Elisabeth of Brandenburg-Küstrin

Elizabeth of Brandenburg-Küstrin (29 August 1540 – 8 March 1578), was a princess of Brandenburg-Küstrin and margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Brandenburg-Kulmbach by marriage.

Elisabeth of Brandenburg-Küstrin
Elisabeth of Brandenburg-Küstrin (painting by Lucas Cranach the Younger, 1579, Alte Pinakothek, Munich)
Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach
Tenure1558-1578
Born29 August 1540
Küstrin
Died8 March 1578(1578-03-08) (aged 37)
Warsaw
Burial
SpouseGeorge Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
HouseHouse of Hohenzollern
FatherJohn, Margrave of Brandenburg-Küstrin
MotherCatherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

Life

edit

Elizabeth was the elder of two daughters of Margrave John of Brandenburg-Küstrin (1513–1571) from his marriage to Catherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1518–1574), daughter of the Duke Henry V of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

On 26 December 1558 Elisabeth married Margrave George Frederick I of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Kulmbach (1539–1603) in Küstrin. From 1577, he acted as governor in the Duchy of Prussia on behalf of Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia.

Elisabeth died during her stay at the Warsaw court, where her husband was to be awarded the ducal title by the Polish king Stefan Batory. Elizabeth was buried in Königsberg Cathedral. Her husband ordered the Dutch sculptor Willem van Bloche to create a grave monument for her. It was completed in 1582 and was erected as a "governor monument" in the Cathedral.

Elisabeth of Brandenburg-Küstrin
Born: 29 August 1540 Died: 8 March 1578
German nobility
Vacant
Title last held by
Emilie of Saxony
Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach
26 December 1558 - 8 March 1578
Vacant
Title next held by
Sophie of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Vacant
Title last held by
Susanna of Bavaria
Margravine of Brandenburg-Kulmbach
26 December 1558 - 8 March 1578

References

edit
  • Andrea Baresel-Brand: grave monuments of northern European royal houses in the Age of the Renaissance 1550-1650, Ludwig Verlag, 2007, p. 149 ff.
  • C.J. St. Czilsky: Princess Elizabeth of Brandenburg: a historical picture of life during the Reformation, Martens, 1859, p. 342