Ernst Ludwig, Duke of Pomerania
Encyclopedia
Ernst Ludwig was duke of Pomerania from 1560 to 1592. From 1569 to 1592, he was duke in the Teilherzogtum
Pomerania-Wolgast, sharing the rule over the Duchy of Pomerania
with his older brother Johann Friedrich
, duke in the other Teilherzogtum Pomerania-Stettin and bishop of Cammin.
of Pomerania-Wolgast and Maria of Saxony
. After the death of his father on 14 February 1560, all siblings were under the guardianship of their great-uncle, Barnim XI
. With one of his brothers, Barnim XII
, Ernst Ludwig studied at the University of Wittenberg from 1563 to 1565, where they resided in the house of Martin Luther
. With another brother, Bogislaw XIII
, he temporarily lived at the court of Johann Wilhelm, Duke of Saxe-Weimar.
In 1569, Barnim XI retired, and the duchy was internally partitioned
among the male members of the House of Pomerania
on 23 May in Jasenitz (now part of Police
), which was approved by the Landtag
in Wollin (now Wolin). Ernst Ludwig and his brother Bogislaw XIII received Pomerania-Wolgast, while his other brothers, Johann Friedrich
and Barnim XII, received Pomerania-Stettin and Casimir IX
the bishopric of Cammin. Because Bogislaw and Barnim immediately renounced their positions and were compensated with the domains of Barth and Neuenkamp and the domain of Rügenwalde, respectively, Ernst Ludwig got to rule his share alone.
On 20 October 1577, he married Sophia Hedwig, daughter of Julius of Brunswick-Lüneburg. With her, he had three children: Hedwig Maria, Elisabeth Magdalena of Pomerania
, and Philipp Julius
.
Ernst Ludwig developed the University of Greifswald, where he was personally involved in the rebuilding of the medical faculty. Ernst Ludwig also participated in the unsuccessful attempts of his brother, Johann Friedrich, to elevate the Duchy of Pomerania's military status in the Upper Saxon Circle
.
In 1574, Ernst Ludwig built a residence in Pudagla
on the ruins of the secularized Usedom Abbey
. Two villages in the modern Vorpommern-Greifswald
district carry his name: Near Wolgast, he founded Groß Ernsthof
, and on the shore of the Bay of Greifswald
he built the residence of Ludwigsburg
in 1580, which he gave to his wife on 16 August 1586.
and was buried, like her husband in the St. Peter's Church, in Wolgast.
The marriage produced two daughters and one son:
. Legend tells that, foreshadowing the duke's death, a halo
appeared in Stettin on 23 May that was followed by a rain of sulfur and blood. The widow, Sophia Hedwig, retired to Loitz
, where she moved with the children from the Wolgast
palace in 1594, and lived until her death on 30 January 1631. Initially, she was to retire to Ludwigsburg.
Ernst Ludwig was succeeded by his son, Philipp (II) Julius
, who however remained under tutelage of Bogislaw XIII
.
in his 1848 novel Sidonia von Bork portrayed Ernst Ludwig as an untrue lover of Sidonia von Borcke
, executed for witchcraft
in 1620. Edward Burne-Jones
, who illustrated the English translation of the novel, thus chose Ernst Ludwig's residence in Wolgast
as the scene of his painting also captioned Sidonia von Bork. Theodor Fontane
in his novel Sidonie von Borcke likewise writes about an affair and even an engagement of Ernst Ludwig and Sidonia von Borcke.
Teilherzogtum
Teilherzogtum is a German term denoting a part of a duchy after the duchy had been internally partitioned among members of the respective ducal family. Teilherzogtum does not have an English cognate.-Bavaria:*Bavaria-Ingolstadt*Bavaria-Landshut...
Pomerania-Wolgast, sharing the rule over the Duchy of Pomerania
Duchy of Pomerania
The Duchy of Pomerania was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania ....
with his older brother Johann Friedrich
Johann Friedrich, Duke of Pomerania
Johann Friedrich was Duke of Pomerania from 1560 to 1600, and Bishop of Cammin from 1556 to 1574...
, duke in the other Teilherzogtum Pomerania-Stettin and bishop of Cammin.
Life
Ernst Ludwig was one of ten siblings born to Philipp IPhilip I, Duke of Pomerania
Philip I of Pomerania was Duke of Pomerania-Wolgast.- Life :Philip was the only surviving son of Duke George, from his first marriage to Amalie of the Palatinate. After his mother died, on 6 January 1525, he received his education at the court of his maternal grandfather in Heidelberg...
of Pomerania-Wolgast and Maria of Saxony
Maria of Saxony, Duchess of Pomerania
thumb|Croÿ Carpet of 1554 or 1556Maria of Saxony was a member of the Ernestine line of the house Wettin and a Princess of Saxony by birth and by marriage a Duchess of Pomerania.- Life :...
. After the death of his father on 14 February 1560, all siblings were under the guardianship of their great-uncle, Barnim XI
Barnim XI, Duke of Pomerania
Barnim XI , son of Bogislaw X, Duke of Pomerania, became duke on his father's death in 1523. He ruled for a time in common with his elder brother George I; and after George's death in 1531 he shared the duchy with his nephew Philip I, retaining for himself the duchy of Pomerania-Stettin...
. With one of his brothers, Barnim XII
Barnim X, Duke of Pomerania
Barnim X, or according to another count Barnim XII was a duke of Pomerania and a member of the House of Griffins. He administered from 1569, the Rügenwalde district...
, Ernst Ludwig studied at the University of Wittenberg from 1563 to 1565, where they resided in the house of 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...
. With another brother, Bogislaw XIII
Bogislaw XIII, Duke of Pomerania
Bogislaw XIII of Pomerania , son of Philip I and Maria of Saxony, was a princes of Stettin and Wolgast, and a member of the Griffins ....
, he temporarily lived at the court of Johann Wilhelm, Duke of Saxe-Weimar.
In 1569, Barnim XI retired, and the duchy was internally partitioned
Partitions of the Duchy of Pomerania
The Duchy of Pomerania was partitioned several times to satisfy the claims of the male members of the ruling House of Pomerania dynasty. The partitions were named after the ducal residences: Pomerania-Barth, -Demmin, -Rügenwalde, -Stettin, -Stolp, and -Wolgast. None of the partitions had a...
among the male members of the House of Pomerania
House of Pomerania
The House of Griffins or House of Pomerania, , also known as House of Greifen; House of Gryf, was a dynasty of Royal dukes that ruled the Duchy of Pomerania from the 12th century until 1637, after their power was temporarily derivated to Prussian Royal House...
on 23 May in Jasenitz (now part of Police
Police, Poland
Police is a town in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, northwestern Poland. It is the capital of Police County. As of 2006, the town had 34,284 inhabitants. The name comes from Polish pole, which means "field"....
), which was approved by the Landtag
Landtag
A Landtag is a representative assembly or parliament in German-speaking countries with some legislative authority.- Name :...
in Wollin (now Wolin). Ernst Ludwig and his brother Bogislaw XIII received Pomerania-Wolgast, while his other brothers, Johann Friedrich
Johann Friedrich, Duke of Pomerania
Johann Friedrich was Duke of Pomerania from 1560 to 1600, and Bishop of Cammin from 1556 to 1574...
and Barnim XII, received Pomerania-Stettin and Casimir IX
Casimir VI, Duke of Pomerania
Duke Casimir VI of Pomerania was a non-reigning duke of Pomerania from the House of Griffins and a Protestant Bishop of Cammin .- Life :...
the bishopric of Cammin. Because Bogislaw and Barnim immediately renounced their positions and were compensated with the domains of Barth and Neuenkamp and the domain of Rügenwalde, respectively, Ernst Ludwig got to rule his share alone.
On 20 October 1577, he married Sophia Hedwig, daughter of Julius of Brunswick-Lüneburg. With her, he had three children: Hedwig Maria, Elisabeth Magdalena of Pomerania
Elisabeth Magdalena of Pomerania
Elisabeth Magdalena of Pomerania , was a Duchess consort of Courland. She married the Duke of Courland, Friedrich Kettler, in 14 March 1600. She was the daughter of Ernst Ludwig, Duke of Pomerania and Sophia Hedwig of Brunswick-Lüneburg....
, and Philipp Julius
Philipp Julius, Duke of Pomerania
Philipp Julius was duke of Pomerania in the Teilherzogtum Pomerania-Wolgast from 1592 to 1625.-Early life:...
.
Ernst Ludwig developed the University of Greifswald, where he was personally involved in the rebuilding of the medical faculty. Ernst Ludwig also participated in the unsuccessful attempts of his brother, Johann Friedrich, to elevate the Duchy of Pomerania's military status in the Upper Saxon Circle
Upper Saxon Circle
The Upper Saxon Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire, created in 1512.The circle was dominated by the electorate of Saxony and the electorate of Brandenburg. It further comprised the Saxon Ernestine duchies and Pomerania...
.
In 1574, Ernst Ludwig built a residence in Pudagla
Pudagla
Pudagla is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. From 1307/09 until the Protestant Reformation, it was the site of Pudagla or Usedom Abbey, which moved there from Usedom . After the abbey's secularization into a ducal domain, it at times served...
on the ruins of the secularized Usedom Abbey
Usedom Abbey
Usedom Abbey was a medieval Premonstratensian monastery on the isle of Usedom near the town of Usedom. It was founded in Grobe and later moved to nearby Pudagla, and is thus also known as Grobe Abbey or Pudagla Abbey respectively.The abbey was founded by the Pomeranian duke Ratibor I and his...
. Two villages in the modern Vorpommern-Greifswald
Vorpommern-Greifswald
Vorpommern-Greifswald is a district in the east of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is bounded by the districts Mecklenburgische Seenplatte, Vorpommern-Rügen, the Baltic Sea, Poland and the state Brandenburg...
district carry his name: Near Wolgast, he founded Groß Ernsthof
Rubenow
Rubenow is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It consist of*Rubenow*Rubenow-Siedlung*Groß Ernsthof*Latzow*Nieder-Voddow*Nonnendorf*Voddow...
, and on the shore of the Bay of Greifswald
Bay of Greifswald
The Bay of Greifswald is a basin in the southwestern Baltic Sea, off the shores of Germany in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. With an area of 514 km², it is the largest Bodden of the German Baltic coast....
he built the residence of Ludwigsburg
Loissin
Loissin is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany....
in 1580, which he gave to his wife on 16 August 1586.
Marriage and issue
Ernst Ludwig married in 1577 with Sophia Hedwig, daughter of the Duke Julius of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Sophia Hedwig survived her husband almost four decades. She died in 1631 in LoitzLoitz
Loitz is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is situated on the river Peene, 10 km northeast of Demmin, and 22 km southwest of Greifswald.-External links:*...
and was buried, like her husband in the St. Peter's Church, in Wolgast.
The marriage produced two daughters and one son:
- Maria Hedwig (1579-1606)
- Elisabeth Magdalena (1580-1649), married Duke Friedrich KettlerFriedrich KettlerFriedrich Kettler was a Duke of Courland , a region in Latvia, from 1587 to 1642....
of Courland and Zemgale - Philip JuliusPhilipp Julius, Duke of PomeraniaPhilipp Julius was duke of Pomerania in the Teilherzogtum Pomerania-Wolgast from 1592 to 1625.-Early life:...
(1584-1625), married AgnesAgnes of Brandenburg (1584-1629)Agnes of Brandenburg was an Princess of Brandenburg by birth and by marriage successively Duchess of Pomerania and of Saxe-Lauenburg.- Life :...
, daughter of Elector John GeorgeJohn George, Elector of BrandenburgJohn George of Brandenburg was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg and a Duke of Prussia...
of Brandenburg
Death
Ernst Ludwig died on 17 July 1592. The University of Greifswald on the same day began with obsequies. His funeral was on 19 July in WolgastWolgast
Wolgast is a town in the district of Vorpommern-Greifswald, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the bank of the river Peenestrom, vis-a-vis the island of Usedom that can be accessed by road and railway via a bascule bridge...
. Legend tells that, foreshadowing the duke's death, a halo
Halo (religious iconography)
A halo is a ring of light that surrounds a person in art. They have been used in the iconography of many religions to indicate holy or sacred figures, and have at various periods also been used in images of rulers or heroes...
appeared in Stettin on 23 May that was followed by a rain of sulfur and blood. The widow, Sophia Hedwig, retired to Loitz
Loitz
Loitz is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is situated on the river Peene, 10 km northeast of Demmin, and 22 km southwest of Greifswald.-External links:*...
, where she moved with the children from the Wolgast
Wolgast
Wolgast is a town in the district of Vorpommern-Greifswald, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the bank of the river Peenestrom, vis-a-vis the island of Usedom that can be accessed by road and railway via a bascule bridge...
palace in 1594, and lived until her death on 30 January 1631. Initially, she was to retire to Ludwigsburg.
Ernst Ludwig was succeeded by his son, Philipp (II) Julius
Philipp Julius, Duke of Pomerania
Philipp Julius was duke of Pomerania in the Teilherzogtum Pomerania-Wolgast from 1592 to 1625.-Early life:...
, who however remained under tutelage of Bogislaw XIII
Bogislaw XIII, Duke of Pomerania
Bogislaw XIII of Pomerania , son of Philip I and Maria of Saxony, was a princes of Stettin and Wolgast, and a member of the Griffins ....
.
In fiction
Wilhelm MeinholdWilhelm Meinhold
Johann Wilhelm Meinhold was a Pomeranian priest and author.Meinhold was born in Netzelkow on the island of Usedom, where his father Georg Wilhelm Meinhold was Lutheran priest. Growing up in the atmosphere of the Napoleonic Wars, he matriculated at the University of Greifswald, Swedish Pomerania,...
in his 1848 novel Sidonia von Bork portrayed Ernst Ludwig as an untrue lover of Sidonia von Borcke
Sidonia von Borcke
Sidonia von Borcke , also spelled Sidonie von Bork, Borke or Borken, was a Pomeranian noble woman tried and executed for witchcraft...
, executed for 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...
in 1620. Edward Burne-Jones
Edward Burne-Jones
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet was a British artist and designer closely associated with the later phase of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, who worked closely with William Morris on a wide range of decorative arts as a founding partner in Morris, Marshall, Faulkner, and Company...
, who illustrated the English translation of the novel, thus chose Ernst Ludwig's residence in Wolgast
Wolgast
Wolgast is a town in the district of Vorpommern-Greifswald, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the bank of the river Peenestrom, vis-a-vis the island of Usedom that can be accessed by road and railway via a bascule bridge...
as the scene of his painting also captioned Sidonia von Bork. Theodor Fontane
Theodor Fontane
Theodor Fontane was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language realist writer.-Youth:Fontane was born in Neuruppin into a Huguenot family. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to an apothecary, his father's profession. He became an...
in his novel Sidonie von Borcke likewise writes about an affair and even an engagement of Ernst Ludwig and Sidonia von Borcke.
Ancestors
See also
- Duchy of PomeraniaDuchy of PomeraniaThe Duchy of Pomerania was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania ....
- List of Pomeranian duchies and dukes
- Partitions of the Duchy of PomeraniaPartitions of the Duchy of PomeraniaThe Duchy of Pomerania was partitioned several times to satisfy the claims of the male members of the ruling House of Pomerania dynasty. The partitions were named after the ducal residences: Pomerania-Barth, -Demmin, -Rügenwalde, -Stettin, -Stolp, and -Wolgast. None of the partitions had a...
- Pomerania during the Early Modern AgePomerania during the Early Modern AgePomerania during the Early Modern Age covers the History of Pomerania in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries.Throughout this time, Pomerelia was within Royal Prussia, a part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with considerable autonomy...
- House of PomeraniaHouse of PomeraniaThe House of Griffins or House of Pomerania, , also known as House of Greifen; House of Gryf, was a dynasty of Royal dukes that ruled the Duchy of Pomerania from the 12th century until 1637, after their power was temporarily derivated to Prussian Royal House...