Dorothea of Brandenburg (1446 – March 1519) was a princess of

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 squ ...

by birth and by marriage Duchess of

Saxe-Lauenburg The Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg (german: Herzogtum Sachsen-Lauenburg, called ''Niedersachsen'' (Lower Saxony) between the 14th and 17th centuries), was a ''reichsfrei'' duchy that existed from 1296–1803 and again from 1814–1876 in the extreme sou ...

Life

Dorothea was the eldest child of Elector Frederick II of Brandenburg (1413–1471) from his marriage to

Catherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

(1421–1476), daughter of Elector

Frederick I Frederick I may refer to: * Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht. * Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978) * Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105) * Frederick I, Count of Zoll ...

of Saxony. She married on 12 February 1464 in

Lüneburg Lüneburg (officially the ''Hanseatic City of Lüneburg'', German: ''Hansestadt Lüneburg'', , Low German ''Lümborg'', Latin ''Luneburgum'' or ''Lunaburgum'', Old High German ''Luneburc'', Old Saxon ''Hliuni'', Polabian ''Glain''), also called ...

Duke

John V John V may refer to: * Patriarch John V of Alexandria or John the Merciful (died by 620), Patriarch of Alexandria from 606 to 616 * John V of Constantinople, Patriarch from 669 to 675 * Pope John V (685–686), Pope from 685 to his death in 686 * ...

of Saxe-Lauenburg (1439–1507). As she was oldest daughter of the Elector Frederick, who had no surviving sons, the marriage agreement was important. In addition to a florins dowry, Frederick promised his son-in-law everything that he could legally leave to his daughter. Later, however, Frederick abdicated in favour of his younger brother

Albert Achilles Albrecht III (9 November 141411 March 1486) was Elector of Brandenburg from 1471 until his death, the third from the House of Hohenzollern. A member of the Order of the Swan, he received the cognomen '' Achilles'' because of his knightly qual ...

, so as to keep his possessions in the family. Frederick also failed to pay the dowry to his son-in-law. This led Dorothea's uncle John the Alchemist to compare himself with the Elector Frederick in 1482.Adolph Friedrich Riedel: ''Codex diplomaticus Brandenburgensis: Sammlung der Urkunden, Chroniken und sonstigen Quellenschriften für die Geschichte der Mark Brandenburg und ihrer Regenten'', vol. 6, F. H. Morin, 1865, p. 121

Offspring

From her marriage with John of Saxony, Angria and Westphalia, as he was officially titled, Dorothea had the following children: * Adelheid (died young) * Sophia (died in or before 1497) : married on 29 November 1491 Anthony of Schauenburg and Holstein-Pinneberg (1439 – 22 December 1526) * Magnus I (1470–1543), Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg *

Eric The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

(1472–1522), as Eric I

prince-bishop of Hildesheim This list records the incumbents of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hildesheim (german: link=no, Bistum Hildesheim). Between 1235 and 1803 the bishops simultaneously officiating as rulers of princely rank (prince-bishop) in the Prince-Bishopric of ...

(1501–1503) and as Eric II prince-bishop of Münster (1508–1522) * Catherine, Cistercian nun in Reinbek bei Hamburg * Bernhard (died 1524),

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

Cologne Cathedral Cologne Cathedral (german: Kölner Dom, officially ', English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a Catholic cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese ...

and

Magdeburg Cathedral Magdeburg Cathedral (german: Magdeburger Dom), officially called the Cathedral of Saints Maurice and Catherine (german: Dom zu Magdeburg St. Mauritius und Katharina), is a Protestant cathedral in Germany and the oldest Gothic cathedral in the cou ...

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

(1483–1547), as John IV

Prince-Bishop of Hildesheim This list records the incumbents of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hildesheim (german: link=no, Bistum Hildesheim). Between 1235 and 1803 the bishops simultaneously officiating as rulers of princely rank (prince-bishop) in the Prince-Bishopric of ...

(1503–1547) * Rudolph (died 1503) * Elisabeth (died circa 1542) : married Duke Henry IV of Brunswick-Grubenhagen (1460–1526) * Henry (died young) * Frederick (died before 1501) * Anna (died 1504) : married firstly in 1490 Count John of Lindau-Ruppin (died 1500) : married secondly, in about 1503, Count Frederick Spiegelberg (died 1537)

Ancestors

References

* Hermann von Ohnesorge: ''Geschichte des Entwicklungsganges der Brandenburg-Preußischen Monarchie'', J.C. Hinrichs, 1841, p. 219

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorothea Of Brandenburg, Duchess Of Saxe-Lauenburg People from the Margraviate of Brandenburg House of Hohenzollern 1446 births 1519 deaths Duchesses of Saxe-Lauenburg Daughters of monarchs