George III of Brieg ( pl, Jerzy III Brzeski;

Brzeg Brzeg (; Latin: ''Alta Ripa'', German: ''Brieg'', Silesian German: ''Brigg'', , ) is a town in southwestern Poland with 34,778 inhabitants (December 2021) and the capital of Brzeg County. It is situated in Silesia in the Opole Voivodeship on the ...

, 4 September 1611 – Brzeg, 4 July 1664), was a Duke of Brzeg since 1633 (as administrator; in 1639 he took formally the title, together with his brothers until 1654) and

Legnica Legnica (Polish: ; german: Liegnitz, szl, Lignica, cz, Lehnice, la, Lignitium) is a city in southwestern Poland, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the Kaczawa River (left tributary of the Oder) and the Czarna Woda (Kaczawa), Czarna Woda ...

Wołów Wołów (german: Wohlau, cz, Volov) is a town in Lower Silesian Voivodeship in south-western Poland. It is the seat of Wołów County and Gmina Wołów. It lies approximately north-west of the regional capital Wrocław. , the town has a popul ...

during 1653-1654 (with his brothers). He was the eldest son of John Christian, Duke of Brzeg-

Oława Oława (pronounced , , szl, Oława) is a historic town in south-western Poland with 33,029 inhabitants (2019). It is situated in Lower Silesian Voivodeship (from 1975–1998 it was in the former Wrocław Voivodeship), within the Wrocław ...

, by his first wife Dorothea Sybille, daughter of

John George, Elector of Brandenburg John George of Brandenburg (german: Johann Georg von Brandenburg; 11 September 1525 – 8 January 1598) was a prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (1571–1598). Early life Born as a member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was th ...

Life

The invasion of the Imperial troops in Brzeg (1633), forced the escape of John Christian and his morganatic family to Poland. In 1635,

Emperor Ferdinand II Ferdinand II (9 July 1578 – 15 February 1637) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, Hungary, and Croatia from 1619 until his death in 1637. He was the son of Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria and Maria of Bavaria. His parents were de ...

entrusted George III the administration of Brzeg during the absence of his father, who never returned home. John Christian died in 1639 and George III, together with his two only surviving brothers Louis IV and

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

inherited Brzeg and Oława. After the death of their uncle George Rudolf in 1653, the brothers inherited Legnica and Wołów; however, only one year later (1654), they decided to make a formal division of their domains: George III retained Brzeg, Louis IV obtained

and Christian received the small towns of

and

. When his brother Louis IV died without surviving issue in 1663, George III and Christian inherited Legnica together as co-rulers.

Marriages and Issue

Bierutów Bierutów (german: Bernstadt in Schlesien) is a town in Oleśnica County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district (gmina) called Gmina Bierutów. The town lies approximately south-east ...

on 23 February 1638, George III married firstly with Sophie Katharina (b. Oleśnica, 2 September 1601 – d. Brzeg, 21 March 1659), daughter of Charles II, Duke of

Ziębice Ziębice (german: Münsterberg) is a town in Ząbkowice Śląskie County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. The town lies on the Oława River, approximately east of Ząbkowice Śląskie and south of the regional capital ...

Oleśnica Oleśnica (pronounced ; german: Oels; szl, Ôleśnica) is a town in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland, within the Wrocław metropolitan area. It is the administrative seat of Oleśnica County and also of the rural district of ...

by his wife Elisabeth Magdalena of Brieg, sister of George III's grandfather Joachim Frederick; thus, she was his

first cousin once removed Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, ...

. They had one daughter: #Dorothea Elisabeth (b. Wroclaw, 17 December 1646 – d. Dillenburg, 9 June 1691), married on 13 October 1663 to

Henry, Prince of Nassau-Dillenburg Henry, Prince of Nassau-Dillenburg (born 28 August 1641 in Dillenburg; died: 18 April 1701 at Ludwigsbrunn Castle) was ruler (i.e. Fürst) of Nassau-Dillenburg from 1662 until his death. Life Henry was the son of George Louis, Prince of Nassau- ...

. In

on 19 October 1660, George III married secondly with Elisabeth Marie Charlotte (b. Sedan, 23 October 1638 – d. Brzeg, 22 May 1664), daughter of Louis Philip, Count Palatine of Simmern-Kaiserslautern and niece of

Frederick V, Elector Palatine Frederick V (german: link=no, Friedrich; 26 August 1596 – 29 November 1632) was the Elector Palatine of the Rhine in the Holy Roman Empire from 1610 to 1623, and reigned as King of Bohemia from 1619 to 1620. He was forced to abdicate both r ...

, who was briefly

King of Bohemia The Duchy of Bohemia was established in 870 and raised to the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198. Several Bohemian monarchs ruled as non-hereditary kings beforehand, first gaining the title in 1085. From 1004 to 1806, Bohemia was part of the Holy Roman ...

. The marriage was childless. George III survived his second wife by only two months. After his death without male issue, his lands were inherited by his only surviving brother, Christian, who then reunited all their lands under his rule.

References

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Genealogical database by Herbert Stoyan
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