Principality of Anhalt-Aschersleben

Anhalt-Aschersleben was a short-lived principality of the Holy Roman Empire ruled by the House of Ascania with its residence at Aschersleben in present-day Saxony-Anhalt. It emerged as a subdivision from the Principality of Anhalt from 1252 to 1315.

Principality of Anhalt-Aschersleben Fürstentum Anhalt-Aschersleben
1252–1315
Flag Coat of arms
Map of Anhalt in 1259. Anhalt-Aschersleben is in brown.
Status	Principality
Capital	Aschersleben
Common languages	East Central German
Prince
• 1252–67	Henry II
• 1267–1304	Otto I
• 1267–83	(with Henry III)
• 1304–15	Otto II
Historical era	Middle Ages
• Partitioned from Anhalt	1252
• Seized by Halberstadt	1315
• Passed to Brandenburg on secularisation of bishopric	1648
Preceded by Succeeded by Principality of Anhalt Bishopric of Halberstadt

History

 

Aschersleben

It was created when the Anhalt territory was divided among the sons of Prince Henry I into the Principalities of Anhalt-Aschersleben, Anhalt-Bernburg and Anhalt-Zerbst in 1252. Prince Henry II the Fat, the eldest son of Henry I,^[1] had been co-ruler of his father since 1244. In the course of the partition he chose the Anhalt ancestral homeland north of the Harz mountain range around the Ascanian residence of Aschersleben (Ascharia), which he granted town privileges in 1266.

When in 1315 Henry's grandson Otto II died without male heirs, the principality — including the capital of Aschersleben — was seized as a fief by his cousin and creditor Bishop Albert of Halberstadt.^[2] Though Prince Bernhard II of Anhalt-Bernburg one year later acknowledged the feudal tenure of Halberstadt, Aschersleben was the cause for several conflicts between his successors and the Halberstadt bishops. Nevertheless, it remained part of the diocese, which in 1648 was secularized into the Principality of Halberstadt, and its sovereign possessions, including the rights to Anhalt-Aschersleben, were given to Brandenburg-Prussia.

Princes of Anhalt-Aschersleben 1252–1315

• 1252–1266 Henry II
• 1266–1304 Otto I
  • 1266–1283 Henry III, brother and co-regent
• 1304–1315 Otto II

References

1. Benjamin Arnold (29 January 2004). Princes and Territories in Medieval Germany (Paperback). Cambridge University Press. p. 36. ISBN 9780521521482.
2. Jan Gyllenbok (25 April 2018). Encyclopaedia of Historical Metrology, Weights, and Measures Volume 2 (Ebook). Springer International Publishing. p. 1146. ISBN 9783319666914.