Eric I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Encyclopedia
Eric I, the Elder (1470 – 1540) was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg from 1495 and the reigning prince of Calenberg-Göttingen.

Ancestry

Eric I was born on 16 February 1470 in Neustadt am Rübenberge
Neustadt am Rübenberge
Neustadt am Rübenberge is a town in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. At 357 km², it is the 9th largest settlement in Germany by area , though only about 45,000 inhabitants live there...

 at the castle of Rovenburg.
He was the founder of the Calenberg line of the House of Brunswick-Lüneburg. His father, William II, died in 1503, but had already divided his lands in 1495, between his sons, Henry and Eric. Eric was given the Principalities of Calenberg and Göttingen, whilst Henry received the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
The Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was a subdivision of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, whose history was characterised by numerous divisions and reunifications. Various dynastic lines of the House of Welf ruled Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel until the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806...

. Even as a boy, Eric had travelled as a pilgrim
Pilgrim
A pilgrim is a traveler who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journeying to some place of special significance to the adherent of a particular religious belief system...

 to Jerusalem and toured Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 before he entered the service of Emperor Maximilian I
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian I , the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleanor of Portugal, was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 until his death, though he was never in fact crowned by the Pope, the journey to Rome always being too risky...

.

In the service of the emperor

Even in his early years Eric had proved himself as a brave fighter at the side of the emperors and took part in 1497 in the campaign against the Turks. Later he fought in wars against Venice, the Swiss confederation and France. In the Bavarian-Landhut war in 1504 he saved the emperor's life at the Battle of Regensburg the Leben, whereupon he was knighted.

Eric I was the second son of Duke William II of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (d 1503) and received in 1491, before his father died, his inheritance of the Principality of Calenberg-Göttingen. His elder brother, Duke Henry the Elder (1463–1514) was given rule over Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. In 1505 the 35-year old Duke Eric I of Calenberg made Neustadt am Rübenberge his second seat of power.

When the first marriage of the duke to the widow of Archbishop Sigismund of Austria, Katharina of Saxony, proved childless, he married after her death on 7 July 1525 the 15-year old Elisabeth of Brandenburg. From this marriage resulted his long-awaited successor Eric II (1528–1584). When, in 1528, Elisabeth fell ill in bed when she was pregnant, she held the witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...

 of her husband's mistress, Anna Rumschottel, responsible. She persuaded her husband to hold a trial. In the process, several women were burned to death, but the duke allowed his mistress to escape. She was however burnt to death in Hamelin
Hamelin
Hamelin is a town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont and has a population of 58,696 ....

.

During the Hildesheim Diocesan Feud (1519–1523) he captured Hunnesrück Castle
Hunnesrück Castle
Hunnesrück Castle was a hilltop castle built in the 13th century. Its ruins are located in the Amtsberge hills near Dassel in the district of Northeim in south Lower Saxony....

 in 1521, together with Henry the Younger of Wolfenbüttel. It lay on a hill near the present town district of Hunnesrück in Dassel
Dassel
Dassel is a town in southern Lower Saxony, Germany, located in the district Northeim. It is located near the hills of the Solling mountains.-History:...

. He bombarded the castle with heavy cannon from the hill of Hatop. He gave the castle up after a short period however. Between 1527 and 1530, he had the castle of Erichsburg
Erichsburg
The Ericsburg in the village of the same name in the borough of Dassel in Lower Saxony, Germany, is a castle that was built in the 16th century within the Principality of Calenberg. It is currently in a poor state of repair.- Location :...

 built in a marshy depression about 3 km further east which was protected by a wide moat and high ramparts. It was named after his heir, born in 1528, later Duke Eric II. Eric I used it from time to time as his seat of office. Whilst it was being built he lived in the old castle at Hunnesrück.

After the feud, the Amt of Kolding and Poppenburg were transferred to Duke Eric I in accordance with the requirements of the Quedlinburg Recess. In 1523 abbey parish of St. Andrew in Derneburg placed itself under the protection of Eric I of Calenberg, because it had been repeatedly plundered by the knights of Duke Henry II of Brunswick-Lüneburg.
In 1529 Eric allowed the town of Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...

 to hold an annual Schützenfest
Schützenfest
A Schützenfest is a traditional festival or fair featuring a target shooting competition in the cultures of both Germany and Switzerland....

("shooting festival"), which today has become the Hanover Schützenfest, the largest of its kind in the world. In 1530 he took Aerzen
Aerzen
Aerzen is a municipality in the Hamelin-Pyrmont district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated southwest of Hamelin, and north of Bad Pyrmont.- Economy :...

 back into the possession of the Welfs (his coat of arms is over the door in the north wing of the castle).

In 1539 Eric I united the former Ämter of Hunnesrück, Lüthorst and Lauenberg into the new Amt of Erichsburg which remained in that form until 1643.

In 1540, just under 23 years after the Martin Luther
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...

's posting of his theses, Duke Eric I of Calenberg-Göttingen died. His son, Eric II, was still a child, which is why his mother, the Duchess Elisabeth, took over the reign for five years. Two years earlier she had publicly allowed communion to be taken in both kinds in a service. From then on she and her husband followed separate confessions: the duke remained Roman Catholic, the duchess became Lutheran.

Duke Eric I died on 30 July 1540 at the Reichstag
Reichstag (Holy Roman Empire)
The Imperial Diet was the Diet, or general assembly, of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire.During the period of the Empire, which lasted formally until 1806, the Diet was not a parliament in today's sense; instead, it was an assembly of the various estates of the realm...

 in Haguenau, Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...

. He left behind large debts, estimated at 900,000 thaler
Thaler
The Thaler was a silver coin used throughout Europe for almost four hundred years. Its name lives on in various currencies as the dollar or tolar. Etymologically, "Thaler" is an abbreviation of "Joachimsthaler", a coin type from the city of Joachimsthal in Bohemia, where some of the first such...

s, as well as two important buildings: the Erichsburg near Dassel and the rebuilt Calenberg Castle
Calenberg Castle
Calenberg Castle was a medieval lowland castle in central Germany, near Schulenburg in the borough of Pattensen, 13 km west of the city of Hildesheim. It was built as a water castle in 1292 by the Welf duke, Otto the Strict, in der Leine river meadows between 2 branches of the Leine river on...

. His funeral took place in 1541 in Hann. Münden
Hann. Münden
Hann. Münden is the German official name of a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. The city is located in the district of Göttingen at the confluence of the Fulda and Werra rivers, which join to form the river Weser. It has 28,000 inhabitants...

's St. Blasius Church, after his body was released in Haguenau one year after his death on payment of his debts. This required every subject in his duchy to pay 16 pfennig
Pfennig
The Pfennig , plural Pfennige, is an old German coin or note, which existed from the 9th century until the introduction of the euro in 2002....

s.

Offspring

Duke Eric had a son and three daughters by his second wife, Elisabeth of Brandenburg:
  • Elisabeth (b 8 April 1526; d 19 August 1566) m (1543) Count George Ernest of Henneberg (1511–1583)
  • Eric II, Duke of Brunswick-Calenberg (b 10 August 1528; d 17 November 1584)
m (1545–1573) Sidonie of Saxony
Sidonie of Saxony
Sidonie of Saxony was a princess of the House of Wettin and by marriage Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Princess of Calenberg-Göttingen.- Family :...

 (b 8 March 1518; d 4 January 1575), daughter of Henry of Saxony
Henry IV, Duke of Saxony
Henry IV the Pious, Duke of Saxony was a Duke of Saxony from the House of Wettin.-Biography:Heinrich was the second son of Albert, Duke of Saxony and his wife Sidonie Podiebrad, princess of Bohemia...

 and Catherine of Mecklenburg
Catherine of Mecklenburg
Catherine of Mecklenburg , Duchess of Saxony, was the daughter of the Duke Magnus II of Mecklenburg and Sophie of Pomerania-Stettin. She married on 6 July 1512 in Freiberg Duke Henry the Pious of Saxony...

m (1576) Dorothea of Lorraine (b 24. August 1545; d 2 June 1621), daughter of Francis I of Lorraine
Francis I, Duke of Lorraine
Francis I was a member of the French nobility. He was briefly Duke of Lorraine from 1544–1545.-History:...

 and Christina of Denmark
Christina of Denmark
Christina of Denmark was a Danish princess who became Duchess-consort of Milan, then Duchess-consort of Lorraine...

  • Anna Maria
    Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg
    Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg wasa Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneberg by birth and by marriage Duchess of Prussia....

     (b 23 April 1532; d 20 March 1568) m (1550) Albert the Elder, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, Duke of Prussia (1490–1568)
  • Katharina (b 1534; d 10 May 1559) m (1557) William of Rosenberg, Senior Burgrave (Oberburggraf) of Bohemia (1535–1592)

Sources

  • Wolfgang Kunze: Herzog Erich I. von Braunschweig-Lüneburg. In: Wolfgang Kunze (Hg.): Leben und Bauten Herzog Erichs II. von Braunschweig-Lüneburg. Catalogue of the historic exhibition at Landestrost Castle
    Landestrost Castle
    Landestrost Castle is a castle in the Weser renaissance style that was built between 1573-84 in Neustadt am Rübenberge in the north German state of Lower Saxony. Integrated into fortifications, together with the town, it developed into an urban fortress typical of the 16th century...

    , Neustadt am Rübenberge
    . Hanover 1993, p. 31–45.
  • Joachim Lehrmann: Hexenverfolgung in Hannover-Calenberg und Calenberg-Göttingen, Lehrte, 2005. ISBN 978-3-9803642-5-6

External links


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