Editing Principality of Ansbach

{{Short description|Free Imperial principality in the Holy Roman Empire (1398–1791)}}
{{No footnotes|date=November 2009}}
{{Infobox country
|native_name            = {{native name|de|Markgrafschaft Brandenburg-Ansbach/Fürstentum Ansbach}}
|conventional_long_name = Margraviate of Brandenburg-Ansbach/Principality of Ansbach
|common_name            = Ansbach
|era                    = [[Early modern period]]
|status                 = [[Principality]]
|empire                 = Holy Roman Empire
|today                  = [[Germany]]
|year_start             = 1398
|year_end               = 1791
|event_pre              = [[Imperial City of Nuremberg|Nuremberg became<br/>imperial city]]
|date_pre               = <br/>1219
|event_start            = Partition of<br/>[[burgraviate of Nuremberg|burgraviate]]
|date_start             = <br/>21 January
|event1                 = [[Personal union]] with<br/>[[Electorate of Brandenburg|Brandenburg]]
|date_event1            = <br/>1415–40
|event2                 = Reunion with<br/>[[Brandenburg-Bayreuth|Bayreuth]]
|date_event2            = <br/>11 June 1420
|event3                 = <nowiki>Repartition</nowiki>
|date_event3            = 21 September 1440
|event4                 = Restoration of<br/>personal union
|date_event4            = <br/>1470–86
|event_end              = Margraviate sold<br/>to [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]]
|date_end               = <br/>2 December
|event_post             = Formal annexation
|date_post              = 28 January 1792
|p1                     = Burgraviate of Nuremberg
|flag_p1               = Burgraves of Nuremberg (Eigener Entwurf Version 2).svg
|s1                     = Kingdom of Prussia
|flag_s1                = Flag of Prussia (1750).svg
|image_coat             = Principato di Ansbach.svg
| symbol                = House of Hohenzollern#Margraves of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1398–1791)
|image_map              = Principality of Ansbach 1791.png
|image_map_caption      = The Principality of Brandenburg-Ansbach as of 1791, superimposed over modern borders.
|capital                = [[Ansbach]]
|common_languages       = [[East Franconian German|East Franconian]]
|religion               = [[Roman Catholic]]
|footnotes              = <!--- Accepts wikilinks --->
}}
The '''Principality''' or '''Margraviate of (Brandenburg) Ansbach''' ({{langx|de|Fürstentum Ansbach}} or {{lang|de|Markgrafschaft Brandenburg-Ansbach}}) was a {{lang|de|[[reichsfrei|free imperial]]}} [[principality]] in the [[Holy Roman Empire]] centered on the [[Franconia]]n city of [[Ansbach]]. The ruling [[House of Hohenzollern|Hohenzollern]] princes of the land were known as [[margrave]]s, as their ancestors were margraves (so the principality was a margraviate but not a [[marches|march]]).

== History ==
The principality was established following the death of [[Frederick V, Burgrave of Nuremberg]], on 21 January 1398. By agreement, his lands were partitioned between his two sons, a process that took more than two years. The younger son, [[Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg|Frederick VI]], received Ansbach and the elder, [[John III, Burgrave of Nuremberg|John III]], received [[Principality of Bayreuth|Bayreuth]]. After John III's death on 11 June 1420, the two principalities were reunited under Frederick VI, who had become [[Prince-elector|Elector]] Frederick I of [[Brandenburg]] in 1415.

On 21 September 1440, almost three years after Frederick's death his territories were divided between his sons; [[John, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach|John]] received the [[principality of Bayreuth]] (Brandenburg-Kulmbach), [[Frederick II, Elector of Brandenburg|Frederick]] received Brandenburg, and [[Albrecht III, Elector of Brandenburg|Albert]] received Ansbach. Thereafter Ansbach was held by [[cadet branch]]es of the [[House of Hohenzollern]], and its rulers were commonly called Margraves of Brandenburg-Ansbach.

On 2 December 1791, the reigning Prince and Margrave of Ansbach, [[Charles Alexander, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach|Charles Alexander]], who had also succeeded to Bayreuth, sold the sovereignty of his principalities to King [[Frederick William II of Prussia]]. The Margrave was middle-aged and childless, and Frederick William was his kinsman as the head of the House of Hohenzollern. The Margrave moved to England with his English second wife. Ansbach was formally annexed on 28 January 1792.

==Princes and Margraves of Ansbach==
* 1398: [[Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg|Frederick VI, Burgrave of Nuremberg]] (from 1415 also [[Elector of Brandenburg]])
* 1440: [[Albrecht III, Elector of Brandenburg|Albert Achilles]] (from 1470 also Elector of Brandenburg)
* 1486: [[Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach|Frederick I]]
* 1515: [[George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach|George ''the Pious'']]
* 1543: [[George Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach|George Frederick I]]
* 1603: [[Joachim Ernst, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach|Joachim Ernst]]
* 1625: [[Frederick III, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach]]
* 1634: [[Albrecht II, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach|Albert II]]
* 1667: [[John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach|John Frederick]]
* 1686: [[Christian Albrecht, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach|Christian Albrecht]]
* 1692: [[George Frederick II, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach|George Frederick II ''the Younger'']]
* 1703: [[William Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach|William Frederick]] (before 1686–1723)
* 1723: [[Karl Wilhelm Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach|Charles William Frederick]] (1712–1757)
* 1757: [[Charles Alexander, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach|Charles Alexander]] (to 1791)

==See also==
* {{Section link|Germans in the American Revolution|Ansbach-Bayreuth}}
* [[Wolf of Ansbach]]

==External links==
* [http://www.exulanten.com/delta.html The Ansbach-Bayreuth Army in America] at Exulanten.com
* [http://www.worldstatesmen.org/German_States1.html German States to 1918, A–E] on WorldStatesmen.org
* {{cite web |last=Marek |first=Miroslav |url=http://genealogy.euweb.cz/hohz/hohenz1.html |title= House of Hohenzollern (1 of 2) |publisher= Genealogy.EU}}
* {{cite web |last=Marek |first=Miroslav |url=http://genealogy.euweb.cz/hohz/hohenz2.html |title= House of Hohenzollern (2 of 2) |publisher= Genealogy.EU}}
* [http://www.tacitus.nu/historical-atlas/regents/germany/nurnberg.htm Ansbach and Bayreuth] on ''Tacitus Historical Atlas''

{{Swabian League}}
{{Franconian Circle}}
{{Portal bar|Holy Roman Empire}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ansbach}}
[[Category:Margraves of Brandenburg-Ansbach| ]]
[[Category:1398 establishments in Europe]]
[[Category:1390s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire]]
[[Category:1792 disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire]]
[[Category:Franconian Circle]]
[[Category:Former states and territories of Bavaria]]
[[Category:History of Ansbach]]
[[Category:Lists of princes]]
[[Category:Lists of nobility of the Holy Roman Empire]]
[[Category:Principalities of the Holy Roman Empire]]