Anna Sophia of Prussia
Anna Sophia of Prussia | |
|---|---|
 Anna Sophia of Prussia, Duchess of Mecklenburg | |
| Born | 11 June 1527 Königsberg |
| Died | 6 February 1591 (aged 63) Lübz |
| Buried | Schwerin Cathedral |
| Noble family | House of Hohenzollern |
| Spouse(s) | John Albert I, Duke of Mecklenburg |
| Issue | John VII, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin |
| Father | Albert, Duke in Prussia |
| Mother | Dorothea of Denmark |
Anna Sophia of Prussia (11 June 1527 – 6 February 1591) was Duchess of Mecklenburg by marriage to John Albert I, Duke of Mecklenburg.
Life[edit]
Anna Sophie was born in Königsberg, the oldest and only surviving child of Duke Albert of Prussia (1490-1568) from his first marriage with Dorothea (1504-1547), a daughter of King Frederick I of Denmark. From her mother, she received an extensive education in naturopathy and gynecology.[1] Already in 1546, the estates of Prussia agreed to a so-called "dowry tax" to provide the dowry of 30000 guilders she would receive when she married.
She married on 24 February 1555 in Wismar to Duke John Albert I of Mecklenburg (1525-1576). As a wedding gift, her father mediated in a dispute between her husband and his brother Ulrich, Duke of Mecklenburg.[2] On the occasion of his marriage, Duke John Albert I had the Fürstenhof Palace in Wismar remodeled in a Renaissance style. After the wedding, John Albert I and his bride moved into this palace.[3]
John Albert I and Anna Sophia had three sons; she was described as a loving mother.[4] John Albert I remained a loyal ally to his father-in-law, in the Holy Roman Empire as well as in Livonia. Since Duke Albert had no surviving sons of his own, he attempted several times, unsuccessfully, to make John Albert I his heir and successor in the Duchy of Prussia.
After John Albert I died in 1576, Anna Sophia retired to her Wittum in Lübz, where she died in 1591. She was buried in Schwerin Cathedral.
Issue[edit]
Anna Sophia and her husband had three sons:
- Albert (1556–1561), titular Duke of Mecklenburg
- John VII (1558-1592), ruling Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin from 1576 to 1592, married in 1588 to Duchess Sophia of Holstein-Gottorp (1569-1634)
- Sigismund August, (1560–1600), titular Duke of Mecklenburg, married in 1593 to Duchess Maria Clara of Pomerania-Barth (1574-1623)
References[edit]
- Karl Friedrich Pauli: Allgemeine preussische Staatsgeschichte, C. P. Francken, 1762, p. 458
- Dietmar Willoweit, Hans Lemberg: Reiche und Territorien in Ostmitteleuropa: historische Beziehungen und politische Herrschaftslegitimation, Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, Munich, 2006, p. 64 f.
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Footnotes[edit]
- ^ Martina Schattkowsky: Witwenschaft in der frühen Neuzeit: fürstliche und adlige Witwen zwischen Fremd- und Selbstbestimmung, Leipziger Universitätsverlag, Leipzig, 2003, p. 207
- ^ Karl Friedrich Pauli: Allgemeine preussische Staats-Geschichte, C. P. Francken, 1762, p. 443
- ^ Christiane Petri: ADAC Reiseführer Plus Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, ADAC Verlag DE, Munich, 2006, p. 19
- ^ Friedrich August von Rudloff: Neuere Geschichte von Mecklenburg, Stiller, 1822, S. 27