George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach

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George the Pious
Margrave of Ansbach
Reign1536–1543
PredecessorFrederick I
SuccessorGeorge Frederick
Born(1484-03-04)4 March 1484
Ansbach
Died27 December 1543(1543-12-27) (aged 59)
Ansbach
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1509; died 1510)​
​
​
(m. 1525; died 1531)​
​
(m. 1533)​
Issue
Sophia of Poland
George the Pious, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach by Lucas Cranach the Younger (1571)
Coat of arms of George the Pious and his three wives

George of Brandenburg-Ansbach (German: Georg; 4 March 1484 – 27 December 1543), known as George the Pious (Georg der Fromme), was a Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach from the House of Hohenzollern.

Biography

Early life

He was born in

Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia. In 1521 he made an arrangement with Petar Keglević and pulled back from Hungary and Croatia; this arrangement, accepted by Louis II in 1526, was not accepted by Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I
until 1559.

Territories and influence

At the court of Hungary there were two parties arrayed against each other: the

king of Bohemia
, who could not redeem his debts.

By the further appropriation of the

Teutonic Order, he turned his eyes and heart to the new faith proceeding from Wittenberg
.

Conversion

The first reformatory writings began the work of winning him over to the evangelical cause.

Albert's secularization of the Teutonic Order's state of Prussia into the secular Duchy of Prussia
.

After the accession of King Louis II, George was aided in his reforming efforts by

Münsterberg-Oels
, who had both admitted the Reformation into their territories, contributed not a little to the expansion of the gospel in his own lands. But it was his own personal influence, energy, and practical spirit that introduced the new doctrine and founded a new evangelical and churchly life. He made efforts to secure preachers of the new gospel from Hungary, Silesia, and Franconia, and tried to introduce the church order of Brandenburg-Nuremberg, which had already found acceptance in the Franconian territories.

Reformation in Franconia

In the hereditary lands

Brandenburg-Kulmbach
he had assumed the regency in place of their father, he encountered greater difficulties, although the popular spirit was inclined toward the Reformation. Owing to his marriage with a Bavarian princess and to his military command in the imperial service, his brother was allied more closely with the old church and resisted the new reforming efforts. But the pressure of the estates of the land soon compelled him to allow preaching according to Luther's doctrine, although he ensured retention of the old church ceremonies, even of those that were contrary to the new faith.

George protested against such half-measures and showed his dissatisfaction with the half-hearted resolutions of the state assembly of October 1526. It was only after the death of his brother that as sole ruler he could successfully undertake and carry out reformation in the Franconian territories, with the assistance of councillors such as

church order
of Brandenburg-Nuremberg of 1533 was developed. After its introduction in Nuremberg and his territories in Franconia, it was also introduced in his dominions in Upper Silesia.

Influence beyond his territories

George's influence manifested itself also in the development of the German Reformation as a whole. When a union of the evangelicals in upper and lower Germany was contemplated as a means of improved defense against the retaliatory measures of the

Roman Catholic Church, George had a meeting with Elector John of Saxony at Schleitz in 1529, where they agreed on certain articles of faith and confession to be drawn up by Luther; the commission was executed in the seventeen articles of Schwabach on the basis of the fifteen theses of the Marburg Colloquy
.

But neither at the Convention of Schwabach nor at that of

Joachim II made a last attempt to bridge the differences between the Catholics and Lutherans and with his nephew requested Luther's cooperation. The Diet of Regensburg
was the last religious meeting which he attended.

He is one of the figures on the Prussian Homage painting by Jan Matejko.

Family and children

Beatrice de Frangepan, George's first wife.
Emilie of Saxony, George's third wife.

George was married three times. His first marriage was to Beatrice de Frangepan (1480 – c. 1510) on 21 January 1509 in Gyula; the marriage produced no children.

George's second marriage took place on 9 January 1525, to Hedwig of Münsterberg-Oels (1508–1531), daughter of Charles I of Münsterberg-Oels; their marriage produced two daughters:

His third wife was Emilie of Saxony (27 July 1516 – 9 March 1591), daughter of Henry IV, Duke of Saxony, and Catherine of Mecklenburg on 25 August 1533:

Ancestry

References

  1. ^ Janssen, Johannes (1903). History of the German People at the Close of the Middle Ages, Volume 5. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. pp. 282–283.
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George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
Born: 4 March 1484 in Ansbach Died: 27 December 1543 ibidem
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach

1536–1543 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Jägerndorf

1523–1543
Preceded by Duke of Oppeln-Ratibor
1532–1543
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