- Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Julius of Brunswick-Lüneburg (
29 June 1528 ,Wolfenbüttel –3 May 1589 , Wolfenbüttel), Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, wasprince of Wolfenbüttel from 1568 until his death.The youngest son of
Henry V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg , Julius was expected to pursue a clerical career. He studied at Leuven University, and was appointedbishop of Minden in 1553, but resigned after only a year. After both of his brothers died in theBattle of Sievershausen of 1553, he became heir to the principality. All plans of his father's to exclude him from the line of succession failed, even though Julius had converted toProtestantism . After his father's death in 1568, Julius instituted a tax reform that improved the rights of farmers in relation to noblemen. He also founded a militia — every head of household was required to own a weapon and participate in military training — and reformed the court system. Julius entered into an agreement with the City of Brunswick in 1569, in which the city recognized his overlordship; however, the conflict between Duchy and City continued nonetheless.Julius promoted trade and especially mining.
Copper andlead mining in theHarz flourished, and many new mines were opened. Julius himself wrote a book about the uses ofmarl . To enable the sale of mining products, Julius invested into the improvements of roads and rivers. In 1577 theOker was made navigable between the Harz and Wolfenbüttel. In 1576, Julius founded the first university of the state, theUniversity of Helmstedt . The university was intended to train Protestant priests for the newly reformed state.After the death of
Eric II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg , in 1584, Julius inherited the Principality ofCalenberg . He died in 1589 and was succeed by his son Henry Julius.Family
Julius married Hedwig, daughter of
Joachim II, Elector of Brandenburg , on 25 February 1560. They had the following children who reached adulthood:* Sophie Hedwig (1561-1631), married
Ernest Louis, Duke of Pomerania-Wolgast
* Henry Julius (1564-1613)
* Mary (1566-1626), marriedFrancis II, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg
* Elizabeth (1567-1618), marriedAdolf XI, Count of Holstein-Schauenburg-Pinneburg andChristopher, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
*Philip Siegmund, Bishop of Osnabrück (1568-1623)
*Joachim Charles, Provost of Strasbourg (1573-1615)
*Dorothea Augusta, Abbess of Gandersheim (1577-1625)
*Julius Augustus, Abbott of Michaelstein (1578-1617)
* Hedwig (1580-1657), marriedOtto III, Duke of Brunswick-Harburg References
* [http://mdz.bib-bvb.de/digbib/lexika/adb/images/adb014/@ebt-link?target=idmatch(entityref,adb0140665) Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, vol. 14, p. 663-670]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.