Catherine of Saxony (1421 – 23 August 1476) was a princess of

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

by birth and Electress of

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

by marriage to

Frederick II, Elector of Brandenburg Frederick II of Brandenburg () (19 November 1413 – 10 February 1471), nicknamed "the Iron" (''der Eiserne'') and sometimes "Irontooth" (''Eisenzahn''), was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from 1440 until his abdication in 14 ...

Life

Catherine was a daughter of the Elector Frederick I of Saxony (1370–1428) from his marriage to

Catherine of Brunswick-Lüneburg Catherine of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1395 – 28 December 1442, Grimma) was a member of the House of Welf, a princess of Brunswick-Lüneburg and by marriage, the Electress of Saxony. Life Catherine was the only daughter and second child of ...

(1395–1442), daughter of Duke

Henry I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg Henry I (August 1267 – 7 September 1322), Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, called the Admirable (german: Heinrich der Wunderliche, la, Henricus Mirabilis), a member of the House of Welf, was the first ruler of the Principality of Grubenhagen fr ...

. On 11 June 1441 Catherine married Elector

Frederick II of Brandenburg Frederick II of Brandenburg () (19 November 1413 – 10 February 1471), nicknamed "the Iron" (''der Eiserne'') and sometimes "Irontooth" (''Eisenzahn''), was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from 1440 until his abdication in 14 ...

(1413–1471) in

Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon language, Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the Ri ...

. Frederick had earlier asked for Catherine's hand unsuccessfully. The promise of marriage was finally made as part of a contract that settled the conflict between Brandenburg and Saxony over the ownership of

Lusatia Lusatia (german: Lausitz, pl, Łużyce, hsb, Łužica, dsb, Łužyca, cs, Lužice, la, Lusatia, rarely also referred to as Sorbia) is a historical region in Central Europe, split between Germany and Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr ...

and sealed an alliance between the two countries. The marriage turned out to be an unhappy one. Frederick had numerous affairs, and his son Erasmus was born out of wedlock. The last years of their marriage the couple spent entirely separate, with Frederick living in

Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper Fr ...

and Catherine living in the Mark Brandenburg.

Issue

Catherine had three children with Frederick: *

Dorothea Dorothea (also spelled Dorothée, Dorotea or other variants) is a female given name from Greek (Dōrothéa) meaning "God's Gift". It may refer to: People * Dorothea Binz (1920–1947), German concentration camp officer executed for war cri ...

(1446–1519) : married in 1464 Duke John V of Saxe-Lauenburg (also counted IV; 1439-1507) *

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...

(born: 1449 or 1450; died: 1489) : married in 1477 Duke Bogislaw X of Pomerania (1454–1523) * John (-1454)

References and sources

* Karl Florentin Leidenfrost: ''Churfürst Friedrich II und seine Brüder, Herzog Sigismund und Herzog Wilhelm von Sachsen, oder Geschichte Sachsens vom Jahr 1428–1440'', written invitation to celebrate William day, 30 October 1827, Carl Schlotter, Jena, 1827
p. 68
* Andreas Tacke: ''Wir wollen der Liebe Raum geben. Konkubinate geistlicher und weltlicher Fürsten um 1500.'' Wallstein, Göttingen 2006,
p. 19
, - Electresses of Brandenburg House of Wettin House of Hohenzollern 1421 births 1476 deaths 15th-century German people Daughters of monarchs {{Germany-noble-stub