Christopher, Duke of Mecklenburg-Gadebusch (30 July 1537 – 4 March 1592) was a son of

Albrecht VII, Duke of Mecklenburg Albrecht VII, the Handsome, Duke of Mecklenburg in Güstrow (25 July 1486 – 5 January 1547), was a minor ruler in North Germany of the 16th century. He also asserted claims to Scandinavian thrones based on the royal lineage of the House of ...

. He was Duke of Mecklenburg-Gadebusch, as well as administrator of

Ratzeburg Ratzeburg (; Low German: ''Ratzborg'') is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is surrounded by four lakes—the resulting isthmuses between the lakes form the access lanes to the town. Ratzeburg is the capital of the district Herzogtum Lau ...

and of the

Commandery In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...

Mirow Mirow () is a town in the district of Mecklenburgische Seenplatte in southern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Name (Etymology) "Mir" in Slavonic languages means "peace" or "glory". The name "Mirow" was derived from "villa mirowe", translating ...

Life

Christopher was born in

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

. At the urging of his elder brother John Albert I, the cathedral chapter appointed Christopher as the successor of Bishop Christopher I of

in 1554. Christopher thus became the first

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

administrator of the Bishopric. In 1555, he was also elected

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 Bishop

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

, with the right of succession. His election was controversial and led to armed clashes. During a clash on 1 July 1556 in

Koknese Koknese () is a town in Aizkraukle Municipality in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, on the right bank of the Daugava River. It has a population of nearly 3,000. According to the provisions of the 2021 Latvian administrative reform, Koknese gained ...

, Christoper and William were both taken prisoner. They were released in 1557, and Christopher was recognized as coadjutor. However, when William died in 1563, Christopher found himself unable to exercise his right of succession. Instead, he was taken prisoner again during renewed fighting against Poland. He was released in 1569, after he had renounced all claims on Riga. After his release, he returned to Mecklenburg. He died on 4 March 1592 at Tempzin Abbey and was buried in the northern chapel of the high choir of

Schwerin Cathedral Schwerin Cathedral (german: Schweriner Dom) is an Evangelical Lutheran Cathedral located in the town of Schwerin, Germany. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and Saint John. Along with St. Mary's Church, Lübeck and St. Nicholas' Church, Stra ...

. His widow commissioned a grave monument, which shows a couple kneeling before a ''prie-dieu''. It was crafted in the workshop of the Flemish sculptor Robert Coppens, with assistance from the Pomeranian painter Georg Strachen.He was a painter from Old Stettin; licensed by the Council of Lübeck in 1587, see:

Ulrich Thieme Ulrich Thieme (31 January 1865 in Leipzig – 25 March 1922 in Leipzig) was a German art historian. He was the son of the industrialist and art collector Alfred Thieme (1830–1906), brother of the publisher Georg Thieme (1830–1906) and gr ...

, Felix Becker, ''et al.'': ''Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart'', vol. 32, Leipzig, 1938

Marriages and issue

Christopher married his first wife on 27 October 1573 in

Kolding Kolding () is a Danish seaport located at the head of Kolding Fjord in the Region of Southern Denmark. It is the seat of Kolding Municipality. It is a transportation, commercial, and manufacturing centre, and has numerous industrial companies, ...

. She was Princess Dorothea of Denmark (1528 – 11 November 1575), a daughter of King

Frederick I of Denmark Frederick I (Danish and ; ; ; 7 October 1471 – 10 April 1533) was King of Denmark and Norway. He was the last Roman Catholic monarch to reign over Denmark and Norway, when subsequent monarchs embraced Lutheranism after the Protestant Refor ...

. She died only two years later, in Schönberg, which was the capital of the

Prince-Bishopric of Ratzeburg The Prince-Bishopric of Ratzeburg (german: Fürstbistum Ratzeburg) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that was located in what is today the states of Schleswig-Holstein (the district of Herzogtum Lauenburg) and Mecklen ...

. He married his second wife on 7 May 1581 in Stockholm. She was

Princess Elizabeth of Sweden Princess Elizabeth of Sweden (also known as ''Elisabet Gustavsdotter Vasa''; 5 April 1549 – 20 November 1597), was a Swedish princess, and a duchess consort of Mecklenburg-Gadebusch by marriage to Christopher, Duke of Mecklenburg-Gadebusch. She ...

(4 April 1549 – 12 November 1597), a daughter of King

Gustav I of Sweden Gustav I, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known as Gustav Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560, previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm ('' Riksföre ...

. With her he had a daughter: * Margaret Elisabeth (11 July 1584 – 16 November 1616), married on 9 October 1608 to

John Albert II, Duke of Mecklenburg John Albert II, Duke of MecklenburgGüstrow(5 May 1590 in Waren – 23 April 1636 in Güstrow) was a Duke of Mecklenburg. From 1608 to 1611, he was the nominal ruler of Mecklenburg-Schwerin; the actual ruler being the regent, his great-uncle Ch ...

. After Christopher's death, she returned to Sweden, where she lived in

Norrköping Norrköping (; ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Linköp ...

. She died in 1616 and was buried in

Uppsala Cathedral Uppsala Cathedral ( sv, Uppsala domkyrka) is a cathedral located between the University Hall of Uppsala University and the Fyris river in the centre of Uppsala, Sweden. A church of the Church of Sweden, the national church, in the Lutheran tra ...

References

* Alexander Bergengrün: ''Herzog Christoph von Mecklenburg, letzter Koadjutor des Erzbistums Riga: Ein Beitrag zur livländischen und mecklenburgischen Geschichte''. Verlag Franz Kluge, Reval 1898. *

Friedrich Schlie Friedrich Schlie (12 December 1839, Brüel, Mecklenburg-Schwerin - 21 July 1902, Bad Kissingen) was a German art historian and archaeologist. Life As the son of a Kantor and teacher, Schlie was taught by private tuition until his graduation exam ...

: ''Die Kunst- und Geschichts-Denkmäler des Grossherzogthums Mecklenburg-Schwerin.'' II. Band: ''Die Amtsgerichtsbezirke Wismar, Grevesmühlen, Rehna, Gadebusch und Schwerin.'' Schwerin 1898, Neudruck Schwerin 1992, S. 557ff. * *

External links

*
Genealogy of the House of Mecklenburg

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christopher of Mecklenburg Lutheran Prince-Bishops of Ratzeburg Dukes of Mecklenburg House of Mecklenburg 1537 births 1592 deaths 16th-century German people