Principality of Anhalt
Under the rule of the House of Ascania, the Anhalt territory was split off the German stem duchy of Saxony in 1212 and granted to Count Henry I, who was raised to the rank of a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire in 1218.Ruled by Ascanian princes from the High Middle Ages to the Early modern period, Anhalt was divided several times amongst various lines of the dynasty until the dissolution of the Empire in 1806, when Napoleon elevated the remaining states of Anhalt-Bernburg, Anhalt-Dessau and Anhalt-Köthen to duchies.Albert could not prevail against the Welf duke Henry the Lion, nevertheless he conquered the eastern territories of the former Northern March, which had been lost in the 983 Great Slav Rising, where he established the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1157.When he died in 1170, his younger son Count Bernhard inherited the Ascanian home territories around Anhalt Castle and after the deposition of Henry the Lion by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa finally became Duke of Saxony in 1180.He was a co-signer of the Augsburg Confession in 1530, and after the Battle of Mühlberg in 1547 was placed under Imperial ban and deprived of his lands by Emperor Charles V. After the peace of Passau in 1552 he bought back his principality, but as he was childless he surrendered it in 1562 to his kinsmen the princes of Anhalt-Dessau.Ernest I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (d. 1516) left three sons, John V, George III, and Joachim, who ruled their lands together for many years, and who favoured the Lutheran doctrine, which thus became dominant in Anhalt.Joachim Ernest died in 1586, and his five sons ruled the land in common until 1603, when owing to the lack of primogeniture, Anhalt was again divided, and the lines of Dessau, Bernburg, Plötzkau, Zerbst and Köthen were re-founded.
GermanDessauRoman CatholicLutheranPrincipalityPrince of AnhaltHenry IMiddle AgesSaxonyCouncil of PrincesduchiesDuchy of SaxonyDuchy of AnhaltGermanyAnhalt-AscherslebenAnhalt-BernburgAnhalt-ZerbstAnhalt-DessauAnhalt-KöthenAnhalt-PlötzkauHoly Roman EmpireCentral GermanySaxony-AnhaltHouse of Ascaniastem duchyPrince of the Holy Roman EmpireHigh Middle AgesEarly modern periodNapoleonFläming HeathexclaveRamberg (Harz)RosslauWipperSchwabengauEastphaliaEsico of BallenstedtConrad IITilledaallodialBallenstedtSaxon Eastern MarchAdalbert II of BallenstedtNordthüringgauSaxon RebellionHenry IVEgeno II of KonradsburgOtto the RichHenry VLothair of SupplinburgSaxon ducal titleBattle of WelfesholzPolabian SlavsZerbstHevelliAnhalt CastleHarzgerodeAlbert the BearMarch of LusatiaHenry the LionNorthern MarchGreat Slav RisingMargraviate of BrandenburgBernhardFrederick BarbarossaWestphalianEngernPrince-Archbishops of CologneAlbert IHouse of AnhaltCodex ManesseAscherslebenBernburgBishopric of HalberstadtGeorge IWolfgang of AnhaltReformationAugsburg ConfessionBattle of MühlbergImperial banEmperor Charles Vpeace of PassauErnest I, Prince of Anhalt-DessauJohn VGeorge IIIJoachimPlötzkauKöthenJoachim ErnestprimogenitureThirty Years' WarChristian I of Anhalt-BernburgLebrecht, Prince of Anhalt-PlötzkauFrederick Augustus, Prince of Anhalt-ZerbstCalvinismMartin LutherPrussiaDissolution of the Holy Roman EmpireAlbert I the BearAnhaltSophie of WinzenburgCount of BallenstedtDuke of SaxonyMargrave of BrandenburgBernard IHenry II the FatHamburgSiegfried ICatherine of SwedenMatilda of Brunswick-LüneburgGernrodeOtto IHenry IIIBernard IIJohn IOtto IIAlbert IIValdemar IAlbert IIIJohn IIValdemar IIBernard IIIBernard IVOtto IIISigismund IAlbert IV