Maurice,  Duke of Saxony 1541-1553, elector since 1547
on coins

*1521. Maurice was considered a talented and promising sovereign. He was politically ambitious but indifferent in religious matters. He supported the emperor against the Schmalkaldic League and won the decisive battle of 1547 against his cousin John Frederic I the Magnanimous. Thus Maurice gained both extensive lands and the electorate.
Maurice was a clever manipulator of alliances. When the increase of the emperor's power after the diet of Augsburg in 1548 caused growing political and religious discontent, Maurice switched sides. He initiated an anti-Habsburg plot of German protestant princes against the emperor in 1551 and also gained the assistance of King Henry II of France. The emperor had to flee from Innsbruck in 1552 when Maurice launched a surprise attack. King Ferdinand I finally mediated an armistice. The terms included the release of Maurice's father in law Philip the Magnanimous, and they eventually prepared the way to the Peace of Augsburg in 1555.
Maurice died at the age of 32 when he fought Albert Alcibiades of Brandenburg-Bayreuth. This looter and outlaw had been his ally only a year before. Maurice won the battle of Sievershausen in 1553, but he was fatally wounded and paid victory with his life.

"Maurice by the grace of God duke of Saxony, Holy Roman Empire"

"Archmarshal and elector , (mint) Annaberg"
Coat of arms: Saxony, Meissen; below: Palatinate Saxony, Landsberg; center: Electoral Duchy of Saxony