Frederick II , nicknamed "
the Iron" (
der Eiserne) and sometimes "
Irontooth" (
Eisenzahn), was a
Prince-electorThe Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors....
of the
Margraviate of BrandenburgThe Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....
from 1440 until his abdication in 1470, and was a member of the
House of HohenzollernThe House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...
.
Frederick II was born in
TangermündeTangermünde is a town in the district of Stendal, in the northeastern part of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the Elbe river in the Altmark region....
to
Frederick IFrederick was Burgrave of Nuremberg as Frederick VI and Elector of Brandenburg as Frederick I...
, Brandenburg's first Hohenzollern ruler, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Duke Frederick of Bavaria-Landshut and
Maddalena ViscontiMaddalena Visconti was a daughter of Bernabò Visconti and his wife Beatrice Regina della Scala. Maddalena was Duchess of Bavaria-Landshut by her marriage to Frederick, Duke of Bavaria.- Family :...
. The latter was a daughter of
Bernabò ViscontiBernabò Visconti was an Italian soldier and statesman, who was Lord of Milan.He was born in Milan, the son of Stefano Visconti and Valentina Doria. From 1346 to 1349 he lived in exile, until he was called back by his uncle Giovanni Visconti...
and Beatrice della Scala.
Frederick II , nicknamed "
the Iron" (
der Eiserne) and sometimes "
Irontooth" (
Eisenzahn), was a
Prince-electorThe Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors....
of the
Margraviate of BrandenburgThe Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....
from 1440 until his abdication in 1470, and was a member of the
House of HohenzollernThe House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...
.
Biography
Frederick II was born in
TangermündeTangermünde is a town in the district of Stendal, in the northeastern part of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the Elbe river in the Altmark region....
to
Frederick IFrederick was Burgrave of Nuremberg as Frederick VI and Elector of Brandenburg as Frederick I...
, Brandenburg's first Hohenzollern ruler, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Duke Frederick of Bavaria-Landshut and
Maddalena ViscontiMaddalena Visconti was a daughter of Bernabò Visconti and his wife Beatrice Regina della Scala. Maddalena was Duchess of Bavaria-Landshut by her marriage to Frederick, Duke of Bavaria.- Family :...
. The latter was a daughter of
Bernabò ViscontiBernabò Visconti was an Italian soldier and statesman, who was Lord of Milan.He was born in Milan, the son of Stefano Visconti and Valentina Doria. From 1346 to 1349 he lived in exile, until he was called back by his uncle Giovanni Visconti...
and Beatrice della Scala. As the second son his brothers included
John the AlchemistJohn, nicknamed the Alchemist , was a Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach and served as the peace-loving Margrave of Brandenburg after the abdication of his father, Frederick I, the first member of the House of Hohenzollern to rule Brandenburg.-Biography:John was the eldest son of Frederick I,...
and Albert Achilles, both of whom also ruled Brandenburg as
margraveA Margrave was a medieval hereditary nobleman with military responsibilities in a border province of a kingdom. Border provinces usually had more exposure to military incursions from the outside, compared to interior provinces, and thus a margrave usually had larger and more active military forces...
s.
In 1421, at age 8, Frederick was betrothed to Princess Jadwiga of Lithuania; but she died on 8 December, 1431, before the marriage could take place, purportedly poisoned by her stepmother
Sophia of HalshanySophia of Halshany , was a Lithuanian princess of Halshany, Queen of Poland from , and the last wife of Jogaila.-Biography:...
.
When Frederick I retired in 1437 he compensated his incapable eldest son John with the
Principality of BayreuthThe Principality of Bayreuth or Brandenburg-Bayreuth was a reichsfrei principality in the Holy Roman Empire centered on the Bavarian city of Bayreuth. Until 1604 it was known as the Principality of Kulmbach ) or Brandenburg-Kulmbach...
while Frederick II assumed the government of Brandenburg. Unlike his father he turned away from imperial politics and concentrated on his efforts to pacify the reluctant nobility and
townsGerman town law or German municipal concerns concerns town privileges used by many cities, towns, and villages throughout Central and Eastern Europe during the Middle Ages.- Town law in Germany :...
of the electorate. Quarrels with the city of
BerlinBerlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union...
began in 1440 with his plans to build a new residence on the
CöllnIn the 13th century Cölln was the sister town of Old Berlin , located on the southern Spree Island in the Margraviate of Brandenburg...
island of the
SpreeThe Spree is a river in Saxony, Brandenburg and Berlin, Germany and in Ústí nad Labem Region, Czech Republic. It is a left tributary of the Havel river and is approximately in length....
river. In 1448 the
Berliner Unwille (indignation) against the cession of the city's territory for an electoral stronghold culminated in open revolt, when the citizens flooded the excavation of the future
Stadtschloss. Nevertheless Frederick II prevailed, had the palace built and the
city's rightsTown privileges or city rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium.Judicially, a town was distinguished from the surrounding land by means of a charter from the ruling monarch that defined its privileges and laws. Common privileges were related to trading...
decisively curtailed.
Wearied of the long-time struggle with the
Duchy of PomeraniaThe Duchy of Pomerania was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania ....
he abdicated in 1470 in favour of his younger brother Albert Achilles. Retired to the Bayreuth Principality he died one year later in
Neustadt an der AischNeustadt an der Aisch is a small town in the northern part of Bavaria , within the Franconian administrative region Middle Franconia,...
.
Family and children
On 11 June, 1441, Frederick II married Katharina of
SaxonyThe Electorate of Saxony or Duchy of Upper Saxony was an independent hereditary electorate of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356 to 1806...
, a daughter of
Elector Frederick I of SaxonyFrederick IV, Margrave of Meissen and Elector of Saxony was Margrave of Meissen and Elector of Saxony from 1381 until his death. He is not to be confused with his cousin Frederick IV, Landgrave of Thuringia, the son of Balthasar, Landgrave of Thuringia...
and Katharina of
Brunswick-LüneburgBrunswick-Lüneburg was a historical ducal state during the period from the late Middle Ages until the late Early Modern era within the North-Western domains of the Holy Roman Empire....
. They had four children:
- Dorothea of Brandenburg (c. 1446 - March, 1519), married Duke John V of Saxe-Lauenburg on 12 February 1464.
- Margaret of Brandenburg (c. 1450 - 1489), married Bogislaw X, Duke of Pomerania
Bogislaw X, the Great, was Duke of Pomerania from 1474 until his death in 1523.Bogislaw was born in Rügenwalde into the House of Pomerania . His father was Eric II, Duke of Pomerania-Wolgast, his mother was the duchess Sophia of Pomerania, both distant relatives of the House of Pomerania...
.
- John of Brandenburg (1452 - 1454).
- Erasmus von Brandenburg (c. 1453 - 1465).