Cecilia of Brandenburg ( – 4 January 1449) was a princess of

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a 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 area of 29,480 sq ...

by birth and by marriage a Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.

Life

Cecilia was the daughter of Elector

Frederick I of Brandenburg Frederick (Middle High German: ''Friderich','' Standard German: ''Friedrich''; 21 September 1371 – 20 September 1440) was the last Burgrave of Nuremberg from 1397 to 1427 (as Frederick VI), Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach from 1398, Mar ...

(1371–1440) from his marriage to

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

(1383–1442), daughter of Duke Frederick of Bavaria-Landshut. Cecilia's brothers were the reigning Electors of Brandenburg, first Frederick II and later Albrecht III Achilles. She married on 30 May 1423 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Duke William III of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1392–1482). The marriage had been arranged by Emperor Sigsmund, like that of her sister Magdalena with Duke Frederick II of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Both couples had been engaged on 3 March 1420. William and his brother Henry II had promised Cecila as

jointure Jointure is, in law, a provision for a wife after the death of her husband. As defined by Sir Edward Coke, it is "a competent livelihood of freehold for the wife, of lands or tenements, to take effect presently in possession or profit after the de ...

Bodenteich Castle plus an annual pension of 2000 guilders. After an exchange of territories, Cecilia received

Wolfenbüttel Castle Wolfenbüttel (; nds, Wulfenbüddel) is a town in Lower Saxony, Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel (district), Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog Augu ...

instead. Bishop Magnus of Saxe-Lauenburg tried to redeem pledges to Duke Henry II, and in particular Wolfenbüttel Castle. To avoid the claims of the bishop, Cecilia handed the castle to her brother-in-law Henry II in 1432. Henry managed to avert the claims of the bishop. However, he then asked Cecilia and her children to leave his castle. Cecilia was quoted as saying: ''this is not what your brother had in mind, and is behaviour unbecoming a Lord of Brunswick, even if I'd been only the wife of a lowly subject''. Humiliated, Cecilia and her children moved to

Schöningen Schöningen is a town of about 11,000 inhabitants in the district of Helmstedt, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Geography The town is located on the southeastern rim of the Elm hill range, near the border with the state of Saxony-Anhalt. In its curren ...

Castle. A dispute then erupted between Henry and William. The dispute was settled by dividing the Duchy of Brunswick. Henry received Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, while William had to make do with the

Principality of Calenberg The Principality of Calenberg was a dynastic division of the Welf duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg established in 1432. Calenberg was ruled by the House of Hanover from 1635 onwards; the princes received the ninth electoral dignity of the Holy Roman ...

. Cecilia died on 4 January 1449 and was buried in

Brunswick Cathedral Brunswick Cathedral (german: Dom St. Blasii (et Johannis), lit. in en, Collegiate Church of Ss. Blaise and John the Baptist) is a large Lutheran church in the City of Braunschweig (Brunswick), Germany. The church is termed '' Dom'', in Germa ...

F. A. W. Dünnemann: ''Stammbuch der brandenburgisch-preussischen regenten; oder, Genealogische darstellung der regentenfolge zu Brandenburg: seit dem entstehen der mark bis auf gegewärtige zeit ...'', Nauck, 1831, pp. 84

Issue

From her marriage with William, Cecilia had two sons: * Frederick III "the Restless" (1424–1495), Duke of Brunswick-Calenberg : married firstly in 1463 Princess Anna of Brunswick-Grubenhagen (1415–1474) : married secondly 1483 Margaret Countess of Rietberg (died: 1533 or 1535) * William IV "the Younger" (1425–1503), Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel : married in 1444 Countess Elisabeth of Stolberg-Wernigerode (died: 1520 or 1521)

References and sources

* Wilhelm Havemann: ''Geschichte der Lande Braunschweig und Lüneburg'', Dieterich, 1853, pp. 667 ff.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cecilia Of Brandenburg House of Hohenzollern 1405 births 1449 deaths Duchesses of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel 15th-century German people Middle House of Brunswick Burials at Brunswick Cathedral Daughters of monarchs