John Frederick (german: Johann Friedrich; 25 April 1625 in Herzberg am Harz – 18 December 1679 in

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

) was duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He ruled over the

Principality of Calenberg The Principality of Calenberg was a dynastic division of the Welf duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg established in 1432. Calenberg was ruled by the House of Hanover from 1635 onwards; the princes received the ninth electoral dignity of the Holy Roman ...

, a subdivision of the duchy, from 1665 until his death. The third son of

George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (17 February 1582, in Celle – 12 April 1641, in Hildesheim), ruled as Prince of Calenberg from 1635. George was the sixth son of William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1535–1592) and Dorothea of Denmark ( ...

, John converted to the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, the only member of his family to do so, in 1651, as a result of a visit while in Italy to Saint

Joseph of Cupertino Joseph of Cupertino, OFM Conv. ( it, Giuseppe da Copertino; 17 June 1603 – 18 September 1663) was an Italian Conventual Franciscan friar who is honored as a Christian mystic and saint. According to traditional Franciscan accounts, he was "rem ...

. He received Calenberg when his elder brother George William inherited the

Principality of Lüneburg The Principality of Lüneburg (later also referred to as Celle) was a territorial division of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg within the Holy Roman Empire, immediately subordinate to the emperor. It existed from 1269 until 1705 and its territory ...

. In 1666, he had a palace built in Herrenhausen near

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

that was inspired by the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 19 ...

and is famous for its gardens, the

Herrenhausen Gardens The Herrenhausen Gardens (german: Herrenhäuser Gärten, ) of Herrenhausen Palace, located in Herrenhausen, an urban district of Lower Saxony's capital of Hanover are made up of the Great Garden (), the Berggarten, the Georgengarten and th ...

. In 1667, he employed as his master builder the Venetian architect

Girolamo Sartorio Girolamo Sartonio, also known as Hieronimo Sartorio and Geronimo Sartorio (died April 1707 in Venice), was an innovative Italian architect and engineer who worked mainly the German cities of Hanover, Hamburg, Leipzig and Erfurt. His designs were ba ...

, who designed many buildings in the town, including the Neustädter Kirche, and was instrumental in the expansion of the Herrenhausen Gardens. In 1676, John Frederick employed

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of mathema ...

as Privy Councillor and librarian of the important ducal library. Thus began Leibniz's 40-year association with the House of Hanover, which resulted in three generations of Hanovers being patrons to one of the most eminent philosophers and mathematicians of Europe.

Children

Charotte Felizitas of Braunschweig Lueneburg

John Frederick married

Benedicta Henrietta of the Palatinate Princess Palatine Benedicta Henrietta (Benedicta Henrietta Philippina; 14 March 1652 – 12 August 1730) was Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg, or of Hanover, by her marriage to Duke John Frederick. She was the third and youngest daughter of Pr ...

(14 March 1652 – 12 August 1730), daughter of

Edward, Count Palatine of Simmern Edward, Prince Palatine of the Rhine (''Eduard, Prinz von der Pfalz'') (5 October 1625 – 10 March 1663), was the sixth son of Frederick V, Elector Palatine (of the House of Wittelsbach), the "Winter King" of Bohemia, by his consort, the Scot ...

and Anna Gonzaga, on 30 November 1668. They had four daughters: * Charlotte Felicitas (8 March 1671 – 29 September 1710), married

Rinaldo III, Duke of Modena Rinaldo may refer to: *Renaud de Montauban (also spelled Renaut, Renault, Italian: Rinaldo di Montalbano, Dutch: Reinout van Montalbaen, German: Reinhold von Montalban), a legendary knight in the medieval Matter of France * Rinaldo (''Jerusalem Lib ...

* Wilhelmina Amalia (1673 – 10 April 1742), married

Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor , father = Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor , mother = Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg , birth_date = , birth_place = Vienna, Austria , death_date = , death_place = Vienna, Austria , burial_place = Imperial Crypt, Vienna , ...

Ancestry

Notes

References

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, vol. 14, p. 177-181

1625 births 1679 deaths People from Herzberg am Harz German Roman Catholics Converts to Roman Catholicism from Lutheranism Princes of Calenberg New House of Lüneburg People from Grubenhagen Roman Catholic monarchs Burials at Berggarten Mausoleum, Herrenhausen (Hanover) {{Germany-duke-stub