Duchess Anna of Prussia

Anna of Prussia
Electress consort of Brandenburg Duchess consort of Prussia
Anna of Prussia
Spouse(s)	John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg
Noble family	Hohenzollern
Father	Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia
Mother	Marie Eleonore of Cleves
Born	3 July 1576 Königsberg
Died	30 August 1625 (aged 49) Berlin

An allegory of the union of the lands united under Brandenburg through the inheritance rights of Anna of Prussia.

Duchess Anna of Prussia and Jülich-Cleves-Berg (3 July 1576 – 30 August 1625) was the daughter of Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia, and Marie Eleonore of Cleves. She became the spouse of John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg.

Biography

Anna was married to John Sigismund on 30 October 1594. Before the marriage, his mother, Catherine of Brandenburg-Küstrin, pointed out that Anna was not beautiful, but the marriage was arranged in order to secure the incorporation of the Duchy of Prussia into the Electorate of Brandenburg through Anna, whose father had no surviving male heirs. This was a political match of exceptional importance, since Anna was not only heir to Prussia, but also the expected heir of Cleves, Jülich and Berg, as well as Mark and Ravensberg.

Anna was described as intellectually superior to her spouse, temperamental and strong-willed. She is reported to have thrown plates and glasses at her spouse during arguments. She fought on her own to secure her succession rights to various fiefs and handled negotiations with her competitors. In 1612, she placed her demands before the Emperor. After the conversion of her spouse to Calvinism, Anna became the protector and spokesperson of the Lutherans. She continued to play an important role during the reign of her son. She opposed the Habsburgs and secured the marriage of her daughter Maria Eleonora to the King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden against her son's will in 1620.

Issue

• George William (13 November 1595 – 1 December 1640); successor of John Sigismund.
• Anne Sophia of Brandenburg (15 March 1598 – 19 December 1659); married Frederick Ulrich, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg.
• Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg (11 November 1599 – 28 March 1655); married Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. They were parents of Christina of Sweden.
• Catherine of Brandenburg (28 May 1602 – 27 August 1644); married first Gabriel Bethlen, Prince of Transylvania and secondly Franz Karl of Saxe-Lauenburg.
• Joachim Sigismund of Brandenburg (25 July 1603 – 22 February 1625).
• Agnes of Brandenburg (31 August 1606 – 12 March 1607).
• John Frederick of Brandenburg (18 August 1607 – 1 March 1608).
• Albrecht Christian of Brandenburg (7–14 March 1609).

References