Duke Francis Julius of Sachsen-Lauenburg (13 September 1584 in

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 ...

– 8 October 1634 in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

) was a prince of

Saxe-Lauenburg The Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg (german: Herzogtum Sachsen-Lauenburg, called ''Niedersachsen'' (Lower Saxony) between the 14th and 17th centuries), was a '' reichsfrei'' duchy that existed from 1296–1803 and again from 1814–1876 in the extreme so ...

Life

Julius Francis was the eldest son of

Francis II, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg Francis II of Saxe-Lauenburg (Ratzeburg, 10 August 1547 – 2 July 1619, Lauenburg upon Elbe), was the third son of Francis I of Saxe-Lauenburg and Sybille of Saxe-Freiberg (Freiberg, 2 May 1515 – 18 July 1592, Buxtehude), daughter of Duke He ...

from his second marriage,

Maria of Brunswick-Lüneburg Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (born: 13 January 1566 in Schladen; died: 13 August 1626 in Lauenburg) was a princess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel by birth and by marriage Duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg. Life Mary was a daughter of the Duke Julius of ...

, the daughter of Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. His education and training, like that of his siblings, was patchy and superficial. His older half-brother

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

succeeded his father in 1619 as Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg. On 4 October 1619 he signed a contract with his brothers. He acknowledged his brother as the ruling Duke and in return he received the ''Anker'' Manor as a residence and an annual pension of 2500 thalers. Julius Francis served as a chamberlain at the imperial court in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and was entrusted with several diplomatic missions by Emperor Ferdinand II. When his brother Augustus occupied

Amt Neuhaus Amt Neuhaus is a municipality in the District of Lüneburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. ''Amt'' means "municipal office" in German. The original "municipal office of ''Neuhaus''" existed since at least the 17th century until 1885, consecutively as p ...

, which was Francis Julius's mother's

wittum Wittum (), Widum or Witthum is a medieval Latin legal term, known in marital and ecclesiastical law. Provide for a widow at the wedding The term referred initially to steps taken by a husband to provide for his wife if she became a widow. The wi ...

, Francis Julius objected vehemently. The dispute lasted until Francis Julius's death. Francis Julius also initiated, on behalf of his family, a case before the

Aulic Council The Aulic Council ( la, Consilium Aulicum, german: Reichshofrat, literally meaning Court Council of the Empire) was one of the two supreme courts of the Holy Roman Empire, the other being the Imperial Chamber Court. It had not only concurrent juris ...

against the city of

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, about the ownership of the district and castle of Ritzebüttel (today's

Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is an independent town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has ...

). Francis Julius died in 1634 in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. He probably died of the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

. Since he had outlived his children and did not have an heir, Anker Manor fell back to Augustus.

Marriage and children

On 14 May 1620, Francis Julius married Agnes (1592–1629), the daughter of

Frederick I, Duke of Württemberg Friedrich I of Württemberg (19 August 1557 – 29 January 1608) was the son of George of Mömpelgard and his wife Barbara of Hesse, daughter of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. Several references are made to him in Shakespeare's '' The Merry ...

. They had seven children, who all died young: * Maria Franciska (1621–1621) * Maria Sibylla (1622–1623) * Frederick Francis (1623–1625) * Julius Francis (1624–1625) * Johanna Juliane (1626–1626) * Francis Ferdinand (1628–1629) * Francis Louis (1629–1629)

Ancestry

References

* Johann Samuel Ersch: ''Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste in alphabetischer Folge'', vol. 48, J. f. Gleditsch, 1848, p. 97 ff
Online
House of Ascania 1584 births 1634 deaths 17th-century German people Dukes of Saxe-Lauenburg Sons of monarchs {{Germany-noble-stub