Christian the Elder, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, (1566–1633) was

Prince of Lüneburg A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

and Administrator of the

Prince-Bishopric of Minden The Prince-Bishopric of Minden (german: Fürstbistum Minden; Bistum Minden; Hochstift Minden; Stift Minden) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire. It was progressively secularized following the Protestant Reformation when ...

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 The term coadjutor (or coadiutor, literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadj ...

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 The Principality of Lüneburg (later also referred to as Celle) was a territorial division of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg within the Holy Roman Empire, immediately subordinate to the emperor. It existed from 1269 until 1705 and its territory ...

and acquired the

Principality of Grubenhagen The Principality of Grubenhagen was a subdivision of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, ruled by the Grubenhagen line of the House of Welf from 1291. It is also known as Brunswick-Grubenhagen. The principality fell to the Brunswick Principality of L ...

in 1617, which was merged. When the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

broke out he joined, with Duke Frederick of Holstein, the side of the Emperor, became colonel of the

Lower Saxon Circle The Lower Saxon Circle (german: Niedersächsischer Reichskreis) was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire. It covered much of the territory of the medieval Duchy of Saxony (except for Westphalia), and was originally called the Saxon Circl ...

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

General Tilly Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly ( nl, Johan t'Serclaes Graaf van Tilly; german: Johann t'Serclaes Graf von Tilly; french: Jean t'Serclaes de Tilly ; February 1559 – 30 April 1632) was a field marshal who commanded the Catholic League's ...

occupied the land. When Lower Saxon noblemen then prepared to defend themselves, Christian resigned his post of

circle colonel The Circle Colonel (german: Kreisobrist) was an office in the Imperial Circles of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation in the Early Modern Period. According to the Circle Edict of 1522, every Circle had to nominate a Captain (''Hauptmann'' ...

. Not until 1629, when the

Edict of Restitution The Edict of Restitution was proclaimed by Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor in Vienna, on 6 March 1629, eleven years into the Thirty Years' War. Following Catholic military successes, Ferdinand hoped to restore control of land to that specifie ...

was passed, did he join the

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

faith. He died on 8 November 1633.

Ancestors

References

Sources

* *

C.V. Wedgwood Dame Cicely Veronica Wedgwood, (20 July 1910 – 9 March 1997) was an English historian who published under the name C. V. Wedgwood. Specializing in the history of 17th-century England and continental Europe, her biographies and narrative hist ...

, ''The Thirty Years War''

External links

*
House of Welf
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christian, Duke Of Brunswick-Luneburg Princes of Lüneburg 1566 births 1633 deaths Lutheran Prince-Bishops of Minden Middle House of Lüneburg New House of Lüneburg