John Sigismund (; 8 November 1572 – 23 December 1619) was a
Prince-elector
The prince-electors ( pl. , , ) were the members of the Electoral College of the Holy Roman Empire, which elected the Holy Roman Emperor. Usually, half of the electors were archbishops.
From the 13th century onwards, a small group of prince- ...
of the
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg () was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that, having electoral status although being quite poor, grew rapidly in importance after inheriting the Duchy of Prussia in 1618 and then came ...
from the
House of Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern (, ; , ; ) is a formerly royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) German dynasty whose members were variously princes, Prince-elector, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern Castle, Hohenzollern, Margraviate of Bran ...
. He became the
Duke of Prussia through his marriage to
Duchess Anna, the eldest daughter of
Duke Albert Frederick of Prussia who died without sons. Their marriage resulted in the potential creation of
Brandenburg-Prussia, which became a reality after Poland's leader appointed John Sigismund in charge of Prussia in regency and, shortly thereafter, Albert Frederick died without an able, direct male heir.
Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia
John Sigismund was born in
Halle an der Saale to
Joachim III Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg
Joachim Frederick (27 January 1546 – 18 July 1608), of the House of Hohenzollern, was Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from 1598 until his death.
Biography
Joachim Frederick was born in Cölln to John George, Elector of Brand ...
, and his first wife
Catherine of Brandenburg-Küstrin. He succeeded his father as
Margrave of Brandenburg
This article lists the Margraves and Electors of Brandenburg during the time when Brandenburg was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire.
The Mark, or ''March'', of Brandenburg was one of the primary constituent states of the Holy Roman Emp ...
in 1608. In 1611, John Sigismund traveled from
Königsberg
Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...
to
Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
, where on 16 November 1611 he gave
feudal homage to
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa (, ; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632
N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Re ...
,
King of Poland
Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of Royal elections in Poland, free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electab ...
(the Duchy of Prussia was a Polish fief at the time). He officially became Duke of Prussia in 1618, although he had served as regent on behalf of the mentally-disturbed
Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia, for several years prior. He suffered a stroke in 1616 from which he didn't recover and died in 1619.
John Sigismund gave the Reichshof
Castrop to his teacher and educator Carl Friedrich von Bordelius. Through his wife, he became a major claimant in the
War of the Julich Succession. He received the territories of
Cleves,
Mark, and
Ravensberg in the
Treaty of Xanten
The Treaty of Xanten () was signed in the Lower Rhenish town of Xanten on 12 November 1614 between Wolfgang Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg and John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg, with representatives from Kingdom of England, England and Kin ...
in 1614.
Religious policy
John Sigismund's most significant action was his conversion from
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
to
Calvinism
Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyteri ...
, after he had earlier equalized the rights of Catholics and Protestants in the Duchy of Prussia under pressure from the King of Poland. He probably became Calvinist during a visit to
Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...
in 1606, but it was not until 25 December 1613 that he publicly took
communion according to the Calvinist rite. The vast majority of his subjects in Brandenburg, including his wife
Anna of Prussia, remained deeply Lutheran, however. After the Elector and his Calvinist court officials drew up plans for mass conversion of the population to the new faith in February 1614, as provided for by the rule of ''
Cuius regio, eius religio'' within the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
, there were serious protests, with his wife backing the Lutherans. Resistance was so strong that in 1615, John Sigismund backed down and relinquished all attempts at forcible conversion. Instead, he allowed his subjects to be either Lutheran or Calvinist according to the dictates of their own consciences. Henceforward, Brandenburg-Prussia would be a bi-confessional state.
[Christopher Clark ''The Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia 1600-1947'' (Penguin, 2007) pp. 115–121]
Family and children
On 30 October 1594, John Sigismund married
Anna of Prussia, daughter of
Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia (1553–1618). She was the elder sister of his stepmother. They were parents to eight children:
*
George William of Brandenburg (13 November 1595 – 1 December 1640). His successor.
*
Anna Sophia of Brandenburg (18 March 1598 – 19 December 1659). Married
Frederick Ulrich, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Frederick Ulrich (German Friedrich Ulrich, 5 April 1591 – 11 August 1634), Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, was prince of Wolfenbüttel from 1613 until his death.
Life
Frederick Ulrich was the son of Duke Henry Julius of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel a ...
.
*
Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg (11 November 1599 – 28 March 1655). Married
. They were parents of
.
*
Catherine of Brandenburg (28 May 1602 – 27 August 1649). Married first
Gabriel Bethlen,
Prince of Transylvania and secondly Franz Karl of
Saxe-Lauenburg
The Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg (, ), was a ''reichsfrei'' duchy that existed from 1296 to 1803 and again from 1814 to 1876 in the extreme southeast region of what is now Schleswig-Holstein. Its territorial centre was in the modern district of Herz ...
.
* Joachim Sigismund of Brandenburg (25 July 1603 – 22 February 1625) died aged 25 unmarried and without issue.
* Agnes of Brandenburg (31 August 1606 – 12 March 1607) died in infancy.
* John Frederick of Brandenburg (18 August 1607 – 1 March 1608) died in infancy.
* Albrecht Christian of Brandenburg (7–14 March 1609) died in infancy.
Ancestry
References
External links
*
Settlement of Dortmund between Brandenburg and Palatinate-Neuburg and the conflict of succession in Jülich, in full text*
{{Authority control
1572 births
1619 deaths
17th-century dukes of Prussia
People from Halle (Saale)
Prince-electors of Brandenburg
House of Hohenzollern
German Calvinist and Reformed Christians
Dukes of Prussia
Electoral Princes of Brandenburg
John Sigismund
Burials at Berlin Cathedral
Regents of Prussia
17th-century regents