John V, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst

John V, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst (b. Dessau, 4 September 1504 - d. Zerbst, 4 February 1551), was a German prince member of the House of Ascania and ruler of the Principality of Anhalt-Dessau and since 1544, from the re-created Anhalt-Zerbst.

He was the second bu eldest surviving son of Ernest I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau by his wife Margarete, daughter of Henry I, Duke of Münsterberg-Oels and granddaughter of George of Poděbrady (Podiebrad), King of Bohemia.

Life

After the death of his father in 1516, John and his brothers inherited Anhalt-Dessau as co-rulers according to the old House of Ascania Family Law, under the regency of their mother during their first years of reign.

The brothers shared the government of the principlity for almost twenty-eight years, until 1544, when they decided to made the formal division of their state. John received Zerbst, and with this revived the old principality extinct in 1396 after the creation of Anhalt-Dessau and Anhalt-Köthen.

Marriage and Issue

In Dessau on 15 February 1534 John married with Margarete (b. 29 September 1511 - d. aft. 3 December 1577), daughter of Joachim I Nestor, Elector of Brandenburg and widow of George I, Duke of Pomerania. Margarete's stepson and new Duke of Pomerania(-Wolgast), Philip I, had to paid from his treasure to her an annuity per life of 1.200 guilders in order to cover her dowry; the sum was, in each case, given to the representats of Margarete in Pasewalk.

From her marriage with George I, Margarete had a posthumous daughter, Georgia. She remained under the custody of her half-brother Philip I until 1543, when he finally send her (after long negotiations) with her mother and stepfather. Because Georgia was a Pomeranian princess by birth, one of the conditions of her stay in Zerbst was she had to be educated according to the legal views and customs of Pomerania.

The union with the widow daughter of the Elector of Brandenburg was a high honor to John and he decided to celebrate the wedding with great pomp. But by that time, he had a poor health and, finally, in 1544 suffered a stroke. His relations with Margarete worsened during the following years; in 1550 John ordened the temporary arrest of his wife, but she can fled.

John and Margarete had six children:
#Karl I, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst (b. Dessau, 17 November 1534 - d. Zerbst, 4 May 1561).
#Joachim Ernest, Prince of Anhalt (b. Dessau, 21 October 1536 - d. Dessau, 6 December 1586).
#Marie (b. Dessau, 1 December 1538 - d. Rosslau, 25 April 1563), married on 25 August 1559 to Albert X, Count of Barby-Mühlingen.
#Bernhard VII, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst (b. Dessau, 17 March 1540 - d. Dessau, 1 March 1570).
#Margarete (b. Dessau, 18 August 1541 - d. Zerbst, 25 July 1547).
#Elisabeth (b. Dessau, 15 October 1545 - d. Barby, 26 September 1574), married on 19 July 1570 to Wolfgang II, Count of Barby-Mühlingen.