Wilhelm von Brandenburg (30 June 1498 – 4 February 1563) was the

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

from 1539 to 1561. A member of the

House of Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, Prince-elector, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzol ...

, Wilhelm was the son of

Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach Frederick I of Ansbach and Bayreuth (also known as Frederick V; german: Friedrich V. von Brandenburg-Ansbach-Kulmbach or ; 8 May 1460 – 4 April 1536) was born at Ansbach as the eldest son of Albert III, Margrave of Brandenburg by his second wi ...

, the brother of

Albert, Duke of Prussia Albert of Prussia (german: Albrecht von Preussen; 17 May 149020 March 1568) was a German prince who was the 37th Grand Masters of the Teutonic Knights, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, who after converting to Lutheranism, became the first r ...

, and the grandson of

Albert III Achilles, Elector of Brandenburg Albrecht III (9 November 141411 March 1486) was Elector of Brandenburg from 1471 until his death, the third from the House of Hohenzollern. A member of the Order of the Swan, he received the cognomen ''Achilles'' because of his knightly qualit ...

and

Casimir IV Jagiellon Casimir IV (in full Casimir IV Andrew Jagiellon; pl, Kazimierz IV Andrzej Jagiellończyk ; Lithuanian: ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447, until his death. He was one of the ...

. After William's administration as Prince-bishop ended during the

Livonian War The Livonian War (1558–1583) was the Russian invasion of Old Livonia, and the prolonged series of military conflicts that followed, in which Tsar Ivan the Terrible of Russia (Muscovy) unsuccessfully fought for control of the region (pre ...

, Riga became a Free City (1561–1581). He died there on 4 February 1563 was buried in

Riga Cathedral Riga Cathedral ( lv, Rīgas Doms; german: Dom zu Riga) formally The Cathedral Church of Saint Mary, is the Evangelical Lutheran cathedral in Riga, Latvia. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Riga. The cathedral is one of the most recognizable l ...

Ancestry

1498 births 1563 deaths 16th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Livonia Archbishops of Riga Prince-bishops in Livonia

Wilhelm von Brandenburg Wilhelm von Brandenburg (30 June 1498 – 4 February 1563) was the Archbishop of Riga from 1539 to 1561. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, Wilhelm was the son of Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, the brother of Albert, Duke of ...

German people of Lithuanian descent German people of Polish descent Sons of monarchs {{Germany-RC-bishop-stub