George III, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (Dessau

Dessau

Dessau is a town in Germany on the junction of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it is part of the merged town Dessau-Roßlau. Population of Dessau proper: 77,973 .-Geography:...

, 15 August 1507 – Dessau, 17 October 1553), was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Dessau

Anhalt-Dessau

Anhalt-Dessau was a principality and later a duchy located in Germany. It was created in 1396 following the partition of the Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst. The capital of the state was Dessau. Anhalt-Dessau experienced a number of partitions throughout its existence with Anhalt-Köthen being...

. After 1544 he became the first ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Plötzkau.

George was the third (but second surviving) son of Ernest I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau

Ernest I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau

Ernest I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau , was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Dessau....

, by his wife Margarete, daughter of Henry I, Duke of Münsterberg-Oels and granddaughter of George of Poděbrady

George of Podebrady

George of Kunštát and Poděbrady , also known as Poděbrad or Podiebrad , was King of Bohemia...

, King of Bohemia

Bohemia

Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...

.

Life

He was mainly brought up with his brothers John V

John V, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst

John V of Anhalt-Zerbst , was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Dessau...

 and Joachim I

Joachim I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau

Joachim I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau , was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Dessau...

 by his devout mother. After the death of his father in 1516, he inherited Anhalt-Dessau as a co-ruler with his brothers (at first with their mother serving as regent).

With the assistance of his kinsman Adolph

Adolph II, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen

Adolph II, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen , was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Köthen...

, the Bishop of Merseburg, George was elevated to the rank of Canon

Canon (priest)

A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....

 in that see

Episcopal See

An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...

 in 1518, and attended the University of Leipzig

University of Leipzig

The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...

, where the theologian Georg Helt of Forchheim

Forchheim

Forchheim may refer to the following places in Germany:*Forchheim, capital of the district of Forchheim, Bavaria*Forchheim am Kaiserstuhl, a municipality in Baden-Württemberg*Forchheim , part of Rheinstetten, Baden-Württemberg...

 became his "highly beloved teacher."

In 1524 Adolph consecrated George as a priest. That he might be better able to refute Lutheran beliefs, he made a thorough study of the Bible

Bible

The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

, the Church Fathers

Church Fathers

The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were early and influential theologians, eminent Christian teachers and great bishops. Their scholarly works were used as a precedent for centuries to come...

, and church history. 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

Diet of Augsburg

The Diet of Augsburg were the meetings of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire in the German city of Augsburg. There were many such sessions, but the three meetings during the Reformation and the ensuing religious wars between the Roman Catholic emperor Charles V and the Protestant...

 in 1530 both George and his brothers allied themselves with the Protestants.

After the first Evangelical celebration of the Mass at Dessau, on Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday, also known as Holy Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Great & Holy Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries, is the Christian feast or holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles as described in the Canonical gospels...

 in 1534, George visited the district churches, making the fewest possible changes in the church practises in accordance with his natural disposition and with Luther

Martin Luther

Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...

's acquiescence. In the interest of peace, he sought to deter Luther, in 1538, from publishing his tract "Against the Bishop of Magdeburg" (Wider den Bischof zu Magdeburg) and persuaded him in 1542 not to circulate his sharply worded tract on the feud of Wurzen.

In 1544 the protector of Merseburg Cathedral

Merseburg Cathedral

Merseburg Cathedral is a cathedral in Merseburg, Germany. Construction on the Gothic cathedral was begun by Bishop Thietmar of Merseburg in 1015. It was consecrated in 1021 in the presence of Henry II. The cathedral was renovated in the Renaissance style from 1510-17. It is considered an artistic...

, Maurice of Saxony, appointed his brother Augustus

Augustus, Elector of Saxony

Augustus was Elector of Saxony from 1553 to 1586.-First years:Augustus was born in Freiberg, the youngest child and third son of Henry IV, Duke of Saxony, and Catherine of Mecklenburg. He consequently belonged to the Albertine branch of the Wettin family...

 as administrator, but because the latter was not a cleric, Maurice designated George as his "coadjutor in spiritual affairs." That year, he and his brothers decided to divide their principality of Anhalt-Dessau formally; George received Plötzkau

Plötzkau

Plötzkau is a municipality in the district of Salzlandkreis, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany....

.

In his new capacity as coadjutor, George forthwith proceeded, in company with Antonius Musa, just then appointed cathedral preacher at Merseburg, to visit all of the cathedral parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

es, exhibiting great patience, tactful discretion, and forbearance. He next conferred with Maurice in the matter of a prospective liturgy

Liturgy

Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...

, which, in accordance with his suggestions and by virtue of the deliberations of the consistories

Consistory

-Antiquity:Originally, the Latin word consistorium meant simply 'sitting together', just as the Greek synedrion ....

 of Merseburg and Meissen

Meissen

Meissen is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrechtsburg castle, the Gothic Meissen Cathedral and the Meissen Frauenkirche...

, was officially completed at Altenzelle in 1545. From then on George convened the cathedral clergy twice a year to a synod

Synod

A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...

 in Merseburg Cathedral

Merseburg Cathedral

Merseburg Cathedral is a cathedral in Merseburg, Germany. Construction on the Gothic cathedral was begun by Bishop Thietmar of Merseburg in 1015. It was consecrated in 1021 in the presence of Henry II. The cathedral was renovated in the Renaissance style from 1510-17. It is considered an artistic...

, and on such occasions discoursed upon the questions and evils of the time (and also upon proper official conduct). He based these conciones synodicae on outlines furnished to him by Melanchthon. Of the many sermons which he delivered in the cathedral, only a few have been preserved. They are distinguished by temperate and lucid exposition.

When the Schmalkald War broke out in spite of his efforts to prevent it, George received under his roof the fugitive Camerarius

Joachim Camerarius

Joachim Camerarius , the Elder was a German classical scholar.-Life:He was born at Bamberg, Bavaria...

 and his family. He also interceded for Jonas

Justus Jonas

Justus Jonas was a German Lutheran reformer.-Biography:Jonas was born at Nordhausen in Thuringia. His real name was Jodokus Koch, which he changed according to the common custom of German scholars in the sixteenth century, when at the University of Erfurt...

, 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." Although he "hated" the Augsburg Interim

Augsburg Interim

The Augsburg Interim is the general term given to an imperial decree ordered on May 15, 1548, at the 1548 Diet of Augsburg, after Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, had defeated the forces of the Schmalkaldic League in the Schmalkaldic War of 1546/47...

, he felt that he ought to lend a hand in the preparation of the Leipzig Interim

Leipzig Interim

The Leipzig Interim was a temporary settlement of 1548 AD in matters of religion, entered into by the Emperor Charles V with the Protestants.The Augsburg Interim of 1548 met with strong opposition. In order to make it less objectionable, a modification was introduced by Melanchthon and other...

, in order to preclude still worse results. In 1549 the emperor's candidate Michael Heldingk (Sidonius) was postulated by the chapter as Bishop of Merseburg. Until his arrival, George was to continue administering the diocese

Diocese

A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...

. 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

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 and Protestant religious fanatics. Afterward he retired to his estates in Anhalt

Anhalt

Anhalt was a sovereign county in Germany, located between the Harz Mountains and the river Elbe in Middle Germany. It now forms part of the state of Saxony-Anhalt.- Dukes of Anhalt :...

. Traveling often to Warmsdorf, he continued to preach there, and when the occasion presented itself, he sought to mediate the Osiandrian

Andreas Osiander

Andreas Osiander was a German Lutheran theologian.- Career :Born at Gunzenhausen in Franconia, Osiander studied at the University of Ingolstadt before being ordained as a priest in 1520. In the same year he began work at an Augustinian convent in Nuremberg as a Hebrew tutor. In 1522, he was...

 dispute.

He died unmarried after lingering sickness, and Melanchthon composed his epitaph. His unfeigned piety, gentleness, and love of peace, his benevolence and freedom of service, all earned him the honorable epithet "devout" or "pious." His theology was that of Luther.

His personal library has been preserved intact, and is now part of the Anhaltische Landesbücherei at Dessau, along with an exhibition to honor his 500th birthday.