Christian of Brieg-Legnica (, , ; 19 April 1618 in

Oława Oława (, , ) is a historic town in south-western Poland with 33,029 inhabitants (2019). It is situated in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, within the Wrocław metropolitan area. It is the seat of Oława County and of the smaller administrative distri ...

– 28 February 1672 in Oława) was a

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

of Liegnitz/Legnica (during 1653–1654 and 1663–1664 with his brothers), Brieg/Brzeg (during 1639–1654 with his brothers), Wohlau/Wołów (during 1653–1654 with his brothers, then alone) and

(during 1639–1654 with his brothers, then alone). Since 1664, he was the sole ruler as Duke of Legnica-Brzeg-Wołów-Oława. He is descended from the Legnica branch of the

Silesian Piasts The Silesian Piasts were the elder of four lines of the Polish Piast dynasty beginning with Władysław II the Exile (1105–1159), eldest son of Duke Bolesław III Wrymouth, Bolesław III of Poland. By Bolesław's Testament of Bolesław III Krzy ...

dynasty. He was the seventh but third surviving son of John Christian, Duke of Brieg/Brzeg- Liegnitz/Legnica- Wohlau/Wołów- Ohlau/Oława, by his first wife Dorothea Sybille, daughter of

John George, Elector of Brandenburg John George of Brandenburg (; 11 September 1525 – 8 January 1598) was a prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (1571–1598). Early life Born as a member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the son of Joachim II Hector, Elector ...

Life

In his early years, along with his older brothers, Christian made his Grand Tour to Europe, during which he visited the courts of Kings

Louis XIII of France Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...

and

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. Charles was born ...

. Upon his return to Silesia, his country was in the middle of the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

. In 1635 the Duke John Christian was sent to Lithuania; at that time, Christian studied in a Calvinist school. During this time, he was allowed to know, among others, King John Casimir of Poland, whose wife Louisa Maria was the godmother of Christian's short-lived second daughter. Also met his first cousin, Prince

Bogusław Radziwiłł Bogusław Radziwiłł (; 3 May 1620 – 31 December 1669) was a Polish princely magnate and a member of the Polish-Lithuanian ''szlachta'', or nobility. He was of the Radziwiłł magnate family. By birth he was an Imperial Prince of the ...

, whose mother was the sister of Christian's mother. He also knew another future Polish monarch,

Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki Michael I (, ; 31 May 1640 – 10 November 1673) was the ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth as List of Polish monarchs, King of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Grand Duke of Lithuania from 29 September 1669 until his death in 1673 ...

. Through teachings at the school in, Christian could learn and mastered the Polish language. In 1639 Duke John Christian died and his sons inherited their lands. Christian became in Duke of Brzeg and Oława with their brothers George III and Louis IV; however, the full government of the Duchy was taken by the eldest brother George III. After finishing the school Christian returned to Silesia, still under the hands of the Swedish army. In 1642 he survived the 4-week siege of Brieg/Brzeg by the Swedish. In December 1645 was captured and imprisoned by the Swedish. Fortunately, Christian managed to escape and notify the Brieg/Brzeg townspeople who have who were their true master. However, the conditions of his short confinement left him in a poor health. Apart from the incident with the Swedish, he was shot in the foot while hunting. The death of his uncle George Rudolf in 1653 increased the domains of the brothers, added to their lands Legnica and Wołów. One year later (1654), was made the formal division of their domains: George III retain Brieg/Brzeg and Louis IV obtain Liegnitz/Legnica. To Christian, were assigned the two poor and small towns of Wohlau/Wołów and Ohlau/Oława. In 1663 Louis IV died without surviving issue, and Liegnitz/Legnica was inherited by Christian and George III as co-rulers; however, George III died a few months later (1664) without male heirs and Christian could inherit all the lands of the family for the first time since 1547. In 1668 Christian presented his candidacy to the Polish throne. However, despite the support for the Polish nobility, he wasn't chosen as King. Christian died on 28 February 1672, due to a disease called "Swelling water" (). His funeral was held on 31 March 1672 in Liegnitz/Legnica, in the Church of St.John, in a gold-plated coffin, thanks to the contribution of gold coins from his subjects.

Marriage and issue

Dessau Dessau is a district of the independent city of Dessau-Roßlau in Saxony-Anhalt at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the ''States of Germany, Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Until 1 July 2007, it was an independent ...

on 24 November 1648, Christian married with Louise (b. Dessau, 10 February 1631 – d. Oława, 25 April 1680), daughter of

John Casimir, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau John Casimir, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (17 December 1596 – 15 September 1660), was a German prince of the House of Ascania. He was ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Dessau from 1618 to 1660. During his reign the tasks of government were carr ...

. They had four children: # Karolina (b. Brzeg, 2 December 1652 – d. Wrocław, 24 December 1707), married on 4 July 1672 to

Frederick, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Wiesenburg Frederick of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderbourg-Wiesenbourg (Hasselhecke, Hessen-Homberg, 2 February 1652 - Wiesenburg Castle, 7 October 1724) was the 2nd Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Wiesenburg and an Imperial Field Marshal. Biography Frie ...

. #Louise (b. Oława, 28 July 1657 – d. Oława, 6 February 1660). # George William (b. Oława, 29 September 1660 – d. Brzeg, 21 November 1675). #Christian Louis (b. 15 January 1664 – d. 27 February 1664). In his will, Christian left

and

Wołów Wołów (, ) is a town in Lower Silesian Voivodeship in south-western Poland. It is the seat of Wołów County and Gmina Wołów. It lies approximately north-west of the regional capital Wrocław. , the town has a population of 12,373. It is pa ...

to his wife as

dower Dower is a provision accorded traditionally by a husband or his family, to a wife for her support should she become widowed. It was settlement (law), settled on the bride (being given into trust instrument, trust) by agreement at the time of t ...

to rule until her own death.

References

* Prince W.K. von Isenburg & D. Schwennicke (1984). ''

Europäische Stammtafeln ''Europäische Stammtafeln'' - German for ''European Family Trees'' - is a series of twenty-nine books which contain sets of genealogical tables of the most influential families of Medieval European history. It is a standard reference work for t ...

'' (Vol III, Part I – Table 11), Marburg.
Genealogical database by Herbert Stoyan
* , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Christian, Duke of Brieg 1618 births 1672 deaths People from Bohemia People from Oława Dukes of Brzeg Dukes of Legnica Silesian nobility Dukes of the Holy Roman Empire