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John II of Anhalt-Zerbst

German prince

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 24, 2026
Entity authorityQ1927896 ↗
Source-derived summary

John II, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst (died 11 April 1382) was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Zerbst.

He was the youngest son of Albert II, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, by his second wife Beatrix, daughter of Rudolf I, Elector of Saxony and Duke of Saxe-Wittemberg.

Life

The death of his older brother Albert III in 1359 made John his father's sole heir; his older brother Rudolf was an ordained priest. In 1362 John inherited the principality of Anhalt-Zerbst, but first had to rule jointly with his uncle Waldemar I until his death in 1368, then with his cousin Waldemar II, who died without issue four years later (in 1371). Following his cousin's death, John became the sole ruler of Anhalt-Zerbst.

Marriage and issue

In 1366 John married Elisabeth (died Dessau, after 20 January 1420), daughter of John I, Count of Henneberg-Schleusingen. They had four children:

Agnes (d. bef. 5 July 1392), married bef. 23 September 1382 to Burchard of Schraplau.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “John II of Anhalt-Zerbst” as german prince. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around John, Anhalt-Zerbst and German.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1382, 1359, 1362, 1368—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1341. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with John, Anhalt-Zerbst and German providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “John II of Anhalt-Zerbst”, the useful work is to connect “german prince” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1927896. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1382, 1359, 1362 and 1368.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

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Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “John II of Anhalt-Zerbst” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.