Everything about Albert The Warlike totally explained
Albert Alcibiades (;
March 28 1522-
January 8 1557) was a
Margrave of
Brandenburg-Kulmbach, also known as Brandenburg-Bayreuth. Because of his bellicose nature Albert received the
cognomen Alcibiades after his death; during his lifetime Albert was known as
Bellator (the Warlike). He was a member of the
Franconian branch of the
House of Hohenzollern.
Biography
Albert was born at
Ansbach and, having lost his father
Casimir in 1527, he came under the guardianship of his uncle
George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, a strong adherent of
Protestantism. In 1541 he received
Bayreuth as his share of the family lands, but, as the chief town of his principality was
Kulmbach, he's sometimes referred to as the Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach.
His restless and turbulent nature marked him out for a military career; and having collected
a small band of soldiers, he assisted Emperor
Charles V in his war with France in 1543. The
Peace of Crepy-en-Laonnois in September 1544 deprived him of this employment, but he'd won a considerable reputation, and when Charles was preparing to attack the
Schmalkaldic League, he took pains to win Albert's assistance. Sharing in the attack on the Saxon electorate, Albert was taken prisoner at
Rochlitz in March 1547 by Elector
John Frederick of Saxony, but was released as a result of the emperor's victory at the
Battle of Mühlberg in the succeeding April.
He then followed the fortunes of his friend Elector
Maurice of Saxony, deserted Charles, and joined the league which proposed to overthrow the emperor by an alliance with King
Henry II of France. He took part in the subsequent campaign, but when the
Peace of Passau was signed in August 1552 he separated himself from his allies and began a crusade of plunder in
Franconia. Having extorted a large sum of money from the citizens of
Nuremberg, he quarrelled with his supporter, the French king, and offered his services to the emperor. Charles, anxious to secure such a famous fighter, gladly assented to Albert's demands and gave the imperial sanction to his possession of the lands taken from the bishops of
Würzburg and
Bamberg; and his conspicuous bravery was of great value to the emperor on the retreat from
Metz in January 1553.
When Charles left Germany a few weeks later, Albert renewed his depredations in Franconia. These soon became so serious that a league was formed to crush him, and Maurice of Saxony led an army against his former comrade. The rival forces met at
Sievershausen on
July 9 1553, and after a combat of unusual ferocity Albert was put to flight.
Henry, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, then took command of the troops of the league, and after Albert had been placed under the imperial ban in December 1553 he was defeated by Duke Henry, and compelled to flee to France. He there entered the service of Henry II of France and had undertaken a campaign to regain his lands when he died at
Pforzheim on
January 8 1557.
He is defined by
Thomas Carlyle as "a failure of a Fritz," with "features" of a
Frederick the Great in him, "but who burnt away his splendid qualities as a mere temporary shine for the able editors, and never came to anything, full of fire, too much of it wildfire, not in the least like an Alcibiades except in the change of fortune he underwent".
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