Primate of Hungary.
  7. Frederick Heinrich, inherited Pegau and Neustadt.
  8. Marie Sophie.
  9. Magdalene Sibylle
  10. Wilhelmine Sophie.
In Wiesenburg on 14 June 1676 Maurice married for a third time to Sophie Elisabeth of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Wiesenburg, daughter of Philip Louis, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Wiesenburg. This union was childless.