Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Ærø (26 November 1570 – 14 June 1633) was the first and only

partitioned-off duke thumb , upright , John II was the first of the partitioned-off dukes. After his death his territory was divided into several partitioned off microstates In the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, the term "partitioned-off duke" (''German'': Ab ...

Ærø Ærø () is one of the Denmark, Danish Baltic Sea islands, and part of the Region of Southern Denmark, Southern Denmark Region. Since 1 January 2006 all of Ærø has constituted a single Municipalities of Denmark, municipality, known as Ærø M ...

. As a partitioned-off duke, he did not have sovereignty. He was the eldest son of Duke

John II John II may refer to: People * John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (1455–1499) * John II Casimir Vasa of Poland (1609–1672) * John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch (died 1302) * John II Doukas of Thessaly (1303–1318) * John II Komnenos (1087–114 ...

(1545-1622) and at his father's death, he inherited the island of Ærø. His father had combined the small farms on the island into three manors:

Gråsten Gråsten (; ) is a town with a population of 4,298 (1 January 2025) on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in south Denmark by the Nybøl Nor at an inlet of the Flensburg Fjord. It belongs to the Sønderborg municipality in Region of Souther ...

, Søbygård, and Gudsgave. In 1624, Christian created Voderup manor on land he had purchased from the church. Christian had intended to become Bishop of Strasbourg; however this did not happen. He was a Protestant, but was nevertheless

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

of the

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

of Strasbourg from 1587 to 1604. The Catholic chapter continued to pay him the salary of an unmarried priest until . Christian and his housekeeper Katharina Griebel (1570 in

Lütjenburg Lütjenburg (; ) is a town of the district of Plön, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is located approximately northeast of Plön, and east of Kiel. History left, Lütjenburg in 1895 Lütjenburg was founded in the 12th century by Lord Holstein ...

– 1640 at Ærø) had a daughter: Sophie Griebel (b. 1600). To provide for her, he gave her two large houses in 1629, one in

Ærøskøbing Ærøskøbing () is a town on the island of Ærø, Denmark. The suffix -købing means a trade town in the languages that derive from Old Norse. Ærøskøbing's houses and streets are delicately restored to retain the character of the olden days ...

and the other on the island of Dejrø. She was also exempt from paying any taxes. After Christian's death, Katharina married his administrator, Peder Christensen Pilegaard, who then settled in Ærøskøbing as a merchant. After Christian's death, his inheritance was divided by his three surviving brothers: *

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Given name Nobility = Anhalt-Harzgerode = * Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) = Austria = * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria fro ...

received Gråsten, which he sold to Philip in 1636 *

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...

received Ærøskøbing and Wuderup * Joachim Ernest received Søbygård, which was retained by the Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön lines until they died out in 1761. Also his nephew * John Christian, son of

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

, received Gudsgave. The division of the island into many small territories resulted in a complicated tax administration and an active black market.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* *

External links

*
History of Ærø
*

Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein House of Oldenburg in Schleswig-Holstein 1570 births 1633 deaths {{Germany-duke-stub