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George the Pious
Portrait byHans Krell (1522)
Margrave of Ansbach
Reign	1536–1543
Predecessor	Frederick I
Successor	George Frederick
Born	(1484-03-04)4 March 1484 Ansbach,Principality of Ansbach
Died	27 December 1543(1543-12-27) (aged 59) Ansbach, Principality of Ansbach
Spouses	Beatrice de Frangepan ​ ​ (m. 1509; died 1510)​ Hedwig of Münsterberg-Oels ​ ​ (m. 1525; died 1531)​ Emilie of Saxony ​ (m. 1533)​
Issue	Anna Maria, Duchess of Württemberg Sabina, Electress of Brandenburg Sophie, Duchess of Legnica Barbara of Brandenburg-Ansbach Dorothy Catherine, Burgravine of Meissen George Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
House	Hohenzollern
Father	Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
Mother	Sophia of Poland

George of Brandenburg-Ansbach (German:Georg; 4 March 1484 – 27 December 1543), known asGeorge the Pious (Georg der Fromme), was amargrave ofBrandenburg-Ansbach from theHouse of Hohenzollern.

He was born inAnsbach, the second of eight sons of MargraveFrederick the Elder and his wifeSophia of Poland, daughter ofCasimir IV of Poland andElisabeth of Habsburg. Through his mother, he was related to the royal court inBuda. He entered the service of his uncle, KingVladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary, living at his court from 1506. The king received him as an adopted son, entrusted him in 1515 with theDuchy of Oppeln, and in 1516 made him member of the tutelary government instituted forHungary, and tutor of his sonLouis II of Hungary and Bohemia. In 1521 he made an arrangement withPetar Keglević and pulled back fromHungary andCroatia; this arrangement, accepted by Louis II in 1526, was not accepted byHoly Roman Emperor Ferdinand I until 1559.

At the court of Hungary there were two parties arrayed against each other: theMagyar party under the leadership ofZápolyas and the German party under the leadership of George of Brandenburg, whose authority was increased by the acquisition of theduchies of Ratibor and Oppeln by hereditary treaties with their respective dukes and of the territories ofOderberg,Beuthen, andTarnowitz as pledges from theking of Bohemia, who could not redeem his debts.

By the further appropriation of theDuchy of Jägerndorf, George came into possession of allUpper Silesia. As the owner and mortgagee of these territories he prepared the way for the introduction of theProtestant Reformation, here as well as in his nativeFranconia. Earlier than any other German prince or any other member of the Hohenzollern line including even his younger brotherAlbert, theGrand Master of theTeutonic Order, he turned his eyes and heart to the new faith proceeding fromWittenberg.

The first reformatory writings began the work of winning him over to the evangelical cause.Martin Luther's powerful testimony of faith at theDiet of Worms in 1521 made an indelible impression upon his mind, and the vigorous sermons of evangelical preachers in the pulpits ofSt. Lawrence andSt. Sebald inNuremberg, during the diet there in 1522, deepened the impression. The study ofLuther's translation of theNew Testament, which appeared in 1522, established his faith on personal conviction. Moreover, he entered into correspondence with Luther, discussing with him the most important problems of faith, and in 1524 he met him personally during the negotiations concerning his brotherAlbert's secularization of theTeutonic Order's state of Prussia into the secularDuchy of Prussia.

After the accession of King Louis II, George was aided in his reforming efforts byQueen Maria, a sister ofCharles V andFerdinand I, who was favorably inclined toward the new doctrine. As the adviser of the young king, George firmly advocated the cause of the new gospel against the influences and intrigues of his clerical opponents and successfully prevented their violent measures. His relationship with DukeFrederick II ofLiegnitz,Brieg, andWohlau, and with DukeCharles I ofMünsterberg-Oels, who had both admitted the Reformation into their territories, contributed not a little to the expansion of the gospel in his own lands. But it was his own personal influence, energy, and practical spirit that introduced the new doctrine and founded a new evangelical and churchly life. He made efforts to secure preachers of the new gospel from Hungary, Silesia, and Franconia, and tried to introduce the church order of Brandenburg-Nuremberg, which had already found acceptance in the Franconian territories.

In the hereditary landsBrandenburg-Ansbach in Franconia, where with his older brotherCasimir ofBrandenburg-Kulmbach had assumed the regency in place of their father, he encountered greater difficulties, although the popular spirit was inclined toward the Reformation. Owing to his marriage with a Bavarian princess and to his military command in the imperial service, his brother was allied more closely with the old church and resisted the new reforming efforts. But the pressure of the estates of the land soon compelled him to allow preaching according to Luther's doctrine, although he ensured retention of the old church ceremonies, even of those that were contrary to the new faith.

George protested against such half-measures and showed his dissatisfaction with the half-hearted resolutions of the state assembly of October 1526. It was only after the death of his brother that as sole ruler he could successfully undertake and carry out reformation in the Franconian territories, with the assistance of councillors such asJohann von Schwarzenberg and through the new resolutions of the state assembly of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1528). At the same time George maintained his correspondence with Luther andPhilipp Melanchthon, discussing such questions as the evangelization of monasteries, the use of monastic property for evangelical purposes, and especially the foundation of lower schools for the people and of higher schools for the education of talented young men for the service of church and state. He despoiled the churches and cloisters in his domains of all their gold and silver, their monstrances, vessels, chalices, pearls, jewels, images and precious vestments. He used 50,000 florins of the proceeds to pay off Casimir's gambling debts and other liabilities, and he endowed his son Frederick with ecclesiastical benefices with a total revenue of 190,000 florins.^[1] He tried to gain, by his continued correspondence with Luther and other reformers such asUrbanus Rhegius, efficient men for the preaching of the gospel and for the organization of the evangelical church. Hand in hand with the Council of Nuremberg he worked for the institution of a church visitation on the model of that of theElectorate of Saxony, from which after repeated revisions and emendations the excellentchurch order of Brandenburg-Nuremberg of 1533 was developed. After its introduction in Nuremberg and his territories in Franconia, it was also introduced in his dominions in Upper Silesia.

George's influence manifested itself also in the development of the German Reformation as a whole. When a union of the evangelicals in upper and lower Germany was contemplated as a means of improved defense against the retaliatory measures of theRoman Catholic Church, George had a meeting with ElectorJohn ofSaxony atSchleitz in 1529, where they agreed on certain articles of faith and confession to be drawn up by Luther; the commission was executed in the seventeen articles ofSchwabach on the basis of the fifteen theses of theMarburg Colloquy.

But neither at the Convention of Schwabach nor at that ofSchmalkalden did George approve armed resistance against the emperor and his party, even in self-defense. He opposed the emperor energetically at theDiet of Augsburg in 1530, when the emperor demanded the prohibition of evangelical preaching. King Ferdinand made George the most alluring offers of Silesian possessions if he would support the emperor, but he strongly rejected them. Next to the elector of Saxony, he stands foremost among the princes who defended the reformed faith. After the death of his cousin,Joachim I, who was a strict Catholic, he assisted his sons in the introduction of the Reformation in the territories of theElectorate of Brandenburg. He took part in thereligious colloquy of Regensburg in 1541 where ElectorJoachim II made a last attempt to bridge the differences between the Catholics and Lutherans and with his nephew requested Luther's cooperation. TheDiet of Regensburg was the last religious meeting which he attended.

He is one of the figures on thePrussian Homage painting byJan Matejko.

George was married three times. His first marriage was toBeatrice de Frangepan (1480 –c. 1510) on 21 January 1509 inGyula; the marriage produced no children.

George's second marriage took place on 9 January 1525, toHedwig of Münsterberg-Oels (1508–1531), daughter ofCharles I of Münsterberg-Oels; their marriage produced two daughters:

• Anna Maria of Brandenburg-Ansbach (28 December 1526 – 20 May 1589); marriedChristoph, Duke of Württemberg in 1544.
• Sabina of Brandenburg-Ansbach (12 May 1529 – 2 November 1575); marriedJohn George, Elector of Brandenburg.

His third wife wasEmilie of Saxony (27 July 1516 – 9 March 1591), daughter ofHenry IV, Duke of Saxony, andCatherine of Mecklenburg on 25 August 1533:

• Sophie of Brandenburg-Ansbach (23 March 1535 – 12 February 1587) marriedHenry XI of Legnica on November 11, 1560.
• Barbara of Brandenburg-Ansbach (17 June 1536 – June 1591 in Kloster Himmelkron)
• Dorothy Catherine of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1538–1604); married in 1556Henry V of Plauen, Burgrave ofMeissen.
• George Frederick (1539–1603), who became Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Regent of theDuchy of Prussia.

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