Barbara of Brandenburg (10 August 1527 –

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 t ...

, 2 January 1595), was a German princess member of the

House of Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, ; , ; ) is a formerly royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) German dynasty whose members were variously princes, Prince-elector, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern Castle, Hohenzollern, Margraviate of Bran ...

She was a Margravine of Brandenburg by birth and by marriage a Duchess of Brieg (

). She was the second child but eldest daughter of

Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg Joachim II ( or ''Hektor''; 13 January 1505 – 3 January 1571) was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (1535–1571), the sixth member of the House of Hohenzollern. Joachim II was the eldest son of Joachim I Nestor, Elector of Br ...

, by his first wife Magdalena, daughter of George, Duke of Saxony.

Life

In 1537 Barbara was betrothed to George (later George II the Pious), second son of Duke Frederick II of Legnica as a part of the alliance signed between her father and Frederick II. The wedding took place eight years later, on 15 February 1545 in her homeland,

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. In the same ceremony, was also performed the marriage of her brother John George with Frederick II's daughter, Sophie. As a dowry, Barbara received the amount of 20,000 Rhenish

florins The Florentine florin was a gold coin (in Italian ''Fiorino d'oro'') struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains () of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a pu ...

, who was provided by the citizens of Brzeg.''Zeitschrift für preussische Geschichte und Landeskunde'', Mittler, 1868, p. 341
Digitalisat
Two years later (1547), Duke Frederick II died and George inherited the Duchy of

, who included the towns of

Oława Oława (, , ) is a historic town in south-western Poland with 33,029 inhabitants (2019). It is situated in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, within the Wrocław metropolitan area. It is the seat of Oława County and of the smaller administrative distri ...

Strzelin Strzelin (, ) is a town in Lower Silesian Voivodeship in south-western Poland. It is located on the Oława river, a tributary of the Oder, about south of the region's capital Wrocław. It is part of the Wrocław metropolitan area. The town i ...

, Niemcza, Kluczbork,

Byczyna Byczyna (Latin: ''Bicina'', ''Bicinium''; ) is a town in Kluczbork County, Opole Voivodeship, in south-western Poland, with 3,490 inhabitants as of December 2021. Etymology The name comes from the Old Polish word ''byczyna'', which means a place ...

Wołów Wołów (, ) 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 population of 12,373. It is pa ...

and

Ścinawa Ścinawa () is a town and municipality on the Oder river in the Lower Silesian region of Poland. The Ścinawa train station is a key gateway for travel throughout the region, connecting major destinations such as Wrocław and Głogów. As of 201 ...

. In all, Barbara bore her husband seven children, two sons and five daughters. Duke George II died on 7 May 1586, after forty-one years of marriage. In his will, he left the Duchy of Brzeg to his wife as her

dower Dower is a provision accorded traditionally by a husband or his family, to a wife for her support should she become widowed. It was settlement (law), settled on the bride (being given into trust instrument, trust) by agreement at the time of t ...

with the full sovereignty over this land until her own death. The duchies of

and

were received by her sons Joachim Frederick and John George as co-rulers, and because Barbara was the duchess in Brzeg, both brothers decided to settle his residence in Oława. After Barbara's death, Brzeg was inherited by her only surviving son Joachim Frederick, because her other son, John George, already died in 1592.

References

External links

*
Genealogical database by Herbert Stoyan
{{Authority control 1527 births 1595 deaths 16th-century nobility from the Holy Roman Empire House of Hohenzollern Piast dynasty Daughters of prince-electors