The last Askanier elector of Saxony (Albrecht III) died in 1422. He'd married his wife in 1420 and there were no children. His brother and predecessor, Rudolf III, had three sons (Rudolf Jr, Wenzel and Sigmund) but all predeceased him. Of course according to some some sources, Rudi Sr was also pissed because the Emperor wouldn't let him wed Anna of Bohemia (OTL wife of Richard II) while others say it was another duke of Saxony. But let's assume that either Rudolf leaves a surviving son, or isn't poisoned in 1419 and remarries to someone besides his OTL second wife, or Albrecht lives long enough that he and his wife have kids (I'm not sure what killed him OTL). Either way, the electorate of Saxony isn't up for grabs for Emperor Sigmund to redistribute to the Wettins.
WI: Askanier Electors of Saxony Survive
- Thread starter Kellan Sullivan
- Start date
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- ascania electorate saxony wettin
Um... Rudolf Jr, Wenzel and Sigmund were Rudolf III's sons by Barbara of Liegnitz, so him remarrying differently while it would probably mean a different line-up of kids (or no kids if he marries Anne of Bohemia). Wenzel and Siggie von Askanier were both killed due to a tower of Schloß Schweinitz collapsing. So, if we keep them away from Schweinitz (IDK why the tower collapsed, was it being assaulted, does anyone know?) there's your POD there. And assuming Rudolf III dies in 1419, which is 12 years after the Schweinitz debacle, and his sons would be born after 1396, so they should be old enough or close enough to majority age to rule without a regent. Could be interesting if Wladyslaw Jogaila betrothes his daughter to one of them rather than the heir to Brandenburg...
Dammit! I should've checked the wiki articles on Rudolf's wives to catch that.
As to his sons dying, then it's completely butterfliable? I'll have to look up the tower collapse to see if there's a cause listed.
But what else might differ between Askanier held Saxony and its Wettin successor?
I'm not sure if it could've. However, what I'm asking here is what if one of Rudolf III's sons had survived infancy. What differences would we have seen in Saxony if the Wettins had not climbed into the electoral seat? I agree that Rudolf Jr, Wenzel and Sigmund were probably blankish slates as far as their political futures are concerned, but how would Askanier survival's denial of the Wettin electoral vote affect things?
It would alter the balance and relative strength of thetwo families in an era when elections for emperor were still competitive.
Except one (Askanier) elects the emperor and the other (Wettin) doesn't. But I could be wrong, and it was later, but weren't the Askaniers always short of money or something? Were the Saxon silver mines that the Wettins later controlled in the actual electorate? Or the landgraviate of Thuringia?