George Christian (6 February 1634,

Aurich Aurich (; East Frisian Low Saxon: ''Auerk'', West Frisian: ''Auwerk'', stq, Aurk) is a town in the East Frisian region of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Aurich and is the second largest City in East Frisia, both i ...

– 6 June 1665,

) was a member of the

Cirksena The House of Cirksena () was the name of the ruling family of East Frisia, Ostfriesland. They descended from a line of East Frisian chieftains from Greetsiel. East Frisia In 1439, in the wake of clashes between different lines of chieftains, t ...

family and succeeded his brother Enno Louis as ruler of

East Frisia East Frisia or East Friesland (german: Ostfriesland; ; stq, Aastfräislound) is a historic region in the northwest of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West Frisia ...

. He ruled from 1660 to 1665. Under his reign, the Cirksena family acquired on 18 April 1662 the hereditary title of

Imperial Prince Prince of the Holy Roman Empire ( la, princeps imperii, german: Reichsfürst, cf. ''Fürst'') was a title attributed to a hereditary ruler, nobleman or prelate recognised as such by the Holy Roman Emperor. Definition Originally, possessors o ...

. George Christian grew up with his brother at the court in

. After 1649, they received further education at the academies of

Breda Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...

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 ...

. In Tübingen he met his future wife, Christine Charlotte, a daughter of Duke Eberhard III of Württemberg from his first marriage to Anna Dorothea of Salm-Kyrburg. He could only marry her after had he received the hereditary title of

on 18 April 1662. This gave him the proper rank to marry a Princess of Württemberg (german: Ebenbürtigkeit), and so the marriage was finally performed on 10 May 1662 in the city of

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

. The union produced only two short-lived daughters during George Christian's lifetime: Eberhardine Katharina (25 May 1663 – 10 July 1664) and Juliane Charlotte (3 January 1664 – 3 June 1666). Immediately after his accession he was trying to establish his rule, which led to severe conflicts with the Estates. This soon reached the threshold of a civil war and could be settled only by Dutch mediation. After lengthy negotiations with the Estates on 19 June 1662 and 4 October 1663, a compromise was reached. The

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

became the guarantor power. In both treaties, the relationship between the prince and the Estates was regulated. The estates were given back their old privileges, in exchange for a substantial cash payment. Under George Christian, the conflict with Münster escalated. This conflict was based on compensation East Frisia had to pay under the Treaty of Berum, in exchange for the acquisition of the

Harlingerland The Harlingerland is a strip of land on the North Sea coast of East Frisia. While today the whole of the district of Wittmund is usually described as Harlingerland, historically it specifically refers to the northern part of the present district, ...

. Under the pretext of enforcing the payments, the Bishop of Münster marched his troops into East Frisia in 1663. Colonel Elverfeld conquered Hampoel and the

Sconce Sconce may refer to: *Sconce (fortification), a military fortification *Sconce (light fixture) *Sconcing, imposing a penalty in the form of drink *Sconce Point Fort Victoria is a former military fort on the Isle of Wight, England (), built to ...

at Diele on East Frisia's southern border. These were recaptured by Dutch troops in 1664. George Christian preferred to leave this kind of problem of his officials or the Estates. Four months after his untimely death, George Christian's third child was born: a son named Christian Everhard. His widow, Christine Charlotte, led a rather unfortunate regency for the next 25 years.

Ancestors

References and sources

*Tielke, Martin (ed.): ''Biographisches Lexikon für Ostfriesland'', Ostfriesisches Landschaftliche Verlag- und Vertriebsgeschäft, Aurich, vol. 1 (1993), vol. 2 (1997), vol. 3 (2001) * Ernst Kaeber: ''Bilder aus dem Leben ostfries. Fürstlichkeiten des 17. Jahrhunderts. I. Die jüngeren Brüder des Fürsten Enno Ludwig. II. Aus dem Leben des Fürsten Christian Eberhard'', Aurich, 1912 * Ernst Kaeber: ''Die Jugendzeit Fürst Enno Ludwigs von Ostfriesland'', Aurich, 1911 {{DEFAULTSORT:George Christian, Prince Of East Frisia 1634 births 1665 deaths Princes of East Frisia