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Created margraves of Meissen in 1089 and dukes of Saxony in 1423 with the dignity of electors of the Holy Roman Empire, the family also acquired the landgravate of Thuringia in 1263, but divided into two branches in 1485Events August 22 Battle of Bosworth Field is fought between the armies of King Richard III of England and rival claimant to the throne of England Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond. Richard dies in battle and Henry Tudor becomes King Henry VII of England..

The junior Albertine branch ruled as kings of PolandPoland was ruled by dukes (c. 962 1025, 1032 1076, 1079 1295, 1296 1300 and 1306 1320) and kings ( 1025 1032, 1076 1079, 1295 1296, 1300 1305 and 1320 1795). The best-known dynasties are the Piast (c. 962 1370) and Jagiellonian ( 1386 1572): intervening a ( 1697Events September 20 The Treaty of Ryswick December 2 St Paul's Cathedral opened in London Peter the Great travels in Europe officially incognito as "artilleryman Pjotr Mikhailov" Use of palanquins increases in Europe Christopher Polhem starts Sweden's fir - 1763Events February 10 French and Indian War: The 1763 Treaty of Paris ends the war and France cedes Canada to Great Britain. 15 February the Treaty of Hubertusburg puts an end to the Seven Years' War between Prussia and Austria and their allies March 1 Charl) and Saxony ( 1806Events January 8 Cape Colony becomes a British colony January 10 Dutch in Cape Town surrender to the British January 19 The United Kingdom occupies the Cape of Good Hope March 23 After traveling through the Louisiana Purchase and reaching the Pacific Ocea - 1918Events January January 8 President Woodrow Wilson announces his " Fourteen Points" for the aftermath of World War I. February February 3 The Twin Peaks Tunnel begins service in San Francisco as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world (11,920 feet long).), and headed the FrenchThe French Republic or France ( French: Republique francaise or France is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents.-backed Duchy of WarsawThe Duchy of Warsaw was a Polish state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807 from the Polish lands he seized from the Kingdom of Prussia in Treaties of Tilsit. The duchy was in personal union with Saxony under Frederick Augustus I as Duke of Warsaw (1 ( 1807 - 1814) after Russian invasion had thwarted its assumption of a hereditary Polish kingship under the Polish Constitution of 1791.

The senior Ernestine branch lost the electorship to the Albertine in 1547, but retained its holdings in Thuringia, dividing the area into a number of smaller states. One of the resulting Ernestine houses, that of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, went on to contribute kings of Belgium (from 1831) and Bulgaria ( 1908 - 1946), as well as furnishing consorts to queens of Portugal and the United Kingdom ( Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria). As such, the British throne became a possession of the Wettin family.

Although the British Royal Family's Royal House name was Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the descendants of Victoria and Albert had the personal surname of Wettin until 1917, when both the Royal House name and the personal family surname was changed to Windsor. As a result of Queen Elizabeth's marriage to Prince Philip of Greece, the throne will when their son becomes King pass to his family, the house of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, although they probably will continue using the name Windsor as a house name and Mountbatten-Windsor (Mountbatten being an Anglicisation of Battenberg, from the title of Philip's mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg) as a personal surname.

Wettin is also the name of the city from which the Wettin dynasty originated, see Wettin, Saxony-Anhalt.