Elisabeth of Saxony was an Saxon

Electorate of Saxony

The Electorate of Saxony , sometimes referred to as Upper Saxony, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was established when Emperor Charles IV raised the Ascanian duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg to the status of an Electorate by the Golden Bull of 1356...

 princess from the House of Wettin

Wettin

Wettin is:*House of Wettin, a German Royal House*Wettin Castle, near Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, ancestral seat of the House of Wettin*Asteroid 90709 Wettin, named in the castle's and House's honour...

 by birth and by marriage Countess Palatine of Simmern

Palatinate-Simmern

Palatinate-Simmern was one of the collateral lines of the Palatinate line of the House of Wittelsbach.The Palatinate line of the House of Wittelsbach was divided into four lines after the death of Rupert III in 1410, including the line of Palatinate-Simmern with its capital in Simmern. This line...

.

Life

Elisabeth was a daughter of the Elector August of Saxony (1526-1586) from his marriage to Anna

Anne of Denmark, Electress of Saxony

Anne of Denmark or Anna was Electress of Saxony and Margravine of Meissen. She was a member of the House of Oldenburg.- Life :...

 (1532-1585), daughter King of the Christian III of Denmark

Christian III of Denmark

Christian III reigned as king of Denmark and Norway. He was the eldest son of King Frederick I and Anna of Brandenburg.-Childhood:...

.

She married on 4 June 1570 in Heidelberg during the Diet of Speyer

Diet of Speyer

Diet of Speyer or Diet of Spires refers to any of the sessions of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire, of which 50 took place between 838 and 1570 in the city of Speyer , now in Germany...

 with Count Palatine John Casimir of Simmern (1543-1592). August opposed the policies of John Casimir, who was a Calvinist and friendly to France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. With this marriage, August hoped to woe John Casimir over to the Lutheran side. However, he did not succeed. The Catholic

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

s in Germany regarded the marriage as a provocation against the Habsburg

Habsburg

The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...

 dynasty and an attempt to form a united Protestant front.

The Calvinist Johann Casimir tried to break the religious opposition of his Lutheran wife. In October 1585, she was arrested and accused of adultery and a murder plot against her husband. Even her brother, Elector Christian I

Christian I, Elector of Saxony

Christian I of Saxony was Elector of Saxony from 1586 to 1591.He was the sixth but second surviving son of Elector Augustus of Saxony and Anna of Denmark...

, was convinced of her guilt. She converted to Calvinism while in captivity, and died shortly afterwards.

Marriage and issue

From her marriage with John Casimir, Elizabeth had the following children:

• Unnamed son (1573-1573)
• Marie (1576-1577)
• Elisabeth (1578-1580)
• Dorothea (1581-1631), married in 1595 Prince John George I of Anhalt-Dessau
  John George I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau
  John George I of Anhalt-Dessau was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the unified principality of Anhalt...
  
   (1598-1618)
• Unnamed daughter (1584-1584)
• Unnamed daughter (1585-1585)

Ancestors