Frederick Ulrich (German Friedrich Ulrich, 5 April 1591 – 11 August 1634), Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, was prince of

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; nds, Wulfenbüddel) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the largest c ...

from 1613 until his death.

Life

Frederick Ulrich was the son of Duke Henry Julius of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and his second wife

Princess Elisabeth of Denmark Princess Elisabeth of Denmark, (''Elisabeth Caroline-Mathilde Alexandrine Helena Olga Thyra Feodora Estrid Margrethe Désirée''; 8 May 1935 – 19 June 2018) was a member of the Danish royal family. She was the only daughter and eldest child o ...

, the eldest daughter of King

Frederick II of Denmark Frederick II (1 July 1534 – 4 April 1588) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein from 1559 until his death. A member of the House of Oldenburg, Frederick began his personal rule of Denmark-Norway at the age of ...

. Frederick studied at the universities of

Helmstedt Helmstedt (; Eastphalian: ''Helmstidde'') is a town on the eastern edge of the German state of Lower Saxony. It is the capital of the District of Helmstedt. The historic university and Hanseatic city conserves an important monumental heritage of ...

and

Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thr ...

England in 1610

In March 1610 he visited his aunt

Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional fo ...

in England, staying at St James Palace with

Prince Henry Prince Henry (or Prince Harry) may refer to: People *Henry the Young King (1155–1183), son of Henry II of England, who was crowned king but predeceased his father *Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal (1394–1460) *Henry, Duke of Cornwall (Ja ...

, who took him to see the ship the '' Prince Royal'' being built at

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...

. He took a tour of the South West, visiting Oxford, Gloucester, Bath, and Bristol where news of the assassination of

Henry IV of France Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarc ...

reached him and ended his tour. The poet Sir David Murray, a gentleman of the household of Prince Henry, managed part of the tour, using £1,000 for expenses. He attended the masques ''

London's Love to Prince Henry ''London's Love to Prince Henry'' (31 May 1610), was a pageant on the River Thames organised by the city of London for the investiture of Prince Henry as Prince of Wales. This pageant was performed on the Thames between Chelsea and Whitehall. I ...

'' and ''

Tethys' Festival ''Tethys' Festival'' was a masque produced on 5 June 1610 to celebrate the investiture of Prince Henry (1594–1612) as Prince of Wales. Prince Henry, the son of James VI and I and Anne of Denmark, was made Prince of Wales in June 1610. Among ...

''. In April he performed in a tournament "

running at the ring Running at the ring or tilting at the ring was an equestrian tournament activity practiced at European royal courts. Participants rode at full speed to thrust the point of the lance through a ring or to hook a ring and carry it off. A performer was ...

." The Prince of Wales gave him his portrait painted by

Isaac Oliver Isaac Oliver (c. 1565 – bur. 2 October 1617) or Olivier was an English portrait miniature painter.Baskett, John. ''Paul Mellon's legacy: a passion for British art'' (Yale University Press, 2007) pp. 240-1. Life and work Born in Rouen, ...

James VI and I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

gave him a jewel and a ring which the duke gave to Princess Elizabeth, bought for £1,900 from

Peter Vanlore Sir Peter Vanlore (c. 1547 – 6 September 1627) was a Dutch-born English merchant, jeweller and moneylender in Elizabethan and Stuart England. Biography He was born circa 1547 in Utrecht, Netherlands, the third son of Maurits van Loor a ...

. After Prince Henry's death in 1612 the duke was sent a suit of gilt armour.William Brenchley Rye, ''England as Seen by Foreigners in the Days of Elizabeth & James the First'' (London, 1865), pp. 59, 224-5.

Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg

He became ruling duke after the death of his father in 1613. In 1615, Frederick became involved in a war with the City of Brunswick, which was reluctant to recognize his overlordship. Between 1616 and 1622, he was de facto deposed by his mother,

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

, with the help of her brother, King

Christian IV of Denmark Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian monar ...

, because of his

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...

; government business was led by

Anton von Streithorst Anton may refer to: People *Anton (given name), including a list of people with the given name *Anton (surname) Places *Anton Municipality, Bulgaria **Anton, Sofia Province, a village *Antón District, Panama **Antón, a town and capital of th ...

, who nearly ruined the state by minting coins from cheap metals and thus causing

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

. Because of the bad situation of the state, Christian had Frederick take control of the government again. With the help of the states' nobility, he managed to regain control; the members of the Streithorst government fled the state. Because of Frederick's indecision and weakness, Brunswick was heavily ransacked during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

— both by the Catholic forces of

Tilly Tilly may refer to: Places France * Tilly, Eure, in the Eure ''département'' * Tilly, Indre, in the Indre ''département'' * Tilly, Yvelines, in the Yvelines ''département'' Elsewhere * Tilly, Belgium, a village in the municipality of Viller ...

and

Pappenheim Pappenheim is a town in the Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen district, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the river Altmühl, 11 km south of Weißenburg in Bayern. History Historically, Pappenheim was a statelet within Holy Roman Empire. It ...

and by the Protestant forces of Christian of Denmark and

Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden Gustavus Adolphus (9 December Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">N.S_19_December.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/now ...

. The duke lost most of his territory during this time. He died after an accident in 1634. The principality was eventually ceded to Augustus the Younger in 1635.

Marriage and family

Frederick Ulrich married Anna Sophia (1598-1659), daughter of

John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg John Sigismund (german: Johann Sigismund; 8 November 1572 – 23 December 1619) was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from the House of Hohenzollern. He became the Duke of Prussia through his marriage to Duchess Anna, the eldes ...

, in 1614. They had no children and Frederick tried to get a divorce from Anna, though he died before the divorce was completed. Anna Sophia spent her widowhood in

Schöningen Schöningen is a town of about 11,000 inhabitants in the district of Helmstedt, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Geography The town is located on the southeastern rim of the Elm hill range, near the border with the state of Saxony-Anhalt. In its curren ...

, where she founded a renowned school, the ''Anna-Sophianeum''.

Ancestors

References

External links

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie
vol. 7, p. 501-505.

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Frederick Ulrich, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg 1591 births 1634 deaths Princes of Calenberg Princes of Wolfenbüttel Middle House of Brunswick