Moritz was succeeded in the electorate by his brother August, who remained staunchly Lutheran and a steadfast ally of the emperor, well-aware that the Albertine Wettins owed their status to imperial favour.

The young elector's reign was immediately hit with internal strife; Christian I's unexpected death had sparked rumours that he had been poisoned by a Lutheran establishment in Saxony to forestall a Calvinist reformation.

Convinced that he had corrupted her late husband, Sophie worked to have Krell executed, though found herself obstructed by the imperial courts.

Sophie worked to maintain Saxony's support of Emperor Rudolf II despite the lack of any tangible benefits, with a Saxon privy councillor noting in 1610 "politically, we're papists".

Despite numerous delays from the imperial courts of justice, eventually the Reichshofrat confirmed the death sentence of Krell, despite lack of evidence of any conspiracy and pleas of mercy from Elizabeth I of England and Henri IV of France.

Saxon prestige meant that Christian II was now the spokesman of Protestant issues and the Palatinate began to fall in line with Saxony's moderate language.

The collapse of the 1608 Reichstag suggested the futility in Christian II's faith in imperial institutions and safeguards for Protestant princes.

Christian of Anhalt capitalised on the discontent and united his peers behind the Protestant Union on 14 May, under the leadership of Frederick IV, Elector Palatine.