Rudolph Augustus, Duke of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel

Rudolph Augustus
Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Portrait by Hans Hinrich Rundt, c. 1700
Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
Reign	September 17, 1666 – January 26, 1704
Spouse(s)	Christine Elizabeth of Barby-Mühlingen
Noble family	House of Welf
Father	Augustus the Younger, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Mother	Dorothea of Anhalt-Zerbst
Born	May 16, 1627 Hitzacker, Principality of Lüneburg
Died	January 26, 1704 (aged 76) Hedwigsburg (now part of Kissenbrück), Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

Rudolph Augustus (May 16, 1627 – January 26, 1704), a member of the House of Welf, was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and ruled as Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel from 1666 until his death. In 1685 he made his younger brother Anthony Ulrich co-ruler.

Life

Reverse of a one-twelfth thaler coin of Rudolph Augustus

He was born in Hitzacker, then the residence of his father Duke Augustus the Younger of Brunswick-Lüneburg and his second wife Princess Dorothea of Anhalt-Zerbst. His father assumed the rule in the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, after his Welf cousin Duke Frederick Ulrich had died childless in 1634.

Rudolph Augustus succeeded his father as ruling Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in 1666. More interested in his studies and hunting, he soon after appointed his politically astute younger brother Anthony Ulrich governor. In 1671 both besieged and finally occupied the city of Braunschweig, ending about 250 years of local autonomy.

During his reign, Rudolph Augustus concentrated on the Baroque expansion of his ducal residence, including the Alter Weg ("Old Way"), a road connecting the cities of Brunswick and Wolfenbüttel. He died in 1704 at the Hedwigsburg hunting lodge.

Marriage and issue

In 1650 Rudolph Augustus married Christine Elizabeth (1634–1681), daughter of Count Albert Frederick of Barby and Mühlingen. They had two daughters that reached adulthood:

• Dorothea Sophia (1653–1722), married Duke John Adolphus of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön
• Christine Sophia (1654–1695), married her cousin Duke Augustus William of Brunswick-Lüneburg, the son of Duke Anthony Ulrich who succeeded his father as Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in 1714.

Upon the death of his first wife, Rudolph Augustus entered into a morganatic marriage with Rosine Elisabeth Menthe (1663–1701), which remained childless.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Rudolph Augustus, Duke of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel

16. Henry I of Lüneburg               8. Ernest I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg                       17. Margarete of Saxony               4. Henry III, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg                             18. Henry V, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin               9. Sophia of Mecklenburg-Schwerin                       19. Ursula of Brandenburg               2. Augustus the Younger, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel                                   20. Magnus I, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg               10. Francis I, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg                       21. Catherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel               5. Ursula of Saxe-Lauenburg                             22. Henry IV, Duke of Saxony               11. Sybille of Saxony                       23. Catherine of Mecklenburg               1. Rudolph Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg                                         24. John V, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst               12. Joachim Ernest, Prince of Anhalt                       25. Margaret of Brandenburg               6. Rudolph, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst                             26. Christoph, Duke of Württemberg               13. Eleonore of Württemberg                       27. Anna Maria of Brandenburg-Ansbach               3. Dorothea of Anhalt-Zerbst                                   28. Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel               14. Henry Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel                       29. Hedwig of Brandenburg               7. Dorothea Hedwig of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel                             30. Augustus, Elector of Saxony               15. Dorothea of Saxony                       31. Anne of Denmark

External links

Media related to Rudolph Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel at Wikimedia Commons