Joachim II, Elector of Brandenburg

Joachim II, nicknamed "Hector", was a margrave of Brandenburg and an Imperial Elector from the Hohenzollern dynasty. He was born in 1505 and died in 1571. He succeeded his father, Joachim I "Nestor", in 1535.

While long drawn to the Lutheran faith and always seeking balance between Protestant and Roman Catholic factions, Joachim II did not officially profess the Lutheran Creed until 1555. This may have been the result of promises he had made to his father and to his second wife's family. Joachim I had had his sons sign an inheritance contract to remain Catholic; had Joachim II not signed this pact, he would likely have been passed over in the line of inheritance.

Joachim II's first marriage was to Magdalene of Saxony. In 1535 he married Hedwig of Poland, daughter of Sigismund I, the Jagiellon Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland. The Jagiellon dynasty was Catholic and Joachim II promised her father not to make her change her religion.

In 1545 Joachim II held a gala double wedding celebration for his two children, Johann Georg and Barbara. They were married to Sophie and Georg, both children of the Silesian Piast Duke of Legnica, Frederick II.