John George I of Saxony

John George I of Saxony (born March 5, 1585, Dresden, Saxony—died Oct. 18, 1656, Dresden) was the elector of Saxony from 1611, and the “foremost Lutheran prince” of Germany, whose policies lost for Saxony opportunities for ascendancy and territorial expansion. The leader of the German Lutherans, for most of his life John George proved an implacable enemy of Calvinism and preached obedience to the Habsburg emperors. When the adjacent kingdom of Bohemia rebelled in 1618,...