| Joachim II Hector | |
|---|---|
 Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg. ByLucas Cranach the Younger, 1570 | |
| Elector of Brandenburg | |
| Reign | 11 July 1535 – 3 January 1571 |
| Predecessor | Joachim I Nestor |
| Successor | John George |
| Born | 13 January 1505 Cölln,Margraviate of Brandenburg,Holy Roman Empire |
| Died | 3 January 1571(1571-01-03) (aged 65) Köpenick Palace, Margraviate of Brandenburg, Holy Roman Empire |
| Burial | Berlin Cathedral (tomb lost, 1750) |
| Spouse | |
| Issue Detail |
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| House | Hohenzollern |
| Father | Joachim I Nestor, Elector of Brandenburg |
| Mother | Elizabeth of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden |
| Religion | Lutheran (from 1539) Roman Catholic (until 1539) |
| Signature | .PNG) |
Joachim II (German:Joachim II Hector orHektor; 13 January 1505 – 3 January 1571) was aPrince-elector of theMargraviate of Brandenburg (1535–1571), the sixth member of theHouse of Hohenzollern. Joachim II was the eldest son ofJoachim I Nestor, Elector of Brandenburg and his wifeElizabeth of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. He received thecognomenHector after theTrojan prince and warrior for hisathel qualities and prowess.
Joachim II was born inCölln and received his education at the imperial court.[1]
His father, Joachim I Nestor, made Joachim Hector sign an inheritance contract in which he promised to remainRoman Catholic. This was intended in part to assist Joachim Nestor's younger brother, the Archbishop-ElectorAlbert of Mainz. Albert had borrowed huge amounts from the banking house ofFugger in order to pay theHoly See for his elevation to thePrince-Bishopric of Halberstadt and for adispensation permitting him to hold both theArchbishopric of Magdeburg andArchbishopric of Mainz. This provided the Hohenzollerns with control over two of the seven electoral votes in imperial elections and many suffragan dioceses to levy dues.
Joachim Nestor, who had co-financed this accumulation of offices, agreed to let Albert recover these costs by the sale ofindulgences to his subjects. Joachim's neighbor,John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony, forbade the sale of indulgences, because Albert had outbid his candidate for the see of Mainz, but also on principle, being persuaded by his subjectMartin Luther. Thus repayment of the debt to the Fugger depended on the sale of indulgences to Catholic believers in Brandenburg. However, had Joachim Hector not agreed to this, he would likely have been passed over in the line of inheritance.
His first marriage was toMagdalena of Saxony from the ducalAlbertine line of theHouse of Wettin. She died in 1534.
In 1535 he marriedHedwig, daughter of KingSigismund I the Old of Poland. As theJagiellon dynasty was Catholic, Joachim II promised Sigismund that he would not make Hedwig change her religious affiliation.[2]
With the deaths of his father Joachim Nestor (1535) and father-in-law Sigismund (1548), Joachim turned gradually to theProtestant Reformation. On 1 November 1539, he receivedCommunion under both kinds inSpandau's St. Nicholas' Church, an act that indicated a degree of sympathy with the new religious ideas. However, Joachim did not explicitly adoptLutheranism until 1555, to avoid open confrontation with his ally, EmperorCharles V.[dubious –discuss][citation needed] Prior to this, Joachim promulgated a conservativechurch order that was Lutheran in doctrine, but retained many traditional religious institutions and observances, such as theepiscopate, much of theMass in Latin,religious plays andfeast days.
In early 1539, at thediet of princes ofimperial immediacy (Fürstentag) of theHoly Roman Empire inFrankfurt, Lutheran spokesmanPhilipp Melanchthon revealed to the gathered princes (among them Joachim) that the anti-Jewishpogroms of 1510 in Brandenburg had been based on a feignedhost desecration. This pogrom had resulted in the expulsion of theJews from Brandenburg. The Jewish advocateJosel von Rosheim, who was also in attendance, pleaded privately with Joachim to allow the Jews to settle in the Brandenburg again. Joachim acceded to this request on 25 June 1539.[3]
Joachim not only loved hunting in person, he also spent great sums on live lions, bears, wolves, and other beasts which he made to fight each other. He also maintained no fewer than elevenalchemists at his court over a mere ten-year period. Because of these and other extravagances, although Joachim I had left the country's finances in satisfactory order, by 1540 Joachim II was over 600,000 thalers in debt, which he attempted to pay off by confiscating church property and raising taxes.[4]
His wife Hedwig's motherBarbara Zápolya was a sister ofJohn Zápolya, who had claimed the vacant throne ofHungary after KingLouis II was killed in battle against theOttoman Empire in 1526. However, Joachim supportedFerdinand of Habsburg, who also claimed the crown and challenged the Turkish invaders. In 1542 Joachim assisted Ferdinand against the Ottomans at theSiege of Buda (1541). He commanded an army of Austrian, Hungarian, German, Bohemian, Italian, and Dalmatian troops, but the Elector was not a seasoned warrior and eventually beat a retreat.[5] He was defeated again by the Ottomans in theSiege of Pest in 1542.
As a part of the alliance, in 1545 Joachim held a gala double wedding celebration for his two children,John George andBarbara. They were married toSophie of Legnica andGeorge, both children of thePiast DukeFrederick II of Legnica inSilesia.[6]
Joachim was a brother-in-law of KingSigismund II Augustus of Poland. In 1569, he paid Sigismund for a deed ofenfeoffment which made Joachim and his issue heirs toDucal Prussia in case of the extinction of the Prussian Hohenzollern line.
In 1571, Joachim died in theKöpenick Palace, which he had built in 1558.
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WithMagdalena of Saxony (1507–1534):
WithHedwig Jagiellon (1513–1573):
Joachim II Hector Born: 1505 Died: 1571 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Elector of Brandenburg 1535–1571 | Succeeded by |
