Rudolph Augustus (16 May 1627 – 26 January 1704), a member of the
House of Welf
The House of Welf (also Guelf or Guelph) is a European dynasty that has included many German and British monarchs from the 11th to 20th century and Emperor Ivan VI of Russia in the 18th century. The originally Franconian family from the Meuse-Mo ...
, was Duke of
Brunswick-Lüneburg and ruled as
Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The fema ...
from 1666 until his death. In 1685 he made his younger brother
Anthony Ulrich co-ruler.
Life
He was born in
Hitzacker
Hitzacker is a town in the Lüchow-Dannenberg district of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Elbe, approx. 8 km north of Dannenberg, and 45 km east of Lüneburg. The 2007 population of Hitzacker was 4,982, and its po ...
, then the residence of his father Duke
Augustus the Younger of Brunswick-Lüneburg and his second wife Princess
Dorothea of Anhalt-Zerbst. His father assumed the rule in the
Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
The Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel () was a subdivision of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, whose history was characterised by numerous divisions and reunifications. It had an area of 3,828 square kilometres in the mid 17th century. Va ...
, after his Welf cousin Duke
Frederick Ulrich had died childless in 1634.
Rudolph Augustus succeeded his father as ruling Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in 1666. More interested in his studies and hunting, he soon after appointed his politically astute younger brother
Anthony Ulrich governor. In 1671 both besieged and finally occupied the city of
Braunschweig
Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( ; from Low German , local dialect: ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the ...
, ending about 250 years of local autonomy.
During his reign, Rudolph Augustus concentrated on the
Baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
expansion of his ducal residence, including the ''Alter Weg'' ("Old Way"), a road connecting the cities of Brunswick and
Wolfenbüttel
Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District
Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel (district), Wolfenbüttel Distri ...
. He died in 1704 at the
Hedwigsburg hunting lodge.
Marriage and issue
In 1650 Rudolph Augustus married Christine Elizabeth (1634–1681), daughter of Count Albert Frederick of
Barby and
Mühlingen. They had three daughters:
* Dorothea Sophia (2 April 1653 – 21 March 1722), married Duke
John Adolphus of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön
* Christine Sophia (2 April 1654 – 26 April 1695), married her cousin Duke
Augustus William of Brunswick-Lüneburg, the son of Duke Anthony Ulrich who succeeded his father as Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in 1714.
* Eleonore Sophia (26 November 1655– 29 September 1656), died in infancy.
Upon the death of his first wife, Rudolph Augustus entered into a
morganatic marriage
Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spou ...
with
Rosine Elisabeth Menthe (1663–1701), which remained childless.
Ancestry
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudolph Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg
1627 births
1704 deaths
People from Hitzacker
Princes of Wolfenbüttel
New House of Brunswick
Burials at Brunswick Cathedral