Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach


Frederick I of Ansbach and Bayreuth was born at Ansbach as the eldest son of Albert III, Margrave of Brandenburg by his second wife Anna, daughter of Frederick II, Elector of Saxony. His elder half-brother was the Elector Johann Cicero of Brandenburg. Friedrich succeeded his father as Margrave of Ansbach in 1486 and his younger brother Siegmund as Margrave of Bayreuth in 1495.
After depleting the finances of the margraviate with his lavish lifestyle, Frederick I was deposed by his two elder sons, Casimir and George, in 1515. He was then locked up at Plassenburg Castle by his eldest son Casimir in a tower room from which he could not escape for 12 years. Thereupon, his son Casimir took up the rule of the Margraviate of Bayreuth and his son George took up the rule of the Margraviate of Ansbach. However, the overthrow of Frederick did outrage his other younger sons and led to far-reaching political countermeasures. When Elector Joachim I of Brandenburg visited Kulmbach during his journey to Augsburg, and wanted to plead for Frederick's release, he was nevertheless denied entry to Plassenburg Castle. The dispute was finally cleared when an agreement was reached in 1522, in which the demands of the younger sons of Frederick were met.

Family and children

On 14 February 1479, at Frankfurt, Frederick I was married to Princess Sophia of Poland, daughter of King Casimir IV of Poland by his wife Elisabeth of Austria, and sister of King Sigismund I of Poland. They had seventeen children:
  1. Casimir, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach.
  2. Elisabeth, died young.
  3. Margarete of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Kulmbach.
  4. George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach.
  5. Sophie of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Kulmbach, married on 14 November 1518 to Duke Frederick II of Legnica.
  6. Anna of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Kulmbach, married on 1 December 1518 to Duke Wenceslaus II of Cieszyn.
  7. Barbara, died young.
  8. Albert, 1st Duke of Prussia, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order from 1511 to 1525, and first Duke of Prussia from 1525.
  9. Frederick of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Kulmbach.
  10. Johann, Viceroy of Valencia
  11. Elisabeth of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Kulmbach, married in Pforzheim on 29 September 1510 to Margrave Ernest of Baden-Durlach.
  12. Barbara of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Kulmbach, married in Plassenburg on 26 July 1528 to Landgrave George III of Leuchtenberg.
  13. Frederick of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Kulmbach, a canon in Würzburg and Salzburg.
  14. Wilhelm, Archbishop of Riga
  15. John Albert, Archbishop of Magdeburg
  16. Frederick Albert, died young.
  17. Gumprecht of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Kulmbach, a canon in Bamberg.

    Ancestry