Barbara of Brandenburg (1464–1515)
| Barbara of Brandenburg | |
|---|---|
| Queen consort of Bohemia | |
| Reign | 1476–1490/1500 |
| Born | 30 May 1464 Ansbach, Brandenburg-Ansbach |
| Died | 4 September 1515 Ansbach |
| Burial | Heilsbronn |
| House | House of Hohenzollern |
| Father | Albrecht III, Elector of Brandenburg |
| Mother | Anna of Saxony |
Barbara of Brandenburg (30 May 1464 – 4 September 1515), a member of the German House of Hohenzollern, was by birth Margravine of Brandenburg and by her two marriages Duchess of Głogów from 1472 to 1476 and Queen of Bohemia from 1476 to 1490/1500.
Barbara was born in the Hohenzollern residence of Ansbach as the tenth of the nineteen children of Margrave Albrecht III Achilles; she was the fourth child born from his second marriage to Anna, daughter of the Wettin elector Frederick II of Saxony. At the time of her birth, her father ruled the Franconian margraviate of Brandenburg-Ansbach and also inherited the neighbouring Principality of Kulmbach upon the death of his elder brother Margrave John the Alchemist. In 1471 he succeeded his brother Frederick Irontooth as Elector of Brandenburg.
In Berlin on 11 October 1472, eight-year-old Barbara was married to the Piast duke Henry XI of Głogów, around thirty years her senior. The marriage contract stipulated that, in case of the duke's death without issue, his Duchy of Głogów was to be passed to his wife, with reversion to her Hohenzollern family. Four years later, on 22 February 1476, Henry IX died suddenly, possibly poisoned by Brandenburg agents. This death left Barbara Duchess of Głogów with Crossen and Kożuchów, but a long succession war erupted: The Silesian duchy had been a Bohemian fief since 1331, therefore not only Henry IX's closest male relative, his cousin Jan II the Mad, former Duke of Żagań, claimed the whole inheritance, but also King Vladislaus II of Bohemia and the Bohemian anti-king Matthias Corvinus. Immediately after the death of Duke Henry IX, Barbara's father Elector Albrecht Achilles had the Duchy of Głogów occupied by Brandenburg troops under the command of his son John Cicero.
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