John Sigismund gave the Reichshof Castrop to his teacher and educator Carl Friedrich von Bordelius, whereas he received the territories of Cleves, Mark, and Ravensberg in the Treaty of Xanten in 1614.
Religious policy
John Sigismund's most significant action was his conversion from Lutheranism to Calvinism, after he had earlier equalized the rights of Catholics and Protestants in the Duchy of Prussia under pressure from the King of Poland. He was probably won over to Calvinism during a visit to Heidelberg in 1606, but it was not until 25 December 1613 that he publicly took communion according to the Calvinist rite. The vast majority of his subjects in Brandenburg, including his wife Anna of Prussia, remained deeply Lutheran, however. After the Elector and his Calvinist court officials drew up plans for mass conversion of the population to the new faith in February 1614, as provided for by the rule of Cuius regio, eius religio within the Holy Roman Empire, there were serious protests, with his wife backing the Lutherans. Resistance was so strong that in 1615, John Sigismund backed down and relinquished all attempts at forcible conversion. Instead, he allowed his subjects to be either Lutheran or Calvinist according to the dictates of their own consciences. Henceforward, Brandenburg-Prussia would be a bi-confessional state.[1]
Family and children
On 30 October 1594, John Sigismund married Anna of Prussia, daughter of Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia (1553–1618). She was the elder sister of his stepmother. They were parents to eight children:
John John John John the Baptist Saint John—Rothesay John the Apostle John 1 John the Evangelist John of Patmos Saint John East John St John, 11th Baron St John of Bletso John 18 John St John, 12th Baron St John of Bletso John St. John Acts of John John Wick John 19 John St John, 20th Baron St John of Bletso Beheading of John the Baptist Saint John Ponds Pope John numbering Lord John series Second Epistle of John John Lyttelton John 3 Paulet St John, 8th Baron St John of Bletso John Nielsen John Brown's Body John Lewis & Partners John Feckenham John Twenge John the Dwarf Saint John John Clima…
cus St John Ambulance (England) John Madin John Hales John Dunjee Augustus John John Pringle John O'Callaghan John Wynne John Millar John Young John Mackie Nativity of John the Baptist John the Baptist (Caravaggio) John Gayer John Erickson John Drummond John Bowman John Drake John Connolly Henry St John, 13th Baron St John of Bletso John Alleyne John Patrick John Groome John Duke John Crackston John Hoffman John Sergeant John Shepherd John Brown John Daly John Swinton John Coburn John Wynn John Bethune John Clegg John Mullen John Fischer John Gardiner John Frederick John Jacob John Llewellyn John Harrington John Haywood John Hale John Pollock John Weaver John Morse John Short John Day John Tillman St John Ambulance Australia John II Komnenos John Trelawny John Tanner John Hodgson John Grey John Watt St John baronets John Burgess John Hervey John Biggs John Courtenay John Petre John O'Farrell John Swinburne John Stratton John Connelly John Hannah Saint John Shipbuilding John Fernandez John Francis John Ashe John Townsend John O'Reilly John Johns John Henry John Buck John Howell & Son John Donnelly St John Singapore John St John (died 1302) John Greville John Clay John Graham & Compa
