Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp
Encyclopedia
Adolf of Holstein-Gottorp (25 January 1526 – 1 October 1586) was the first Duke of Holstein-Gottorp
Holstein-Gottorp
Holstein-Gottorp or Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp is the historiographical name, as well as contemporary shorthand name, for the parts of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein that were ruled by the dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp. Other parts of the duchies were ruled by the kings of Denmark. The...

 from the line of Holstein-Gottorp of the House of Oldenburg
House of Oldenburg
The House of Oldenburg is a North German dynasty and one of Europe's most influential Royal Houses with branches that rule or have ruled in Denmark, Russia, Greece, Norway, Schleswig, Holstein, Oldenburg and Sweden...

.

He was the third son of King Frederick I of Denmark
Frederick I of Denmark
Frederick I of Denmark and Norway was the King of Denmark and Norway. The name is also spelled Friedrich in German, Frederik in Danish, and Fredrik in Swedish and Norwegian...

 and his second wife Sophie of Pomerania
Sophie of Pomerania
Sophie of Pomerania was a Queen consort of Denmark and Norway as the spouse of King Frederick I of Denmark...

. Frederick had his son educated by Landgrave Philip I of Hesse. He spent four years in the Philip's castle in Kassel
Kassel
Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...

.

In 1544 Adolf, his brother Johann, and their half-brother King Christian III of Denmark
Christian III of Denmark
Christian III reigned as king of Denmark and Norway. He was the eldest son of King Frederick I and Anna of Brandenburg.-Childhood:...

, divided the duchies of Schleswig
Schleswig
Schleswig or South Jutland is a region covering the area about 60 km north and 70 km south of the border between Germany and Denmark; the territory has been divided between the two countries since 1920, with Northern Schleswig in Denmark and Southern Schleswig in Germany...

 and Holstein
Holstein
Holstein is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is part of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germany....

. The areas were divided according to approximately equal tax proceeds. Adolf, as the youngest, was entitled the first choice. Since he selected the part with the castle Gottorp
Gottorp
Gottorf Castle is a castle and estate in the city of Schleswig, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the ancestral home of the Holstein-Gottorp branch of the House of Oldenburg...

, the line of the house Oldenburg created by him, was called Schleswig Holstein Gottorp.

Partition of Holstein and Schleswig

Until the Treaty of Speyer
Treaty of Speyer (1544)
The Treaty of Speyer or Peace of Speyer was signed on May 23, 1544 between Denmark and the Holy Roman Empire during a diet of the Holy Roman Empire in Speyer, Germany. Danish king Christian III had imposed heavy tolls on the Sound and two other channels between the North Sea and the Baltic sea, in...

, concluded on 23 May 1544, Adolf's half-brother Christian III of Denmark
Christian III of Denmark
Christian III reigned as king of Denmark and Norway. He was the eldest son of King Frederick I and Anna of Brandenburg.-Childhood:...

 ruled the entire Duchies of Holstein and of Schleswig also in the name of the then still minor Adolf and his brother John the Elder
John II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Haderslev
John the Elder was the only Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Haderslev. The predicate the Elder is sometimes used to distinguish him from his nephew John the Younger, who held Sønderborg from 1564 as a partitioned-off duke...

 (Hans den Ældre). They determined their youngest brother Frederick, Prince of Denmark was to have a career as Lutheran administrator of an ecclesiastical state within the Holy Roman Empire.

In 1544 the elder three brothers partitioned Holstein (a fief of the Holy Roman Empire) and of Schleswig (a Danish fief) in an unusual way, following negotiations between the brothers and the Estates of the Realm
Estates of the realm
The Estates of the realm were the broad social orders of the hierarchically conceived society, recognized in the Middle Ages and Early Modern period in Christian Europe; they are sometimes distinguished as the three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and commoners, and are often referred to by...

 of the duchies, which opposed a factual partition. So the revenues of the duchies were divided into three equal shares by assigning the revenues of particular areas and landed estates to each of the elder brothers. While other general revenues, such as taxes from towns and customs dues, were levied together but then shared among the brothers. The estates, whose revenues were assigned to the parties, made Holstein and Schleswig look like patchwork rags, technically inhibiting the emergence of separate new duchies, as intended by the estates of the duchies.

The secular rule in the fiscally divided duchies thus became a condominium
Condominium
A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...

 of the parties. As dukes of Holstein and Schleswig the three brothers bore the formal title of "Duke of Schleswig, Holstein, Ditmarsh and Stormarn
Stormarn
Stormarn is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Segeberg and Ostholstein, the city of Lübeck, the district of Lauenburg, and the city-state of Hamburg.-History:...

". Adolf founded a cadet branch of the royal Danish House of Oldenburg
House of Oldenburg
The House of Oldenburg is a North German dynasty and one of Europe's most influential Royal Houses with branches that rule or have ruled in Denmark, Russia, Greece, Norway, Schleswig, Holstein, Oldenburg and Sweden...

 called House of Holstein-Gottorp
House of Holstein-Gottorp
The House of Holstein-Gottorp, a cadet branch of the Oldenburg dynasty, ruled Sweden from 1751 until 1818, and Norway from 1814 to 1818.In 1743 Adolf Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp was elected crown prince of Sweden as a Swedish concession to Russia, a strategy for achieving an acceptable peace...

. A convenient usage for the technically more correct Duke of Schleswig and Holstein at Gottorp.

John the Elder conveniently called Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Haderslev produced no issue, so no branch emerged from his side. After his death in 1580, Adolf and his nephew Frederick II of Denmark
Frederick II of Denmark
Frederick II was King of Denmark and Norway and duke of Schleswig from 1559 until his death.-King of Denmark:Frederick II was the son of King Christian III of Denmark and Norway and Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg. Frederick II stands as the typical renaissance ruler of Denmark. Unlike his father, he...

 halved John's share among themselves.

Adolf travelled, entrusting Johan Rantzau
Johan Rantzau
Johan Rantzau was a German-Danish general and statesman known for his role in the Count's Feud.Rantzau was born at the castle of Steinburg near Itzehoe into nobility...

 to manage his country. Adolf participated in the Diet of Augsburg
Diet of Augsburg
The Diet of Augsburg were the meetings of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire in the German city of Augsburg. There were many such sessions, but the three meetings during the Reformation and the ensuing religious wars between the Roman Catholic emperor Charles V and the Protestant...

 where he witnessed Emperor Charles V
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...

 at the high point of his power. In 1553 Adolf turned to his homeland. In 1556 Adolf succeeded his younger brother Frederick as Bishop of Schleswig. After a period of sede vacante
Sede vacante
Sede vacante is an expression, used in the Canon Law of the Catholic Church, that refers to the vacancy of the episcopal see of a particular church...

 Prince Ulrik of Denmark
Ulrik of Denmark (1578–1624)
Prince Ulrik John of Denmark, was a son of King Frederick II of Denmark and his consort, Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow...

 (1578–1624, Rühn
Rühn
Rühn is a municipality in the Rostock district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany....

, son of Frederick II of Denmark
Frederick II of Denmark
Frederick II was King of Denmark and Norway and duke of Schleswig from 1559 until his death.-King of Denmark:Frederick II was the son of King Christian III of Denmark and Norway and Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg. Frederick II stands as the typical renaissance ruler of Denmark. Unlike his father, he...

 and Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow) followed as the last Bishop of Schleswig (1602–1624).

Family and children

On 17 December 1564 he married Christine
Christine of Hesse
Christine of Hesse-Kassel was Duchess consort of Holstein-Gottorp as the spouse of Duke Adolf of Holstein-Gottorp. She exerted some political influence as a widow in 1586.- Biography :...

, daughter of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse
Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse
Philip I of Hesse, , nicknamed der Großmütige was a leading champion of the Protestant Reformation and one of the most important of the early Protestant rulers in Germany....

, and had the following children:
  1. Frederick II of Holstein-Gottorp (21 April 1568 – 15 June 1587).
  2. Sofie (1 June 1569 – 14 November 1634), married on 17 February 1588 to Johann V-VII, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
    Johann V-VII, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
    Johann VII of Mecklenburg Johann VII of Mecklenburg Johann VII of Mecklenburg (7 March 1558 (Güstrow) - 22 March 1592 (Schwerin) (sometimes called Johann V, and sometimes translated to John VII or John V) was a Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin....

    .
  3. Philipp of Holstein-Gottorp (10 August 1570 – 18 October 1590).
  4. Christine
    Christina of Holstein-Gottorp
    Christina of Holstein-Gottorp was a Queen Consort of Sweden as consort of king Charles IX of Sweden, mother of king Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, and a Regent of Sweden.-Biography:...

     (13 April 1573 – 8 December 1625), married on 27 August 1592 to King Charles IX of Sweden
    Charles IX of Sweden
    Charles IX of Sweden also Carl, was King of Sweden from 1604 until his death. He was the youngest son of King Gustav I of Sweden and his second wife, Margaret Leijonhufvud, brother of Eric XIV and John III of Sweden, and uncle of Sigismund III Vasa king of both Sweden and Poland...

    .
  5. Elisabeth (11 March 1574-13 January 1587)
  6. Johann Adolf of Holstein-Gottorp (27 February 1575 – 31 March 1616), prince-bishop of Bremen, Lübeck
    Bishopric of Lübeck
    The Bishopric of Lübeck was a Roman-Catholic and, later, Protestant diocese, as well as a state of the Holy Roman Empire.-History: The original diocese was founded about 970 by Emperor Otto I in the Billung March at Oldenburg in Holstein , the former capital of the pagan Wagri tribe...

    , later duke of Holstein and duke of Schleswig.
  7. Anna
    Anna of Holstein-Gottorp
    Anna of Holstein-Gottorp was a German noblewoman.She was a daughter of Adolf of Holstein-Gottorp and Langravine Christine of Hesse ....

     (27 February 1575 – 24 April 1625), married 28 January 1598 to Count Enno III of Ostfriesland.
  8. Christian (29 May 1576-22 April 1577)
  9. Agnes (20 December 1578 – 1627).
  10. John Frederick
    John Frederick, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp
    John Frederick of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp was the Lutheran Administrator of the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen, the Prince-Bishopric of Lübeck and the Prince-Bishopric of Verden.His parents were Adolf I, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp and Christine,...

     (1 September 1579 – 3 September 1634), prince-bishop of Bremen, Lübeck
    Bishopric of Lübeck
    The Bishopric of Lübeck was a Roman-Catholic and, later, Protestant diocese, as well as a state of the Holy Roman Empire.-History: The original diocese was founded about 970 by Emperor Otto I in the Billung March at Oldenburg in Holstein , the former capital of the pagan Wagri tribe...

     and Verden.

In fiction

Duke Adolf is a character in Stefan Heym
Stefan Heym
Helmut Flieg was a German-Jewish writer, known by his pseudonym Stefan Heym. He lived in the United States between 1935 and 1952, before moving back to the part of his native Germany which was, from 1949–1990, German Democratic Republic...

's book 1981 Ahasver (published in English as The Wandering Jew
Wandering Jew
The Wandering Jew is a figure from medieval Christian folklore whose legend began to spread in Europe in the 13th century. The original legend concerns a Jew who taunted Jesus on the way to the Crucifixion and was then cursed to walk the earth until the Second Coming...

). Heym's depiction of the Duke is highly satyrical and unflattering. The Duke is shown in the midst of a night of lechery and drunkenness, charging Church Superintendent Paul von Eitzen with creating "The Kingdom of God" in his duchy - i.e. imposing the newly-minted Lutheran orthdoxy and persecuting "heretics" such as the Mennonite
Mennonite
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...

s. At the same time the Duke, out of political expediency, also sends troops to help the efforts of the zealously Catholic Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....

 to stamp out the Dutch Revolt
Dutch Revolt
The Dutch Revolt or the Revolt of the Netherlands This article adopts 1568 as the starting date of the war, as this was the year of the first battles between armies. However, since there is a long period of Protestant vs...

 conducted by the Duke's fellow Protestants.

Ancestry



External links

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