Anna of Brandenburg, Duchess of Mecklenburg

Anna of Brandenburg, Duchess of Mecklenburg
Anna of Brandenburg, Duchess of Mecklenburg
Spouse(s)	Albrecht VII, Duke of Mecklenburg
Noble family	House of Hohenzollern
Father	Joachim I, Elector of Brandenburg
Mother	Elisabeth of Denmark
Born	(1507-01-01)1 January 1507
Died	19 June 1567(1567-06-19) (aged 60) Lübz
Buried	Schwerin Cathedral

Anna of Brandenburg (1 January 1507 died June 19, 1567 in Lübz) was a Princess of Brandenburg and by marriage Duchess of Mecklenburg.

Life

Anna was the eldest daughter of the Elector Joachim I of Brandenburg (1484–1535) from his marriage to Elizabeth (1485–1555), daughter of King Johann of Denmark.

She married on 17 January 1524, in Berlin with Duke Albert VII of Mecklenburg (1486–1547). She brought a dowry of 20000guilders into the marriage, and in return received as her jointure the city and district of Lübz and the district of Crivitz.^[1] She was described as unhappy and bitter. She converted from Lutheranism back to Catholicism. She developed no emotional ties to her eldest son and gave all her affection to her two youngest sons.

After her husband's death in 1547, she took up residence at the Eldenburg in her widow seat of Lübz,^[2] which was the only remaining Catholic town in Mecklenburg. In 1559, her son, Duke John Albert I forcibly drove all Catholic priests and monks out of Lübz, despite her objections.^[3]

Anna died in 1567. In her will, dated 25 March 1557, she expressed a desire to be buried according to Catholic rites in the city church in Lübz. John Albert I decided to ignore this request and had her buried in Schwerin Cathedral. No tombstone exists to commemorate her, neither in Lübz, nor in Schwerin.^[4]

Issue

From her marriage Anna had the following children:

• Magnus (1524-1524)
• John Albert I (1525–1576), Duke of Mecklenburg, married
  1. in 1555 Princess Anna Sophie of Prussia (1527–1591)
• Ulrich III (1527–1603), Duke of Mecklenburg, married
  1. in 1556 Princess Elisabeth of Denmark (1524–1586)
  2. in 1588 Princess Anna of Pomerania-Wolgast (1554–1626)
• George (1528–1552)
• Anna (1533–1602), married
  1. in 1566 with Gotthard Kettler, Duke of Courland (1517–1587)
• Louis (1535-1535)
• John (1536-1536)
• Christopher (1537–1592), Administrator of Ratzeburg, married
  1. in 1573 with Princess Dorothea of Denmark (1528–1575)
  2. in 1581 with Princess Elisabeth of Sweden (1549–1597)
• Sophie (1538-1538)
• Charles I (1540–1610), Duke of Mecklenburg

References

• Ernst Seraphim: Geschichte Von Livland: 1. Band: Das Livlndische Mittelalter Und Die Zeit Der Reformation, BiblioBazaar, LLC, 2009, p. 212 ff
• Friedrich Ludwig Röper: Geschichte und Anekdoten von Dobberan in Mecklenburg:, self-published, 1808, p. 176

External links

• http://www.guide2womenleaders.com/womeninpower/Womeninpower1500.htm
• http://www.emecklenburg.de/Niklot/i0128.htm

Footnotes

1. ↑ Verein für Mecklenburgische Geschichte und Alterthumskunde: Mecklenburgische Jahrbücher, vol. 22-23, Schwerin, 1857, p. 14
2. ↑ http://www.luebz-online.de/genealog.htm
3. ↑ Gustav Hempel: Geographisch-statistisch-historisches Handbuch des Meklenburger Landes, E. Frege, 1843, p. 447
4. ↑ Mineker, Ilka, Vom Kloster zur Residenz, Münster 2007, S. 243ff.