Margaret of Münsterberg (25 August 1473, Breslau – 28 June 1530,

Dessau Dessau is a town and former municipality in Germany at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the '' Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it has been part of the newly created municipality of Dessau-Roßlau ...

) was a German regent: Duchess of

Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...

by marriage to Prince Ernest I, she ruled the principality as a

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

for her underage sons from 1516.

Life

Margaret was the fourth child of the Duke Henry the Elder of Münsterberg (1448–1498) and his wife Ursula of Brandenburg (1450–1508). She received a strictly religious education from her parents. In 1494, she married Prince Ernest I of Anhalt from the line of Anhalt-Zerbst. After the other lines of the Anhalt family died out, Ernest could reunite the Principality of Anhalt for the first time since 1252. They took up their residence in Dessau. Ernest died in 1516 and Margaret took up the regency of the principality for her underage sons John IV and

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

. Her regency was characterized by thrift and deep religiosity. She strictly opposed the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, which started spreading from neighbouring

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 ...

in 1517. She found an ally in her first cousin

Albert Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Albert ...

, who was Archbishop of

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...

. In 1525, Margaret launched the

League of Dessau The League of Dessauer (also called the ''Alliance of Dessau'') was a short-lived Association of Catholic rulers in northern Germany during the time of the German Reformation. Its goals were to stop both the rebellion and the proliferation of Mar ...

, an alliance of Catholic princes opposed to the Reformation. Her oldest son, John IV, who had been co-regent since 1522 and her second son George, who later became co-ruler as George III, had already built up contacts with

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...

, but they did not lead their Principality into the Reformation until 1534 (with George III as the driving force), well after Margaret's death. Margarethe of Münsterberg managed to regain some manors located east of

Wörlitz is a town and a former municipality in the district of Wittenberg, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2011, it has been part of the town Oranienbaum-Wörlitz. It is situated on the left bank of the Elbe, east of Dessau. The historic p ...

, that had been pledged to neighbouring

Electorate of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony (German: or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356–1806. It was centered around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. In the Golden Bull of 1356, Emperor Charles ...

. For this reason, the Folwark Münsterberg in Griesen was named after her.

Descendants

* Thomas (1503–1503) * John (1504-1550 or 1551) : married Margaret of Brandenburg (1511–1577), daughter of Elector

Joachim I, Elector of Brandenburg Joachim I Nestor (21 February 1484 – 11 July 1535) was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (1499–1535), the fifth member of the House of Hohenzollern. His nickname was taken from King Nestor of Greek mythology. Biography Th ...

of Brandenburg (1484–1535) *

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

(1507–1553) *

Joachim Joachim (; ''Yəhōyāqīm'', "he whom Yahweh has set up"; ; ) was, according to Christian tradition, the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Biblical apocryphal ...

(1509–1561)

References and sources

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20090828100016/http://www.sachsen-anhalt.de/LPSA/index.php?id=8909 {{DEFAULTSORT:Margaret of Munsterberg 16th-century German people 16th-century women rulers Regents of Germany 1473 births 1530 deaths Duchesses of Anhalt German princesses Podiebrad family Mothers of monarchs