Christian, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg

Christian the Elder, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Noble family	House of Welf
Father	William of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Mother	Dorothea of Denmark
Born	9 November 1566
Died	8 November 1633 (aged 66)

Christian the Elder, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, (1566–1633) was Prince of Lüneburg and Administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Minden.

Life

Christian was born on 9 November 1566, the second son of Duke William of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Dorothea of Denmark, was elected in 1597 as Coadjutor of the Prince-Bishopric of Minden and took office as the bishop himself in 1599. After the death of his elder brother, Ernest II (1611), he took over the rule of the Principality of Lüneburg and acquired the Principality of Grubenhagen in 1617, which was merged.

When the Thirty Years' War broke out he joined, with Duke Frederick of Holstein, the side of the Emperor, became colonel of the Lower Saxon Circle troops (Kreistruppen) and sought with great skill to keep the scene of the war as far from the bishopric territory as possible; despite that in 1623 the imperial forces under Tilly occupied the land. When Lower Saxon noblemen then prepared to defend themselves, Christian resigned his post of circle colonel. Not until 1629, when the Edict of Restitution was passed, did he join the Protestant faith.

He died on 8 November 1633.

Ancestors

Ancestors of Christian, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg

16. Otto V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg               8. Henry I of Lüneburg                       17. Anna of Nassau-Dillenburg               4. Ernest I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg                             18. Ernest, Elector of Saxony               9. Margarete of Saxony                       19. Elisabeth of Bavaria               2. William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg                                   20. Magnus II, Duke of Mecklenburg               10. Henry V, Duke of Mecklenburg                       21. Sophia of Pomerania               5. Sophia of Mecklenburg                             22. John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (= 26)               11. Ursula of Brandenburg                       23. Margaret of Thuringia (= 27)               1. Christian, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg                                         24. Christian I of Denmark               12. Frederick I of Denmark                       25. Dorothea of Brandenburg               6. Christian III of Denmark                             26. John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (= 22)               13. Anna of Brandenburg                       27. Margaret of Thuringia (= 23)               3. Dorothea of Denmark                                   28. John V, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg               14. Magnus I, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg                       29. Dorothea of Brandenburg               7. Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg                             30. Henry IV, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg               15. Catherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel                       31. Catherine of Pomerania-Wolgast

Sources

• William Sauer (1876), "Christian (Duke von Brunswick-Lüneburg)", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB) (in German) 4, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 162–163
• C.V. Wedgwood, The Thirty Years War

External links

• Publications by or about Christian, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg at VD 17
• House of Welf