Albert III, Elector of Brandenburg
Albert III (
German Albrecht Achilles), (
9 November 1414,
Tangermunde–
11 March 1486,
Frankfurt am Main),
Margrave of Brandenburg, given the cognomen
Achilles because of his knightly qualities, was the third son of
Frederick I of Brandenburg of
Hohenzollern, elector of
Brandenburg, later
Burgrave of Nuremberg.
After passing some time at the court of the emperor
Sigismund, he took part in the war against the
Hussites, and afterwards distinguished himself whilst assisting the German king,
Albert II, against the
Poles.
On the division of territory which followed his father's death in 1440, Albert received the margravate of
Ansbach. Although his resources were very meagre, he soon took a leading place among the German princes, and was especially prominent in resisting the attempts of the towns to obtain self-government.
In 1443 he formed a league directed mainly against
Nuremberg, over which town members of his family had formerly exercised the rights of burgrave. It was not until
1448, however, that he found a pretext for attack. After initial military sucesses he was defeated at the Battle of Pillenreuther Weiher (Pillenreuther bishop's lands) resulting in the Treaty of Bamberg [22 June]]
1450 which forced Albert to return all of the conquered territory and to recognize the independence of Nuremberg and its associated towns.
He supported the emperor
Frederick III in his struggle with the princes who desired reforms in
Germany, and in return for this loyalty received many marks of favour from Frederick, including extensive judicial rights which aroused considerable irritation among neighbouring rulers.
In
1457 he arranged a marriage between his eldest son John, and Margaret, daughter of William III, landgrave of
Thuringia, who inherited the claims upon
Hungary and
Bohemia of her mother, a granddaughter of the emperor
Sigismund. The attempt to secure these thrones for the Hohenzollerns through this marriage failed, and a similar fate befell Albert's efforts to revive in his own favour the disused title of duke of
Franconia.
The sharp dissensions which existed among the princes over the question of reform culminated in open warfare in 1460, when Albert was confronted with a league under the leadership of the Count Palatine,
Frederick I, and
Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria-Landshut. Worsted in this struggle, which was concluded in 1462, Albert made an alliance with his former enemy,
George of Podebrady, King of Bohemia, a step which caused
Pope Paul II to place him under the ban.
In 1470 Albert, who had inherited
Bayreuth on the death of his brother John in 1464, became
Margrave of Brandenburg owing to the abdication of his remaining brother, the elector
Frederick II. He was soon actively engaged in its administration, and by the
treaty of Prenzlau in
1472 he brought
Pomerania also under his supremacy. Having established his right to levy a tonnage on wines in the mark, he issued in February 1473 the
Achillea, which decreed that the margravate of Brandenburg should descend in its entirety to the eldest son, while the younger sons should receive the Franconian possessions of the family.
After treating in vain for a marriage between one of his sons and
Mary, daughter and heiress of
Charles the Bold, duke of
Burgundy, Albert handed over the government of Brandenburg to his eldest son John, and returned to his Franconian possessions.
In 1474 he married his daughter Barbara to
Henry XI, Duke of Glogau, who left his possessions on his death in 1476 to his widow with reversion to her family, an arrangement which was resisted by Henry's kinsman,
John II, Duke of Sagan. Aided by
Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary, John invaded Brandenburg, and the
Pomeranians seized the opportunity to revolt. Under these circumstances Albert returned to Brandenburg in 1478, compelled the Pomeranians to recognize his supremacy, and, after a stubborn struggle, secured a part of Duke Henry's lands for his daughter in 1482.
His main attention was afterwards claimed by the business of the Empire, and soon after taking part in the election of
Maximilian as
king of the Romans he died at Frankfurt in March 1486. He left a considerable amount of treasure.
Albert was a man of relentless energy and boundless ambition, who by reason of his physical and intellectual qualities was one of the most prominent princes of the 15th century.
Albert was married twice. First, he married
12 November 1446 with
Margarete of Baden, daughter of Markgrave
Jakob I of Baden and
Catherine of Lorraine. From this marriage he had following children:# Wolfgang, born and died in
1450.#
Johann Cicero,
Elector of Brandenburg.# Friedrich, died young.# Ursula (
25 September 1450–
25 October 1508,
Breslau), married Duke
Heinrich I of Münsterberg.# Elisabeth, (
29 October 1451, Ansbach–
28 March 1524,
Nürtingen), married
Eberhard II, Duke of Württemberg.# Margareta (
18 April 1453–
27 April 1509), Abbess of St.Klara.
Margarete died
24 October 1457 and in
1458 Albert married
Anna of Saxony, daughter of
Frederick II, Elector of Saxony and
Margarete of Austria. They children were:#
Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach,
Margrave of Brandenburg in Ansbach since
1486 and
Bayreuth since
1495.# Amalie (
1 October 1461,
Plassenburg –
3 September 1481,
Baden-Baden), married Kaspar, Pfalzgraf of
Zweibrücken.# Anna, born and died in
1462.# Barbara (
30 May 1464, Ansbach–
4 September 1515, Ansbach), married:## in Berlin
11 October 1472 to Duke Henry XI of Glogau;## in
Frankfurt (Oder) 20 August 1476 to King
Ladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary.# Albrecht, born and died in
1466.# Sibylle (
31 May 1467, Ansbach–
9 July 1524,
Kaster), married Duke
Wilhelm IV of Jülich and Berg.#
Siegmund, Margrave of Brandenburg in Bayreuth, (
27 September 1468, Ansbach–
26 February 1495, Ansbach).# Albrecht, born and died in
1470.# Georg (
30 December 1472, Berlin –
5 December 1476,
Kadolzburg).# Dorothea (
12 December 1471, Berlin–
13 February 1520,
Bamberg), Abbess in Bamberg.# Elisabeth (
8 April 1474, Ansbach–
25 April 1507,
Römhild), married Count
Hermann VIII of Henneberg-Aschach.# Magdalene (
29 July 1476, Berlin–before
4 February 1480).# Anastasia (
14 March 1478, Ansbach–
4 July 1534,
Ilmenau), married Count
Wilhelm VII of Henneberg-Schleusingen.
*
House of Hohenzollern
