Francis I of Saxe-Lauenburg (1510 – 19 March 1581,
Buxtehude) was the eldest child and only son of Duke
Magnus I of Saxe-Lauenburg and
Catherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1488 – 29 July 1563,
Neuhaus), daughter of Duke
Henry IV ''the Evil'' of Brunswick and Lunenburg (Wolfenbüttel). Francis I succeeded his father in 1543 as duke of
Saxe-Lauenburg, but resigned in favour of his major son
Magnus II in 1571. Two years later he reascended and was succeeded by
Francis II in 1581.
Life
With his thriftiness Francis I deeply plunged Saxe-Lauenburg into debts, to this end he pawned most of the ducal
demesne
A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. The concept or ...
s to his creditors. In 1550 Francis I wielded his influence to make the
chapter of the neighbouring
Prince-Bishopric of Ratzeburg elect his 7-year-old son
Magnus as coming
prince-bishop, however, the
capitular canons refused.
Heavily indebted and with no further need for good relations with the prince-bishopric Francis I looted Ratzeburg Cathedral in 1552. In 1558 he conquered the prince-episcopal
Bridgettine
The Bridgettines, or Birgittines, formally known as the Order of the Most Holy Savior (; abbreviated OSsS), is a monastic religious order of the Catholic Church founded by Saint Birgitta or Bridget of Sweden in 1344, and approved by Pope Urban ...
Monastery of Marienwohlde near
Mölln, looted and demolished the cloister, forced its
vassal farmers to swear him loyalty and pay him dues, and started overfelling in the monasterial woods, selling the timber abroad.
In 1571 – highly indebted – Francis I resigned in favour of his eldest son
Magnus II, who had promised to redeem the pawned ducal demesnes with funds he gained as Swedish military commander and by his marriage to a Swedish princess. However, Magnus did not redeem pawns but further alienated ducal possessions, which ignited a conflict between Magnus and his father and brothers
Francis (II) and
Maurice as well as the
estates of the duchy, further escalating due to Magnus' violent temperament.
In 1573 Francis I deposed Magnus and reascended to the throne while Magnus fled to
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
, the homeland of his wife
Sophia Vasa of Sweden. The following year Magnus hired troops in order to take Saxe-Lauenburg with violence. Francis II, an experienced military commander in imperial service, and Duke
Adolphus of Holstein-Gottorp, then
Lower Saxon Circle Colonel (''Kreisobrist''), helped Francis I to defeat Magnus. In return Saxe-Lauenburg had to cede the bailiwick of
Steinhorst to Adolphus' Holstein-Gottorp in 1575. Francis II again helped his father to inhibit Magnus' second military attempt to overthrow his father in 1578. Francis I then made Francis II his vicegerent actually governing the duchy.
In 1581 - shortly before he died and after consultations with his son Prince-Archbishop
Henry of Bremen and
Emperor Rudolph II, but unconcerted with his other sons Magnus and Maurice - Francis I made his third son Francis II, whom he considered the ablest, his sole successor, violating the rules of
primogeniture
Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...
. This severed the anyway difficult relations with the estates of the duchy, which fought the ducal practice of growing indebtedness.
[Cordula Bornefeld, "Die Herzöge von Sachsen-Lauenburg", in: ''Die Fürsten des Landes: Herzöge und Grafen von Schleswig, Holstein und Lauenburg'' ]e slevigske hertuger; German
E, or e, is the fifth Letter (alphabet), letter and the second vowel#Written vowels, vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worl ...
Carsten Porskrog Rasmussen (ed.) on behalf of the Gesellschaft für Schleswig-Holsteinische Geschichte, Neumünster: Wachholtz, 2008, pp. 373–389, here p. 380.
Marriage and issue
On 8 February 1540 Francis I married in
Dresden Sibylle of Saxony (
Freiberg, *2 May 1515 – 18 July 1592*,
Buxtehude), daughter of
Henry IV, Duke of Saxony. They had the following children:
* Albert (*1542 – 1544*)
* Dorothea (
Lüneburg, *11 March 1543 – 5 April 1586*,
Herzberg am Harz
Herzberg am Harz is a town in the Göttingen district of Lower Saxony, Germany.
Geography
Herzberg is situated on the southwestern rim of the Harz mountain range and the Harz National Park. Natural monuments in the surrounding area include the ...
), ∞
Wolfgang, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen
Duke Wolfgang of Brunswick-Grubenhagen (1531–1595) was the Prince of Principality of Grubenhagen, Grubenhagen from 1567 to 1595.
Wolfgang was born on 6 April 1531 in Herzberg am Harz, Herzberg, the fifth son of Duke Philip I, Duke of Brunswick- ...
(*1531 – 1595*)
*
Magnus II (*1543 – 14 May 1603*,
Ratzeburg)
* Ursula (*1545 – 22 October 1620*,
Schernebeck), married in 1569
Henry, Duke of Brunswick-Dannenberg
*
Francis II (*1547 – 1619*)
*
Henry (*1 November 1550 – 22 April 1585*,
Vörde), as Henry III
Prince-Archbishop of Bremen (1567–1585), as well as Prince-Bishop of
Osnabrück (Henry II, 1574–1585) and
Paderborn (Henry I, 1577–1585), married Anna von Broich
*
Maurice (*1551 – 1612*), married in 1581 Katharina von Spörck, divorced in 1582
* Sidonia Catharina (*?– 1594*), married in 1567 (1)
Wenceslaus III Adam, Duke of Cieszyn and in 1586 (2) Emmerich III Forgach, Upper
Gespan of the
Duchy of Teschen
*
Frederick (*1554 – 1586*,
Cologne),
canon at the
Cologne and
Bremen Cathedrals
Illegitimate children with Else Rautenstein were:
* Franz Rautenstein (*? – after 26 December 1618*)
* Katharina Rautenstein (*1565 – 1587*), ∞ in 1579 Johann Grotjan
Ancestry
Notes
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saxe-Lauenburg, Francis I Of
1510 births
1581 deaths
Francis 01
Francis 01
Francis 01 of Saxe-Lauenburg