Ernst Ludwig (20 November 1545, in Wolgast – 17 June 1592, in Wolgast)Thümmel (2002), p.87 was duke of Pomerania from 1560 to 1592. From 1569 to 1592, he was duke in the ''
Teilherzogtum The district duchy, also known as the district principality, was a type of the state under the patrimonial system, such as duchy or principality, formed in the feudal system, as a result of land partition between the members of a royal family. It ...
'' Pomerania-Wolgast, sharing the rule over the Duchy of Pomerania with his older brother Johann Friedrich, duke in the other ''Teilherzogtum''
Pomerania-Stettin
The Duchy of Pomerania-Stettin, also known as the Duchy of Stettin, and the Duchy of Szczecin, was a feudal duchy in Farther Pomerania within the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Szczecin. It was ruled by the Griffin dynasty.B. Dopierała, ''Po ...
and
bishop of Cammin
The Bishopric of Cammin (also Kammin, Kamień Pomorski) was both a former Roman Catholic diocese in the Duchy of Pomerania from 1140 to 1544, and a secular territory of the Holy Roman Empire ( Prince-Bishopric) in the Kolberg (Kołobrzeg) area f ...
.Nicklas (2002), p.135
Life
Ernst Ludwig was one of ten siblings born to
Philipp I Philip(p) I may refer to:
* Philip I of Macedon (7th century BC)
* Philip I Philadelphus (between 124 and 109 BC–83 or 75 BC)
* Philip the Arab (c. 204–249), Roman Emperor
* Philip I of France (1052–1108)
* Philip I (archbishop of Cologne) (1 ...
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
Barnim XI (1501–1573; by some accounts Barnim IX), son of Bogislaw X, Duke of Pomerania, became Duke of Pomerania, duke on his father's death in 1523.
Life
Barnim ruled for a time in common with his elder brother George I, Duke of Pomerania, G ...
Bogislaw XIII
Bogislaw XIII (Bogusław XIII) of Pomerania (9 August 1544 – 7 March 1606, Stettin; ''Polish'': Szczecin), son of Philip I and Maria of Saxony, was a prince of Stettin and Wolgast, and a member of the Griffins.
Bogislaw studied at the Univer ...
Jasenitz
Jasienica (german: Jasenitz) is a district of Police, Poland, a town in the Pomerania Region. In the High and Late Middle Ages, the village was the site of Jasenitz Abbey, now in ruins.
Gunica River and a kayak-way
In Jasienica there is a conf ...
(now part of Police), which was approved by the Landtag in
Wollin
Wolin (; formerly german: Wollin ) is the name both of a Polish island in the Baltic Sea, just off the Polish coast, and a town on that island. Administratively, the island belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. Wolin is separated from th ...
(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
The gens Julia (''gēns Iūlia'', ) was one of the most prominent patrician families in ancient Rome. Members of the gens attained the highest dignities of the state in the earliest times of the Republic. The first of the family to obtain the ...
. 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
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 Loitz 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 Kettler of Courland and Zemgale
* Philip Julius (1584–1625), married Agnes, daughter of Elector John George 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 Wolgast. Legend tells that, foreshadowing the duke's death, a halo appeared in
Stettin
Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin language, Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Po ...
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.Schattkowsky (2003), p.382
Ernst Ludwig was succeeded by his son, Philipp (II) Julius, who however remained under tutelage of
Bogislaw XIII
Bogislaw XIII (Bogusław XIII) of Pomerania (9 August 1544 – 7 March 1606, Stettin; ''Polish'': Szczecin), son of Philip I and Maria of Saxony, was a prince of Stettin and Wolgast, and a member of the Griffins.
Bogislaw studied at the Univer ...
.
In fiction
Wilhelm Meinhold
Johannes Wilhelm Meinhold (27 February 1797Bridgwater (2000), p. 213. – 30 November 1851) was a Pomeranian priest and author.
Life
Meinhold was born in Lütow on the island of Usedom, where his father Georg Wilhelm Meinhold (1767–1728) ...
in his 1848 novel ''Sidonia von Bork'' portrayed Ernst Ludwig as the cuckolded betrothed 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.Fischer (2005), p.83
List of Pomeranian duchies and dukes
This is a list of the duchies and dukes of Pomerania.
Dukes of the Slavic Pomeranian tribes (All Pomerania)
The lands of Pomerania were firstly ruled by local tribes, who settled in Pomerania around the 10th and 11th centuries.
Non-dynastic
...