John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg

John Sigismund
Elector of Brandenburg Duke of Prussia
John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg
Elector of Brandenburg
Reign	1608–1619
Predecessor	Joachim Frederick
Successor	George William
Duke of Prussia
Reign	1618–1619
Predecessor	Albert Frederick
Successor	George William
Born	(1572-11-08)8 November 1572 Halle
Died	23 December 1619(1619-12-23) (aged 47) Berlin
Spouse	Anna, Duchess of Prussia
Issue	George William Anne Sophia Maria Eleonora Catherine Joachim Sigismund Agnes John Frederick Albrecht Christian
House	Hohenzollern
Father	Joachim III Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg
Mother	Catherine of Brandenburg-Küstrin
Religion	Lutheran (until 1613) Calvinist (since 1613)

John Sigismund (German: Johann Sigismund; 8 November 1572 – 23 December 1619) was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from the House of Hohenzollern. 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 creation of Brandenburg-Prussia.

Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia

John Sigismund, Duke of Prussia

John Sigismund was born in Halle an der Saale to Joachim III Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg, and his first wife Catherine of Brandenburg-Küstrin. He succeeded his father as Margrave of Brandenburg in 1608. In 1611, John Sigismund traveled from Königsberg to Warsaw, where on 16 November 1611 he gave feudal homage to Sigismund III Vasa, King of Poland (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. John Sigismund died in the following year.

John Sigismund gave the Reichshof Castrop to his teacher and educator Carl Friedrich von Bordelius, whereas he received the territories of Cleves, Mark, and Ravensberg in the Treaty of Xanten in 1614.

Religious policy

John Sigismund's most significant action was his conversion from Lutheranism to Calvinism, after he had earlier equalized the rights of Catholics and Protestants in the Duchy of Prussia under pressure from the King of Poland. He was probably won over to Calvinism during a visit to Heidelberg in 1606, but it was not until 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, 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.

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 (13 November 1595 – 1 December 1640). His successor.
• Anne Sophia of Brandenburg (15 March 1598 – 19 December 1659). Married Frederick Ulrich, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg.
• Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg (11 November 1599 – 28 March 1655). Married Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. They were parents of Christina of Sweden.
• Catherine of Brandenburg (28 May 1602 – 27 August 1644). Married first Gabriel Bethlen, Prince of Transylvania and secondly Franz Karl of Saxe-Lauenburg.
• Joachim Sigismund of Brandenburg (25 July 1603 – 22 February 1625).
• Agnes of Brandenburg (31 August 1606 – 12 March 1607).
• John Frederick of Brandenburg (18 August 1607 – 1 March 1608).
• Albrecht Christian of Brandenburg (7–14 March 1609).

Ancestry

Ancestors of John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg

16. Joachim I Nestor, Elector of Brandenburg (=#12) 8. Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg 17. Elizabeth of Denmark (=#13) 4. John George, Elector of Brandenburg 18. George, Duke of Saxony 9. Magdalena of Saxony 19. Barbara Jagiellon 2. Joachim III Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg 20. Frederick I, Duke of Legnica 10. Frederick II, Duke of Legnica 21. Ludmila of Poděbrady 5. Sophie of Legnica 22. Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach 11. Sophie of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Kulmbach 23. Sophia Jagiellon 1. John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg 24. John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg 12. Joachim I Nestor, Elector of Brandenburg (=#16) 25. Margaret of Thuringia 6. John, Margrave of Brandenburg-Küstrin 26. John of Denmark 13. Elizabeth of Denmark (=#17) 27. Christina of Saxony 3. Catherine of Brandenburg-Küstrin 28. Henry IV, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg 14. Henry V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg 29. Catherine of Pomerania 7. Catherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel 30. Henry, Count of Württemberg 15. Maria of Württemberg 31. Eva of Salm

External links

• Theodor Hirsch (1881), "Johann Sigismund", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 14, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 169–175
• Settlement of Dortmund between Brandenburg and Palatinate-Neuburg and the conflict of succession in Jülich, in full text
• "Brandenburg, Confession of" . Encyclopedia Americana. 1920.