Christian Louis (german: Christian Ludwig; 25 February 1622 – 15 March 1665) was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. A member of the House of Welf, from 1641 until 1648 he ruled the

Principality of Calenberg The Principality of Calenberg was a dynastic division of the Welf duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg established in 1432. Calenberg was ruled by the House of Hanover from 1635 onwards; the princes received the ninth electoral dignity of the Holy Roman ...

, a subdivision of the duchy, and, from 1648 until his death, 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 ...

. Christian Louis was born in Herzberg am Harz. In 1641, he inherited the Principality of Calenberg from his father, Duke George of Brunswick-Lüneburg, who had suddenly died. Like his father, he resided at the

Leineschloss The Leineschloss (English: Leine Palace), situated on the Leine in Hanover, Germany, is the former residence of the Hanoverian dukes, electors and kings. Currently it is the seat of the Landtag of Lower Saxony. The first building on the site w ...

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

. When in 1648 he also inherited the Principality of Lüneburg from his uncle,

Frederick IV, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg Frederick, Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg, (28 August 1574 – 10 December 1648) was the Prince of Lüneburg from 1636 to 1648. Frederick was born on 28 August 1574, the tenth child of William the Younger (Brunswick-Lüneburg) (1535–1592) ...

, both subdivisions were ruled in personal union. However, Christian Louis gave Calenberg to his younger brother George William, and instead ruled the larger territory of Lüneburg at

Celle Castle Celle Castle (german: Schloss Celle) or, less commonly, Celle Palace, in the German town of Celle in Lower Saxony, was one of the residences of the House of Brunswick-Lüneburg. This quadrangular building is the largest castle in the souther ...

. In 1642 Christian Louis became a member of the

Fruitbearing Society The Fruitbearing Society (German Die Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft, lat. ''societas fructifera'') was a German literary society founded in 1617 in Weimar by German scholars and nobility. Its aim was to standardize vernacular German and promote it a ...

. He married Sophia Dorothea, daughter of Duke Philipp of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg on October 9, 1653. He died childless at Celle in 1665 and was succeeded by his brother George William, who on this occasion gave the Calenberg territory to his younger brother John Frederick. Both territories finally merged after George William's death in 1705 to the Electorate of Hanover under John Frederick's nephew George I Louis, Prince of Calenberg. Christian Louis's widow remarried and became Electress of Brandenburg as the second wife of the

Great Elector Frederick William (german: Friedrich Wilhelm; 16 February 1620 – 29 April 1688) was Prince-elector, Elector of Margraviate of Brandenburg, Brandenburg and Duke of Duchy of Prussia, Prussia, thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia, from 1640 until hi ...

Ancestry

References

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, vol. 4, p. 163-164

1622 births 1665 deaths People from Herzberg am Harz People from Grubenhagen New House of Lüneburg {{Germany-duke-stub

Ancestry

See also

References