Background
He was a son of Albert of Prussia and Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg.
He was a son of Albert of Prussia and Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg.
He was the second and last Prussian duke of the Ansbach branch of the Hohenzollern family. Albert became after paying feudal homage to the King of Poland, Zygmunt August (Ducal Prussia was a fief of Poland), on July 19, 1569 in Lublin. The homage was described by the Polish chronicler January Kochanowski in his work Proporzec ("Standard").
Albert Frederick initially refused to recognize the election of Stefan Bathory and supported the candidacy of Maximilian of Habsburg.
However, at the Toruń sejm of October 1576 he gave his support to the new monarch. As the great grandson of the Polish king Casimir IV Jagiellon, and as a Duke in Prussia who was fluent in Polish, Albert Frederick was seriously considered for a time as a possible candidate for the Polish throne.
He particularly enjoyed the support of Polish Lutherans. In 1572 he began to exhibit signs of mental disorder.
The latter became after Albert Frederick"s death in 1618.
Albert Frederick and Marie were parents to seven children: Anna of Prussia (3 July 1576 – 30 August 1625). Married John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg. Marie of Prussia (23 January 1579 – 21 February 1649).
Married Christian, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth.
Albert Frederick of Prussia (1 June – 8 October 1580). Sophie of Prussia (31 March 1582 – 4 December 1610).
Married Wilhelm Kettler of Courland. Eleanor of Prussia (22 August 1583 – 31 March/9 April 1607).
Married Joachim Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg.
Wilhelm of Prussia (23 June 1585 – 18 January 1586). Magdalene Sibylle of Prussia (31 December 1586 – 22 February 1659). Married John George I, Elector of Saxony.