bavarikon4ULucas Cranach the Elder, Elector John the Steadfast of Saxony, 1532 (Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg, M 165)
John the Steadfast (1468–1532) ruled between 1486 and 1525 at the side of his brother Frederick the Wise (1463–1525), elector of Saxony. After Frederick’s death, John succeeded to the electorship and from then on ruled the Ernestine state by himself.
Even more than his brother, Jonn early declared himself in favour of the Reformation and introduced the Lutheran church rules to Saxony in 1526. At the same time, however, he unsuccessfully tried to negotiate with the peasants who had been in revolt since 1524. In the end, Johann saw no other way but to quell the rebellion by force.
The first years of his government were also dominated by the growing tensions between electoral Saxony and King Charles V (Roman-German king 1519–1556, emperor from 1530). Saxony had denied its electoral vote to Charles’s brother Ferdinand (Roman-German king 1531–1564, emperor from 1558) during the election as king of the Romans in 1530/31, but had also formed the Schmalkaldic League with Hesse and with some of the free imperial cities for the defence of the Protestant doctrine.
From now on, the league was increasingly expanded and soon became a stronghold of German Protestantism and the strongest opponent of the emperor within the Holy Roman Empire. Finally, Charles V fought with his army against the league but only gained a temporary victory. With the Augsburg Peace of Religion of 1555, the territorial rulers became free to choose their own confession and that of their subjects.