(M 



SAXONY 



valued at 850,000. Iron U nieltod, cast, and 



by (MOO workmen to the annual value of 

 903,000. LMH than M per rent, of tin- total area 

 U actually cultivated ; but I. 'I |-r rent, in meadow* 



and 

 Mate 



874 per cent, forests. In spite ( >f the high 

 i of agriculture in Saxony, grain and tat 

 animal* are imported annually to the value of 

 3,300,0410. the home produce U-ing insufficient for 

 the |>eople'ii want*. The crops grown in largest 

 quantity are potatoes, hay, roots and fodder, o.ii -. 

 rye, and beet root. Fruit-culture, market-garden 

 the breeding and fattening of cattle and sheep. 

 and of geese, and bee-keeping are carried on with 

 much zeal and success. Nearly s:t pet cent, of the 

 area of the land in cultivation is divided into farms 

 ranging l-t e,-n ' and 2~>0 acres. A vast amount 

 of trade is done in all kinds of produce, on the 

 Elbe and on the railways (1575 miles in 1890). 

 i>i the ordinary revenue over one-half is derived 

 from domain.-, forests, and state railways ; while 

 the chief ex|>enditurc is interest and sinking fund 



of the public debt. The total in m- of the |H>pu- 



lation increased from 47,975,000 in 1879 to 

 89,633,000 in 1896. The educational status is 

 ery high: amongst the recruits there is only a 

 proportion of about 1 in 5000 who cannot lead 

 and write. Amongst the educational institutions 

 are the university of Leipzig, two famous high 

 schools at Meissen and (irimma, a po!ytechni.|uc 

 at Dresden, a su|H-rior industrial academy al 

 Chemnit/. a mining academy at Preilicrg. a forestry 

 school at Tharandt, and numerous inferior mining 

 and technical school- throughout the manufactur- 

 ing districts. The annual ordinary income and ex- 

 penditure balance* at 5,760,000 ; the public debt, 

 principally incurred in bnving up private railways, 

 amounted in IK9O to 32,394,000. The army, 

 tome 33.000 strong, forms the 12th army corps of 

 the ini|M-rial forces. The constitution is that of a 

 hereditary constitutional monarchy. The king 

 exercises the supreme executive. 'There are two 

 legislative chambers. The First Chamber is mode 

 up of various rj-<tffirin dignitaries of the kingdom, 

 as chief-magistrates, high officers of the church, 

 the piinci-s of the loyal family, iVc., together with 

 twelve representatives chosen by the landed pro- 

 prietors, and ten more selected by the king. The 

 Second Chamlier consists of eighty representatives, 

 thirty five elected by the towns and forty-live by 

 the rural di-tn- 



To understand the history of Saxony it is neces- 

 sary to go_ back to the Old Saxons '( q. v. ), who, 

 before their submission to the Franks, had ]>een 

 accustomed to choose a 'duke' to lead them in 

 war. After the division of the Prankish dominion 

 into an eastern and western kingdom, in which 

 division the Saxons and their territory passed to 

 the eastern half or Austrasia, the S.ixons were 

 greatly exposed to the attacks of the Northmen on 

 Ihe north-west and of the Slav triU-s on the north 

 and north -east, and so they chose them a duke 

 Main, on- - 1 912). who not only defended 



In- people valiantly but extended their supremacy 

 oalhward- over Tlmringia. His son, Henry (912- 

 936), was in 919 chosen king of the eastern or 

 German kingdom, and thus the Saxon chief ruler 



'he lii-ail of all the people* in the future 

 Germany. Hemy reduced the Slav triU-s living 

 beyond the Kiln-, mid so made himself master of 

 all the territnrii-x MM bided in the present kingdom 

 of Saxony, the Prussian province of Saxony, the 



Saxon diichii-i, nnd more Iid.-. His son, 

 Otto II.. king of the (iermaiiK, made Count Her 

 maun Itillung dnke of the Saxons, and the dignity 

 confirmed in hi* family down to 1 106. The princi* 

 of thi IIOIIM-. to whom the Saxon |ieoplo were 

 greatly attached, were the most difficult enemies 

 of the German emperors, who after 1024 were 



again men of Prankish race. The power of the 

 Saxon dukes was greatly increased under Henry 

 the Frond of Havaria, who succeeded to the 

 dignity in 1137, and especially under his son 

 Henry the Lion, who conquered Mecklenburg, 

 Hither Pomerania, and Holstein. This prince 

 as deprived of his possessions by the Emperor 

 Frederick I. (1180), who conlined Ilie duchy of the 

 Saxons to the territories lying east of the Ell>e, 

 ami divided those to the west of it between the 

 Archbishop of Cologne and numerous petty bishops 

 and princes. The dignity of duke of the Saxons 

 wax given to Ilcrnard of Ascania, son of the prince 

 of Brandenburg. His descendant, Itudolph II. 

 (1356-70), called himself Elector of Saxony. In 

 1423 the Emjieror Sigismund invested Frederick, 

 Landgrave of Meissen and of Thuringia, with the 

 lief of Saxony. Thus prince, of the House of 

 Wettin, was the ancestor of the reigning royal 

 family in Saxony and of the various dukes of the 

 minor Saxon states. The prince- anil noble- . it" 

 the House of \Vettin frequently divided and inter- 

 changed their possessions in whole or in part, and 

 all the sons ot a deceased elector often ruled in 

 common or in conjunction with uncles, so that the 

 j history of the house is extremely complicated down 

 to the lieginning of the 19th century, lint in 1485 

 a division was made which has in its brood features 

 continued to hold good down to the present day. 

 The family split into two main branches, called. 

 from the two brothers who divided the territories 

 lietwecn them, the (elder) Ernestine and the 

 (younger) Albertine lines. The electoral dignity 

 fell to Ernest, who ruled over Thuringia and the 

 western part of modern Saxony. His on, his 

 grandson, and his great-grandson were all zealous 

 supporters of the Reformation, whilst the heads of 

 the Alliertine branch, who ruled in the eastern 

 lands (beyond the Elbe), although they \vere 

 l'n >iestants, supported the po|>e and the emperor. 

 In 1547 the emjieror, after defeating the Elector 

 of Saxony in battle, deprived him of the dignity 

 and of the greater part of his lands : and gave 

 title and lands to his own ally, the head of the 

 younger line, and with that line they remained, 

 the title licing exchanged in 1806 for the higher 

 dignity of king. Only the Thnringian territories 

 (see SAXON DUCHIES) remained with the older 

 line. 



During the Thirty Years' War the reigning 

 elector. John George I. (1611-56), remained 

 neutral until Tilly invaded his territories; this 

 drove him over to the Protestant side (1631). 

 He made his peace however with the emperor 

 in 10.V), receiving Lusatia ; but in revenge 

 for this desertion the Swedes wrought terrible 

 havoc in his land and amongst his people ten 

 years long. The Elector Frederick Augn-tus 1. 

 (1694-1733), a vain man, fond of magnificence, 

 and eager to make a stir in the world, went 

 over to Roman Catholicism and made an e;> 

 canvas for the throne of Poland. He was chosen 

 king as Augustus II. (q.v.); after that the head- 

 ship of the Protestant states of Germany passed 

 to the Elector of Brandenburg (see PitrssiA), and 

 the court and dynasty of the Piotestanl kingdom 

 of Saxony have remained Catholic till the present 

 day. Saxony, in consequence of this alliance with 

 Poland, was drawn into the war against Charles 

 XII. of Sweden, and again suffered greatly from 

 the Swedish armies. | M the second Silesian war 

 she sided with Austria, was lieaten, and had to 

 pay a million t balers indemnity to Prussia. When 

 the Seven Years' War broke out Frederick the 

 Cireat refused to recognise the neutrality of 

 Saxony, and, capturing her army, treated her as a 

 conquered provii , and forced the elector ( Frede- 

 rick Augustus IL) to take refuge in Poland, to 



