John II was Elector of Brandenburg from 1486 until his death, the fourth of the House of Hohenzollern.
Background
John Cicero was the eldest son of Elector Albert III Achilles of Brandenburg with his first wife Margaret of Baden. As his father then ruled as Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (from 1457 also as Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach), he was born at the Hohenzollern residence of Ansbach in Franconia, where he spent his childhood years until in 1466 he received the call to Brandenburg as presumed heir by his uncle Elector Frederick World War II
Career
After his death he received the cognomen Cicero, after the Roman orator Cicero, but the elector"s eloquence and interest in the arts is doubtful. He also implemented an excise tax on beer in 1488, which sparked several disturbances, mainly in the towns of the Altmark region. In 1490 John was able to purchase the former Lusatian territory around Zossen, acknowledged by the Bohemian king Vladislaus II, and maintained the succession claims of the Hohenzollern dynasty to the Pomeranian lands held by the House of Griffins.