start page
Contemporaries in the Holy Roman Empire
|
Hohenzollern in Brandenburg
Joachim I, Elector of Brandenburg 1499-1535
|
|
Joachim I, "Nestor", Elector of Brandenburg 1499-1535
on coins
*1484. Joachim succeeded his father, elector Johann Cicero, at the age of 15. Joachim had to share power with his younger brother Albert until Albert turned to the church. He became Archbishop an Elector of Mayence in later years. After emperor Maximilian's death, Joachim competed in vain for the imperial crown. He was the last to give his assent to the election of Charles V, thus forfeiting Charles's favour. However, Joachim was an adamant opponent of the Reformation, and he supported Charles V when he issued the Edict of Worms in 1521 which outlawed Luther. His wife Elisabeth of Denmark, who declared herself for the Reformation, had to seek refuge in Saxony in 1528. During the Imperial Diet of Augsburg in 1530, Joachim stood for a strict and unyieldingly anti-protestant attitude.
Joachim was well-educated and set up the university of Viadrina in Frankfurt/Oder in 1506. He opposed feudalism, fought against robber-barons, and reformed the judicial system. He was nick-named "Nestor" in later years. Contrary to his grandfather's wishes ("Dispositio Achillea" of 1473), Joachim I divided his lands and bequeathed them to his two sons. His efforts to bind his heirs to catholisism were of no avail.
|
|
Joachim II, "Hektor", Elector of Brandenburg 1535-1571
- first son of Joachim I -
*1505. He was educated at the court of Emperor Charles V. Joachim took part in the campaign against the Turks in 1532. He must have aquired the nickname "Hector" on this occasion, which in fact is contrary to his peacable and circumspect nature. He was in favour of an amicable settlement of the ecclesiastical controversy and in 1539 he received the Holy Communion of both characters. In 1540 he issued rules for the divine service which imposed the new doctrine but adhered to the old liturgy. He did not intend to break with Rome. Instead, he tried to take a middle course between the two contending parties. In the Battle of Schmalkalden he maintained a neutral position, later he even supported the emperor against the Schmalkalden rebels. He accepted the Augsburger Interim of 1548 accordingly. Joachim II did not support the insurrection of Maurice of Saxony in 1552, but he helped to settle the conflict in the Treaty of Passau. He supported the religious peace treaty of Augsburg in 1555.
Joachim II was a spendthrift. Being in constant need of money, he had to make concessions to the diet of landowners. Not all of his efforts to enlarge the power of the House of Brandenburg were successful. But during the Polish Diet of 1569 Joachim, an in-law of the King of Poland, arrived at gaining the co-enfeoffment of Prussia for the House of Brandenburg. He also secured the archbishopry of Magdeburg to the princes of Brandenburg.
3 Gröscher 1553, Frankfurt Oder. Ø 20 mm Bahrfeldt 382c , Schulten 345 Obv.: ¤IOACHim·Dei·Gratia·ELECTor:Princeps:BRANDenburgici·V Rev.: ¤III¤ | GrOSsus:ARGentea | TRIPlex:IOAChim | ELECTOR | BRA-ND | 15 (sceptre) 51 An imitation of the Polish denomination with its typical "head side" and "value side".
|
|
John I, "Jack", Margrave of Brandenburg-Küstrin 1535-1571
- second son of Joachim I -
on coins
*1513. In his testament, Joachim I installed his second son John as Margrave of Brandenburg although a partition of the country had been ruled out by law. After his father's death, John immediately pledged himself to the Lutheran faith, contrary to his father's demands. In 1538, John became a member of the Schmalkalden Alliance, but withdrew again in 1545 when the alliance turned against Henry the Younger of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, his father-in-law and an ardent catholic. He fought with the emperor in the Battle of Mühlberg in 1547. He rejected the Augsburg Interim and sought allies in order to ward off imperial pressure, but he did not support the insurrection of Maurice of Saxony in 1552.
John turned his residence Küstrin into one of the strongest fortresses of the time, and yet he was also able to achieve a turnround of the financial situation of his small country. He was childless and died just ten days after his brother so that Neumark reverted to the House of Hohenzollern. Thus the partition decreed by Joachim I did not have any negative implications for the House of Brandenburg.
|
