John George, Elector of Brandenburg

John George of Brandenburg (German: Johann Georg) (11 September 1525 – 8 January 1598) was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (1571–1598) and a Duke of Prussia. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the son of Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg, and his first wife Magdalena of Saxony.

Faced with large debts accumulated during the reign of his father, John George instituted a grain tax which drove part of the peasantry into dependence on a nobility that was exempt from taxation. Though a staunch Lutheran opposed to the rise of Calvinism, he permitted the admission of Calvinist refugees from the wars in the Spanish Netherlands and France. He was succeeded by his son Joachim Frederick.

Upon the death of his kinsman Albert I, Duke of Prussia in 1568, the Duchy of Prussia was inherited by the latter's underage son Albert Frederick. John George's father was a co-inheritor of the Duchy of Prussia. In 1577 the Brandenburg electors became co-regent with Duke Albert Frederick of Prussia.

Family and children

John George was married three times.

His first wife was Princess Sophie of Legnica (ca. 1525 – 6 February 1546), whom he married in 1545. They had one child together:

1. Joachim Frederick (27 January 1546–1608)

Secondly, he married Margravine Sabina of Brandenburg-Ansbach (12 May 1529 – 2 November 1575), daughter of George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, in 1548. They had the following children:

1. George Albert (1555–1557)
2. John
3. Albert
4. Magdalena Sabina
5. Erdmuthe (26 June 1561 – 13 November 1623), married in 1577 to Duke John Frederick of Pomerania
6. Marie
7. Magdalena
8. Margaret
9. Anna Maria (3 February 1567 – 4 November 1618), married in 1581 to Duke Barnim X of Pomerania
10. Sophie (6 June 1568 – 7 December 1622), married in 1582 to Elector Christian I of Saxony

Thirdly, he married Princess Elisabeth of Anhalt-Zerbst (15 September [O.S. 5 September] 1563 – 5 October 1607) in 1577. They had the following children:

1. Christian (1581–1655)
2. Magdalena (7 January 1582 – 4 May 1616), married in 1598 to Landgrave Louis V of Hesse-Darmstadt
3. Joachim Ernest (1583–1625)
4. Agnes (1584–1629), married:
   1. in 1604 Duke Philipp Julius of Pomerania;
   2. in 1628 Duke Francis Charles of Saxe-Lauenburg
5. Frederick (1588–1611)
6. Elisabeth Sophia of Brandenburg (July 13, 1589 – December 24, 1629), married:
   1. in 1613 to Reichsfürst (Prince) Janusz Radziwiłł;
   2. on 27 February 1628 to Duke Julius Henry of Saxe-Lauenburg
7. Dorothea Sibylle (19 October 1590 – 9 March 1625), married in 1610 to Duke John Christian of Brieg
8. George Albert (1591–1615)
9. Sigismund (20 November 1592 – 30 April 1640)
10. John (1597–1627), Bishop of Havelberg
11. Joha George (1598–1637)

Ancestors

External links

• A portrait with ducal title