Agnes von Mansfeld-Eisleben

Agnes von Mansfeld-Eisleben
Agnes von Mansfeld-Eisleben, the beautiful maiden of Mansfeld.
Born	1551 Mansfeld, in Saxony
Died	1637 Sulzbach
Occupation	Cannoness
Known for	Her marriage to the archbishop of the Diocese of Cologne triggered the Cologne War
Spouse(s)	Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg, Elector of Cologne
Parent(s)	Johann (Hans) Georg I, of Mansfeld-Eisleben (1515  – 14 August 1579) and Katharina of Mansfeld-Hinterort (1521/1525  – 1580/1583)
Family	Karl von Mansfeld (cousin)

Johann (Hans) Georg I, of Mansfeld-Eisleben (1515  – 14 August 1579) and

Agnes von Mansfeld-Eisleben (1551–1637) was Countess of Mansfeld and the daughter of Johann (Hans) Georg I, of Mansfeld Eisleben. She converted Gebhard, Seneschal of Waldburg, the Prince-Elector of Electorate of Cologne and archbishop of the Diocese of Cologne to the Protestant faith, leading to the Cologne War (1583–1588).

After a multiple year odyssey in which she and her husband sought refuge in several parts of northern Germany, Gebhard relinquished his claim on the Electorate. They settled in Strassbourg, where he had retained a position in the Cathedral chapter. After his death in 1601, she came under the protection of the Duke of Wūrttemberg, who had himself been chased from his duchy. She died in 1637.

Agnes was the daughter of Johann (Hans) Georg I, of Mansfeld Eisleben (1515  – 14 August 1579), and his wife, Katharina of Mansfeld-Hinterort (1521/1525  – 1580/1583). Although born and raised in the town of Mansfeld, in Saxony, as an adult, Agnes von Mansfeld Eisleben became a Protestant canoness at a cloister in Gerresheim, today a district of Düsseldorf. Agnes' sister Sibilla lived in the city of Cologne, having married to the Freiherr (baron) Peter von Kriechingen; although a member of the cloister, Agnes was not bound to it and was free during her days to move about the city. She visited Sibilla one day, and was noticed by the Elector of Cologne, Gebhard, Truchsess von Waldburg. Reportedly a beautiful woman (she was also known as the lovely Mansfeld girl) he sought her out, and they started a liaison. Two of her brothers, Hoyer and Ernst, visited Gebhard at the archbishop's palace in the electoral capital of Bonn, and convinced him to marry her.

She insisted Gebhard first convert to Calvinism. The difficulties of a conversion by a Catholic Archbishop and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire had been faced before: Hermann von Wied had also converted to Protestantism, and had resigned from his office. Similarly, Gebhard's immediate predecessor, Salentin IX of Isenburg-Grenzau had resigned to marry when it appeared his family line would become extinct. Initially, it appeared that Gebhard would resign. However, several of his associates in the Cathedral chapter convinced him that he could have the lady and the Electorate. Before Christmas in 1582, he proclaimed the Reformation from the pulpit in Cologne, establishing Protestantism on parity with Catholicism in the archdiocese.