Anna Sophia of Prussia (11 June 1527 – 6 February 1591) was Duchess of Mecklenburg by marriage to John Albert I, Duke of Mecklenburg.
Anna Sophia of Prussia | |
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Born | 11 June 1527 Königsberg |
Died | 6 February 1591 Lübz | (aged 63)
Buried | Schwerin Cathedral |
Noble family | House of Hohenzollern |
Spouse(s) | John Albert I, Duke of Mecklenburg |
Issue | John VII, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin |
Father | Albert, Duke in Prussia |
Mother | Dorothea of Denmark |
Anna Sophie was born in Königsberg, the oldest and only surviving child of Duke Albert of Prussia (1490-1568) from his first marriage with Dorothea (1504-1547), a daughter of King Frederick I of Denmark. From her mother, she received an extensive education in naturopathy and gynecology.[1] Already in 1546, the estates of Prussia agreed to a so-called "dowry tax" to provide the dowry of 30000 guilders she would receive when she married.
She married on 24 February 1555 in Wismar to Duke John Albert I of Mecklenburg (1525-1576). As a wedding gift, her father mediated in a dispute between her husband and his brother Ulrich, Duke of Mecklenburg.[2] On the occasion of his marriage, Duke John Albert I had the Fürstenhof Palace in Wismar remodeled in a Renaissance style. After the wedding, John Albert I and his bride moved into this palace.[3]
John Albert I and Anna Sophia had three sons; she was described as a loving mother.[4] John Albert I remained a loyal ally to his father-in-law, in the Holy Roman Empire as well as in Livonia. Since Duke Albert had no surviving sons of his own, he attempted several times, unsuccessfully, to make John Albert I his heir and successor in the Duchy of Prussia.
After John Albert I died in 1576, Anna Sophia retired to her Wittum in Lübz, where she died in 1591. She was buried in Schwerin Cathedral.
Anna Sophia and her husband had three sons: