William (German: ''Wilhelm'') called William the Younger (''german: Wilhelm der Jüngere'', c. 1425 – 7 July 1503) was duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and ruled over the

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 ...

and

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

principalities. The eldest son of

William the Victorious, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg William I KG ( 1392 – 25 July 1482), called the Victorious (german: Wilhelm der Siegreiche), a member of the House of Welf, was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He was reigning Prince of Lüneburg from 1416 to 1428 and of Brunswick-Wolfenbütte ...

, he was given the

Principality of Göttingen The Principality of Göttingen (german: Fürstentum Göttingen) was a subdivision of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire, with Göttingen as its capital. It was split off from the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in ...

by his father in 1473. In 1482 the father died, and he and his brother Frederick succeeded their father in the remaining parts of his state; however, William had Frederick imprisoned in 1484 and made himself sole ruler. In 1490 he bought the City 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 ...

from the Abbot of

Werden Werden is a southern borough of the city of Essen in Germany. It belongs to the city district ''IX Werden/Kettwig/Bredeney'' and has 9,998 inhabitants as of June 30, 2006. The borough occupies a space of and is situated at a median height of . __ ...

. In 1491, William gave the Principality of Wolfenbüttel including

Calenberg The Calenberg is a hill in central Germany in the Leine depression near Pattensen in the municipality of Schulenburg. It lies 13 km west of the city of Hildesheim in south Lower Saxony on the edge of the Central Uplands. It is made from a ...

to his sons, and kept only Göttingen to himself. In 1495 he resigned as prince of Göttingen in favour of his son Eric I in return for an appanage. William died on 7 July 1503 in

Hardegsen Hardegsen () is a town in the district of Northeim, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 15 km southwest of Northeim, and 15 km northwest of Göttingen. Burg Hardeg is a medieval castle in Hardegsen. The castle was fo ...

Family

William married Elizabeth ( – 7 September 1520), daughter of

Bodo VII, Count of Stolberg-Wernigerode Count Bodo VII of Stolberg and Wernigerode (1375 – 15 March 1455 in Stolberg), also known as Bodo the Elder, was a German nobleman. He ruled the counties of Stolberg in the southern Harz and Wernigerode in the northern Harz. Life Bodo was t ...

. They had three children: * Anne (1460 – 16 May 1520) married

William I, Landgrave of Lower Hesse William I of Hesse (german: Wilhelm) (4 July 1466 – 8 February 1515) was the Landgrave of Hesse (Lower Hesse) from 1471 to 1493. His parents were Louis the Frank (1438–1471) and Mechthild, daughter of Count Louis I of Württemberg. On 17 F ...

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

(24 June 1463 – 23 June 1514) *

Eric The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

(16 February 1470 – 26 July 1540) married 1: Katharina (1468–1524) Duchess of Saxony; 2: Elisabeth (1510–1558) Duchess of Brandenburg

Ancestors

References

''Zedlers Universal-Lexicon'', vol. 56, p. 585–586
, - , - , - 1425 births 1503 deaths Princes of Calenberg Princes of Göttingen Princes of Wolfenbüttel Middle House of Brunswick {{Europe-noble-stub