Agnes Hedwig of Anhalt

Agnes Hedwig of Anhalt (12 March 1573, Dessau – 3 November 1616, Sønderborg) was a Princess of Anhalt by birth, an Abbess of Gernrode, and by marriage Electress of Saxony and later Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg. Early life She was the daughter of Prince Joachim Ernest of Anhalt and his second wife, Duchess Eleonore of Württemberg (1552-1618). From 1581 to 1586 she was abbess of the Imperial Abbey of St. Cyriac in Gernrode. Biography On 3 January 1586, at the age of 13, she married Elector Augustus of Saxony, becoming his second wife. On their wedding night, she is said to have asked for the release of Caspar Peucer. Elector Augustus died a few weeks later, on 11 February 1586. She received Lichtenburg Castle as her wittum, but never lived there. Two years later, on 14 February 1588, she married Duke John II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg and became his second wife. She died in 1616, six years before her husband.