Ernest I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau
He was the second son of George I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, yet the first born by his fourth wife Anna, daughter of Albert VIII, Count of Lindow-Ruppin.In 1473, after the death of his father, Ernest inherited the principality of Anhalt-Dessau alongside his younger brothers George II, Sigismund III, and Rudolph IV.Following the family law of the House of Ascania, the accession took place without any division of territories.The deaths of Sigismund III in 1487, George II in 1509, and Rudolph IV in 1510[2] without surviving male issue left Ernest as the sole ruler of Anhalt-Dessau until his death.In Cottbus on 20 January 1494 Ernest married Margarete (b. Breslau, 25 August 1473 – d. Dessau, 28 June 1530), daughter of Henry I, Duke of Münsterberg-Oels, and granddaughter of George of Poděbrady, King of Bohemia.