prevent Swedish dominance in view of the wedding between her son Edzard to princess Katharina Vasa of Sweden (1559). It also implied a continuation of the religious balance, with Johan being a Calvinist and Edzard being Lutheran and neither of them able to establish their faith as the only religion allowed in the county. Her regency ended in 1561. Later life The relationship between Edzard and Johan was not too good to begin with and it worsened after Christopher died in 1566. The power struggle between the brothers often blocked the exercise of their shared power; this greatly strengthened the nobility and the citizens of Emden. Menso Alting had only been preacher at Emden for a short time, when Countess Anna died there on 24 September 1575. He held his first major funeral sermon when she was buried in the family vault in the Great Church in Emden, the Reformed church, locally known as the ("Mother Church"). After Johan's death in 1591 Edzard II became the sole ruler of the County of East Frisia, but his authority had been severely hit by the ongoing conflict. The weakening of the Count's house was one of the factors leading to the so-called "Emden Revolution". Issue From her marriage to Count Enno II, she had six children: Elizabeth (born: 10 January 1531; died: 6 September 1555), married in 1553 Count John V of Holstein-Pinneberg (1531–60) Edzard II (born: 24 June 1532; died: 1 September 1599) Hedwig (born: 29 June 1535; died: 4 November 1616), married on 8 October 1562 Duke Otto II of Brunswick-Harburg (1528–1603) Anna (born: 3 January 1534; died: 20 May 1552) Christopher (born: 8 October 1536; died: 29 September 1566 in Komárom, Hungary) Johan (born: 29 September 1538; died: 29 September 1591) Ancestors References and sources Heiko Ebbel Janssen: Gräfin Anna von Ostfriesland - eine hochadelige Frau der späten Reformationszeit (1540/42-1575). Ein Beitrag zu den Anfängen der reformierten Konfessionalisierung im Reich, Münster, 1998, 285 pages, Henning P. Jürgens: Die vormundschaftliche Regentschaft der Gräfin Anna und die Berufung Johannes a Lascos zum ostfriesischen Superintendenten, in: Emder Jahrbuch, vol. 79, 1999, pp. 42–65 1501 births 1575 deaths People from Oldenburg (city) Countesses of Oldenburg 16th-century women rulers Regents of East Frisia Countesses of East Frisia House of Cirksena Daughters of monarchs