George III, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau

The extreme emotional tensions and qualms of conscience into which his investigations brought him induced a violent illness that left its mark on him for the rest of his life.It was only after his mother's death (28 June 1530) that he made peace with his religious convictions; from the time of the Diet of Augsburg in 1530 both George and his brothers allied themselves with the Lutherans.He next conferred with Maurice in the matter of a prospective liturgy, which, in accordance with his suggestions and by virtue of the deliberations of the consistories of Merseburg and Meissen, was officially completed at Altenzelle in 1545.He also interceded for Jonas, who had incurred the anger of Maurice of Saxony, and sought to restrain the clergy from "suspicious and frivolous words that might serve to cause discord."To strengthen the Lutheran confession as firmly as possible before the threatening storm, he now delivered his powerful sermons "On the False Prophets," and "On the Right Worthy Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ," which were directed both against Rome and Protestant religious fanatics.