1.
Elector of Brandenburg
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This article lists the Margraves and Electors of Brandenburg during the period of time that Brandenburg was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire. The Mark, or March, of Brandenburg was one of the constituent states of the Holy Roman Empire. It was created in 1157 as the Margraviate of Brandenburg by Albert the Bear, Margrave of the Northern March. In 1356, by the terms of the Golden Bull of Charles IV, the early rulers came from several different dynasties, but from 1415 Brandenburg and its successor states were ruled by the House of Hohenzollern for over 500 years. From 1618 onward, Brandenburg was ruled in union with the Duchy of Prussia. The titles of Margrave of Brandenburg and Elector of Brandenburg were abolished along with the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, from 1871 to 1918 the Hohenzollerns were also the German Emperors. The upper president carried out central prerogatives on the provincial level and these parliaments legislated within the competences transferred to the provinces. The provincial diet of Brandenburg elected an executive body, the provincial committee, and a head of province. Self-rule was abolished under the Nazi dictatorship, after being abolished in a reorganization of the territories administered by the German Democratic Republic, the Land Brandenburg was restored in the prelude to German unification in 1990. Matthias Platzeck, 2002–2013 Dietmar Woidke, since 2013
2.
Albrecht III Achilles, Elector of Brandenburg
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Albert III, often known simply as Albert Achilles, was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg. He received the cognomen Achilles because of his qualities and virtues. He also ruled the Principality of Ansbach, Albert was born in Tangermünde as the third son of Elector Frederick I and his wife, Elisabeth of Bavaria-Landshut. On the division of territory which followed his fathers death in 1440, although his resources were meager, he soon took a leading place among the German princes and was especially prominent in resisting the attempts of the towns to obtain self-government. In 1443, Albert formed a league directed mainly against Nuremberg and it was not until 1448, however, that he found a pretext for attack. The attempt to secure these thrones for the Hohenzollerns through this marriage failed, in 1470, Albert, who had inherited Bayreuth on the death of his brother John in 1464, became Margrave of Brandenburg, owing to the abdication of his remaining brother, Elector Frederick II. He was soon engaged in its administration, and by the Treaty of Prenzlau in 1472 he brought Pomerania also under his supremacy. Alberts main attention afterwards was claimed by the business of the empire, soon after taking part in the election of Maximilian as King of the Romans, Albert died at Frankfurt in March 1486. He left an amount of treasure. Aided by King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, Jan of Żagań invaded Brandenburg, first, he married 12 November 1446 Margaret of Baden, daughter of Margrave Jakob I of Baden and Catherine of Lorraine. From this marriage he had following children, Wolfgang, born, ursula, married Duke Henry I, Duke of Münsterberg-Oels. Elisabeth, married Eberhard II, Duke of Württemberg, margareta, abbess of the Poor Clares convent at Hof. Margaret died 24 October 1457 and in 1458 Albert married Anna, daughter of Frederick II, Elector of Saxony and their children were, Frederick I, Margrave in Ansbach since 1486 and Bayreuth since 1495. Amalie, married Kaspar, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, Anna, born and died in 1462. Barbara, married, in Berlin 11 October 1472 to Duke Henry XI of Głogów, in Frankfurt 20 August 1476 to King Ladislaus II of Bohemia, Albrecht, born and died in 1466. Sibylle, married Duke Wilhelm IV of Jülich and Berg, Albrecht, born and died in 1470. Elisabeth, married Count Hermann VIII of Henneberg-Aschach Magdalene, anastasia, married Count William IV of Henneberg-Schleusingen Mario Müller, Kurfürst Albrecht Achilles. Kurfürst von Brandenburg, Burggraf von Nürnberg, Ansbach 2014, attribution, This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Albert III
3.
Joachim I Nestor, Elector of Brandenburg
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Joachim I Nestor was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, the fifth member of the House of Hohenzollern. His nickname was taken from King Nestor of Greek mythology, the eldest son of John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg, Joachim received an excellent education under the supervision of Dietrich von Bülow, Bishop of Lebus and Chancellor of Frankfurt University. He became Elector of Brandenburg upon his fathers death in January 1499 and he also improved the administration of justice, aided the development of commerce, and was sympathetic to the needs to the towns. On the approach of the election of 1519, Joachims vote was eagerly solicited by the partisans of King Francis I of France. In spite of this, relations between the Emperor and the Elector were not friendly, and during the few years Joachim was frequently in communication with Charles enemies. Since prince-episcopal sees were so influential, competing candidates usually ran for them, a candidature could turn into a bribery competition, without ever knowing exactly how much competitors paid to obtain office. This exhausted their means and caused them to incur vast debts with the Fuggers, the neighbouring Electorate of Saxony also bid for the See of Mainz, but failed to secure it. The Saxon elector Frederick the Wise had debts of his own as a result, frustrated, he forbade the sale of indulgences in his electorate and allowed Martin Luther to polemicize against them. Joachim Nestors brother, Archbishop Albert, was the object of Luthers attack. He urged on the Emperor the need to enforce the Edict of Worms, a patron of learning, Joachim Nestor established the Viadrina university of Frankfurt in 1506. He promoted Georg von Blumenthal, the Pillar of Catholicism, as Chancellor of Frankfurt University, Bishop of Lebus and he was among those who met at Dessau in July 1525 and was a member of the league established at Halle in November 1533. But his wife, against his will, like her brother King Christian of Denmark, became Lutheran and he experienced the mortification of seeing Protestantism also favoured by other members of his family. He died at Stendal in 1535
4.
Ansbach
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Ansbach is a city in the German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of the region of Middle Franconia. Ansbach is 25 miles southwest of Nuremberg and 90 miles north of Munich, on the Fränkische Rezat, in 2004, its population was 40,723. Developed in the 8th century as a Benedictine monastery, it became the seat of the Hohenzollern family in 1331, in 1460, the Margraves of Brandenburg-Ansbach lived here. The city has a known as Margrafen–Schloss, built between 1704–1738. It was not badly damaged during the World Wars and hence retains its original historical baroque sheen, Ansbach is now home to a US military base and to the Ansbach University of Applied Sciences. The city has connections via autobahn A6 and highways B13 and B14, Ansbach station is on the Nürnberg–Crailsheim and Treuchtlingen–Würzburg railways and is the terminus of line S4 of the Nuremberg S-Bahn. Ansbach was originally called Onoltesbach, a composed of three parts. The individual word elements are Onold, the Suffix -es and the Old High German expression pah or bach, the name of the city has slightly changed throughout the centuries into Onoltespah, Onoldesbach, Onoldsbach, Onelspach, Onsbach and finally Ansbach. It was also known as Anspach. According to folklore, towards the end of the 7th century a group of Franconian peasants and their leader Onold led them to an area called the Rezattal. This is where they founded the Urhöfe, gradually more settlers, such as the Winden-Tribe came, and the farms grew into a small village. Many villages around Ansbach were founded by the Winden during that period, a Benedictine monastery was established there around 748 by the Frankish noble St Gumbertus. The adjoining village of Onoltesbach is first noticed as a town in 1221. The counts of Öttingen ruled over Ansbach until the Hohenzollern burgrave of Nürnberg took over in 1331, the Hohenzollerns made Ansbach the seat of their dynasty until their acquisition of the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1415. After the 1440 death of Frederick I, a branch of the family established itself as the margraves of Ansbach. George the Pious introduced the Protestant Reformation to Ansbach in 1528, the Markgrafenschloß was built between 1704–1738. Its gardens continued to be an attraction into the 19th century
5.
Arneburg
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Arneburg is a town in the district of Stendal, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the bank of the Elbe, approx. It is part of the Verbandsgemeinde Arneburg-Goldbeck, the stronghold was founded by Henry the Fowler on the Elbe as a bulwark against the Wends. Arneburg was an important Hohenzollern possession and indeed the Elector John Cicero died there in 1499, the ruins are now part of a park surrounded by a pretty town
6.
Margaret of Thuringia
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Margaret of Saxony was a German noblewoman, Electress of Brandenburg by marriage. She was the daughter of William III, Duke of Luxemburg, on 15 August 1476, in Berlin, she married John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg. They had the children, Wolfgang, born and died 1482. Albert, Cardinal since 1518, Archbishop of Magdeburg in 1513-14, anna, married 10 April 1502 to the future King Frederick I of Denmark. Ursula, married 16 February 1507 to Henry V, Duke of Mecklenburg
7.
Albert of Brandenburg
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Cardinal Albert of Brandenburg was Elector and Archbishop of Mainz from 1514 to 1545, and Archbishop of Magdeburg from 1513 to 1545. Born in Kölln, Albert was the son of John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg. After their fathers death, Albert and his older brother Joachim I Nestor became margraves of Brandenburg in 1499, in 1514 he obtained the Electorate of Mainz, and in 1518 was made a cardinal at the age of 28. An agent of the Fuggers subsequently traveled in the Cardinals retinue in charge of the cashbox and he procured the services of John Tetzel to sell the indulgences. This so infuriated Martin Luther that he was driven to write his famous 95 Theses which led to the Reformation, Luther sent these to Albert on 31 October 1517 and according to tradition nailed them to the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg. Albert forwarded the theses to Rome, suspecting them of heresy, Cardinal Albert needed a prestigious church that met his expectations at a central location in his Residenz town. Albert feared for his peace of mind in heaven, and collected more than 8,100 relics and 42 holy skeletons which needed to be stored and these precious treasures known as Hallesches Heilthum and indirectly related to the sale of indulgences had triggered the Reformation a few years before. The new doctrines nevertheless made considerable progress in his dominions, during his latter years showed more intolerance towards the Protestants, and favoured the teaching of the Jesuits in his dominions. The service must have been at least partly conducted in the open air, Jonas began a successful preaching crusade and attracted so many people the church overflowed. Cardinal Albert left the town for good, after the estates in the city had announced that they would take over his enormous debt at the bank of Jacob Fugger. Halle became Protestant and in 1542 Jonas was appointed as priest to St. Marys, Albert adorned the collegiate church at Halle and the cathedral at Mainz in sumptuous fashion, and took as his motto the words Domine, dilexi decorem domus tuae. A generous patron of art and learning, he counted Erasmus among his friends and he died at the Martinsburg, Mainz in 1545. Kardinal Albrecht von Brandenburg, ein Renaissancefürst auf dem Mainzer Bischofsthron, der Kardinal Albrecht von Brandenburg, Renaissancefürst und Mäzen. 2 v. Regensburg, Schnell + Steiner,2006, katalog / herausgegeben von Thomas Schauerte—Bd. Essays / herausgegeben von Andreas Tacke, mit Beiträgen von Bodo Brinkmann, note, Exhibition held September 9 – November 26,2006, Halle an der Saale. Prayer Book of Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg, the J. Paul Getty Museum, viewed 24 July 2016
8.
Anna of Brandenburg
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Anna of Brandenburg was a German noblewoman. Anna was the daughter of Johann Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg and she was born in Berlin, Brandenburg, and died in Kiel, Holstein. In 1500 she was betrothed to Frederick, then Duke of Schleswig and Holstein and, after her death, king of Denmark, because they were second cousins their marriage required a Papal dispensation. In addition, the marriage was not held until 10 April 1502 due to Annas youth, the marriage, held in Stendal, was a double one, on the same day, Annas brother Joachim and Fredericks niece Elisabeth were married. Anna and Frederick had two children, Christian III of Denmark Dorothea, married 1 July 1526 to Albert, Duke of Prussia She died in 1514 at age 26 and her husband was remarried, to Sophie of Pomerania, and had six more children. Media related to Anna of Brandenburg at Wikimedia Commons
9.
Dynasty
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A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
