George I (Anhalt-Zerbst)

Georg I of Anhalt-Zerbst (* approx. 1390; † September 21, 1474 in Dessau ) called "the elder" was a prince of Anhalt-Zerbst .

Life

Georg was the second son of Prince Sigismund I of Anhalt-Zerbst († 1405) from his marriage to Jutta († after 1411), daughter of Count Gebhard von Querfurt . Georg succeeded his older brother Waldemar IV, who died in 1417, in the government.

In the dispute over the Zerbst monastery, Georg granted the ore monastery of Magdeburg significant rights in 1415 and concluded a ten-year alliance with it. After the death of Elector Albrecht III. von Sachsen 1422, Georg withdrew his claims after King Sigismund Friedrich had granted the dispute the electoral dignity, but demanded fiefs from his house on Barby , Walternienburg and Seyda . In a settlement concluded in 1435, Georg received the right to Barby. In 1444 he renewed the alliance with Magdeburg, extending it to all times and including all of the Anhalt princes.

In a city fire in Dessau in 1467, large parts of the princely palace and the state archive were also destroyed. After the death of Prince Bernhard VI. von Anhalt-Bernburg († 1468) his lands fell to Georg. With Bernhard's widow Hedwig von Sagan († 1497) he was in disputes over this for years. In 1470 Georg resigned the government in favor of his four sons, who divided the country. He died four years later in Dessau, where he is also buried.

Marriages and offspring

Georg was married four times. His first marriage to Mathilde († before 1432), daughter of Prince Otto III. von Anhalt-Bernburg , remained childless. From his second marriage to Eufemia († 1444), daughter of Duke Conrad III. von Oels two daughters reached adulthood:

• Anna († 1492)

⚭ 1. 1456/61 (divorced) Burgrave Heinrich II of Meißen († 1484)

⚭ 2. 1467 Count Johann I von Hohnstein († 1498)

• Marie, nun in Brehna

His third wife was Sophie († 1451), daughter of Count Sigismund von Hohnstein , with whom he had the following surviving children:

• Waldemar VI. (1450–1508), Prince of Anhalt-Köthen

⚭ 1485 Countess Margarete von Schwarzburg-Blankenburg (1464–1539)

• Hedwig, nun in Brehna († before 1516)
• Barbara, nun in Brehna
• Agnes (1445–1504), Abbess of Gandersheim 1485, von Neuenheerse 1486, von Kaufungen 1495
• Scholastika (1451–1504), Abbess of Gernrode

In his fourth marriage, Georg married Anna († 1513), daughter of Count Albrecht von Lindow-Ruppin , with whom he had the following children who reached adulthood:

• Ernst († 1516), Prince of Anhalt-Dessau

⚭ 1494 Princess Margarethe von Münsterberg (1473–1530)

• Sigismund III. (1456–1487), Prince of Anhalt-Dessau
• Georg II. (1454–1509), Prince of Anhalt-Köthen

⚭ 1478 Princess Agnes of Pommern-Wolgast († 1512)

• Rudolf IV. († 1510)
• Anna († 1531)

⚭ 1498 Count Johann V of Oldenburg (1460–1526)

literature

• Johann Samuelesch: General Encyclopedia of Sciences and Arts in alphabetical order . tape 59 . J. f. Gleditsch, 1854, p. 283 f .
• August Benedict Michaelis: Introduction to a complete history of the Chur and princely houses in Germany . 1785, p. 573 ff . ( Digitized in the Google book search).
• Stop . In: Heinrich August Pierer , Julius Löbe (Hrsg.): Universal Lexicon of the Present and the Past . 4th edition. tape 1 . Altenburg 1857, p. 502-508 ( zeno.org ).