Saxon Duchies

The Saxon Duchies were the states of Saxony-Weimar, Saxony-Meiningen, Saxony-Altenburg, Saxony-Coburg, Saxony-Gotha, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and the two principalities of Reuß. These states where created by the Saxon tradition of dividing inhieratence amongst male hiers. Initially within the Holy Roman Empire, they where granted independence by the Congress of Vienna, and were absorbed into the German Empire in 1870. They now constitute the German state of Thuringia.