Bernhard III, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg (died 20 August 1348) was a German prince of the

House of Ascania The House of Ascania (german: Askanier) was a dynasty of German rulers. It is also known as the House of Anhalt, which refers to its longest-held possession, Anhalt. The Ascanians are named after Ascania (or Ascaria) Castle, known as ''Schlos ...

and ruler of the principality of

Anhalt-Bernburg Anhalt-Bernburg was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire and a duchy of the German Confederation ruled by the House of Ascania with its residence at Bernburg in present-day Saxony-Anhalt. It emerged as a subdivision from the Principality of A ...

. He was the eldest son of Bernhard II, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg, by his wife Helene, daughter of Wizlaw II, Prince of Rügen.

Life

Bernhard succeeded his father as ruler of Anhalt-Bernburg after his death in 1323. His two younger brothers renounced their rights in order to become priests, which left Bernhard as sole ruler of Bernburg. Along with his princely title, he also used the styles "Count of Askanien" and "Lord of Bernburg".

Marriages and children

In 1328 Bernhard married Agnes (c. 1310 – 4 January 1338), daughter of Rudolph I, Elector of Saxony and Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg. Her paternal grandmother and namesake

Agnes of Habsburg Albert II of Saxony ( Wittenberg upon Elbe, ca. 1250 – 25 August 1298, near Aken) was a son of Duke Albert I of Saxony and his third wife Helen of Brunswick and Lunenburg, a daughter of Otto the Child. He supported Rudolph I of Germany at his e ...

was a daughter of Rudolph I, King of the Romans. The spouses were third cousins: Agnes's great-grandfather Albert I, Duke of Saxony, was a brother of

Henry I, Count of Anhalt Henry I ( 1170 – 1252), a member of the House of Ascania, was Count of Anhalt from 1212 and the first ruling Anhalt prince from 1218 until his death. Life He was the oldest son of Count Bernhard of Anhalt probably by his first wife Judith (o ...

, Bernhard's great-grandfather. Bernhard and Agnes had five children: # Bernhard IV, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg (died 28 June 1354) #Katharina (c. 1330 – 30 January 1390), first married on 6 October 1356 to Magnus II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, then secondly on 11 May 1374 to

Albert of Saxe-Wittenberg, Duke of Lüneburg Albert of Saxe-Wittenberg (german: Albrecht von Sachsen-Wittenberg; died 28 June 1385 in Wittenberg) was born as the son of Otto (d. 30 March 1350), a younger son of the prince-elector Rudolf I of Saxe-Wittenberg, and his (Otto's) wife Elisabeth, ...

# Henry IV, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg (died 7 July 1374) #Albert (died 1 August 1336) #Sophie (died 18 December 1362), married on 12 March 1346 to William II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. In 1339 Bernhard married for a second time to Matilda (died c. 1342), daughter of

Albert I, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst Albert I (born c. 1258; died 17 August 1316) was a German prince of the House of Ascania and the second ruler of the Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst from 1298 until his death. Life He was the eldest son of Prince Siegfried I of Anhalt-Zerbst, by ...

. Bernhard was more closely related to his bride, being a

second cousin 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, ...

: Matilda's grandfather was Siegfried I, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, younger brother of Bernhard I, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg, Bernhard's grandfather. The marriage was childless. In c. 1343, Bernhard married for a third time to another Matilda (died after 28 June 1354), daughter of Magnus I, Duke of Brunswick-Göttingen. Through her mother Sophie of Brandenburg, Matilda was a great-great-great-granddaughter of

Otto I, Margrave of Brandenburg Otto I (c. 1128 – July 8, 1184) was the second Margrave of Brandenburg, from 1170 until his death. Life Otto I was born into the House of Ascania as the eldest son of Albert I ("Albert the Bear"), who founded the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1 ...

, older brother of

Bernhard, Count of Anhalt Bernhard ( – 2 February 1212), a member of the House of Ascania, was Count of Anhalt and Ballenstedt, and Lord of Bernburg through his paternal inheritance. From 1180 he was also Duke of Saxony (as Bernhard III or Bernhard I). Life Early year ...

, Bernhard's great-great-grandfather. Bernhard and Matilda of Brunswick-Göttingen had two children: # Otto III, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg (died 27 February 1404) #Gertrude, married before 12 August 1371 to Günther XII,

Count of Schwarzburg The House of Schwarzburg was one of the oldest noble families of Thuringia. Upon the death of Prince Friedrich Günther in 1971, a claim to the headship of the house passed under Semi-Salic primogeniture to his elder sister, Princess Marie An ...

. {{Use dmy dates, date=January 2012 Princes of Anhalt-Bernburg 1348 deaths Year of birth unknown