George the Bearded (German: Georg der Bärtige; 27 August 1471, Meissen – 17 April 1539, Dresden) was Duke of Saxony from 1500 to 1539 and was known for his strong opposition to the Reformation. While the Ernestine line accepted Lutheranism, the Albertines, led by George, resisted religious change. Although he tried to prevent a Lutheran succession, the Act of Settlement of 1499 ensured that, after his death in 1539, Henry IV—a Lutheran—became duke and introduced Lutheranism as the official state religion of the Albertine territories.
George was also a knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece.
His father was Albert the Brave of Saxony, founder of the Albertine line of the Wettin family, his mother was Sidonie, daughter of George of Poděbrady, King of Bohemia. Elector Frederick the Wise, a member of the Ernestine branch of the same family, known for his protection of Luther, was a cousin of Duke George.
George, as the eldest son, received an excellent training in theology and other branches of learning, and was thus much better educated than most of the princes of his day.
As early as 1488, when his father was in East Frisia fighting on behalf of the emperor, George was regent of the ducal possessions, which included the Margraviate of Meissen with the cities of Dresden and Leipzig.
He is buried with his wife Barbara in the purpose-built Georgskapelle in Meissen Cathedral. The room contains a magnificent altarpiece by Lucas Cranach the Elder. In 1677 a highly ornate ceiling was added to the chapel, designed by Wolf Caspar von Klengel.
George was married at Dresden, on 21 November 1496, to Barbara Jagiellon, daughter of Casimir IV, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania and Elisabeth, daughter of Albrecht II of Hungary. They had ten children, but all, with the exception of a daughter, died before their father:
Christof (b. Dresden, 8 September 1497 – d. Leipzig, 5 December 1497).
Johann (b. Dresden, 24 August 1498 – d. Dresden, 11 January 1537), Hereditary Duke of Saxony; married on 20 May 1516 to Elizabeth of Hesse, sister of his brother-in-law. This union was childless.
Wolfgang (b. Dresden, 1499 – d. Dresden, 12 January 1500).
Anna (b. Dresden, 21 January 1500 – d. Dresden, 23 January 1500).
Christof (b. and d. Dresden, 27 May 1501).
Agnes (b. Dresden, 7 January 1503 – d. Dresden, 16 April 1503).
Friedrich (b. Dresden, 15 March 1504 – d. Dresden, 26 February 1539), Hereditary Duke of Saxony; married on 27 January 1539 to Elisabeth of Mansfeld. This union was childless.
Christine (b. Dresden, 25 December 1505 – d. Kassel, 15 April 1549), married on 11 December 1523 to Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse.
Magdalena (b. Dresden, 7 March 1507 – d. Berlin, 25 January 1534), married on 6 November 1524 to Joachim Hector, then Hereditary Elector of Brandenburg.
Margarete (b. Dresden, 7 September 1508 – d. Dresden, 19 December 1510).
In 1498, the emperor granted Albert the Brave the hereditary governorship of Friesland. At Maastricht, 14 February 1499, Albert settled the succession to his possessions, and endeavoured by this arrangement to prevent further partition of his domain. He died 12 September 1500, and was succeeded in his German territories by George as the head of the Albertine line, while George's brother Heinrich became hereditary governor of Friesland.