William, Duke of Brunswick

Infobox Brunswick Royalty|royal
name = William
title = Duke of Brunswick


imgw = 180px
reign = 9 September 1830 – 18 October 1884
predecessor = Charles II
successor = Prince Albert of Prussia
"(as Imperial Regent)"
spouse =
spouse-type =
issue=
full name =William Augustus Louis Maximilian Frederick
" _de. Wilhelm August Ludwig Maximilian Friedrich"
titles = "HSH" The Duke of Brunswick
"HSH" The Hereditary Duke of Brunswick
"HSH" Duke William of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
royal house = House of Brunswick-Bevern
father = Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
mother = Princess Mary of Baden
date of birth = Birth date|1806|4|25|df=yes
place of birth = Brunswick, Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
date of death = Death date and age|1884|10|18|1806|4|25|df=yes
place of death = Sibyllenort, Silesia, Prussia
place of burial = |

William ( _de. Wilhelm August Ludwig Maximilian Friedrich; born 25 April 1806 in Brunswick, Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel – died 18 October 1884 in Sibyllenort, Silesia, Prussia), Duke of Brunswick, was ruling duke of the Duchy of Brunswick from 1830 until his death.

William was the second son of Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and after the death of his father in 1815, was under the guardianship of King George IV of the United Kingdom. He became a Prussian major in 1823. When his brother, Charles, was deposed as ruling duke by a rebellion in 1830, William took over government provisionally. In 1831 a family law of the House of Guelph made William ruling duke permanently. William left most government business to his ministers, and spent most of his time outside of his state at his possessions in Oels.

While William joined the Prussian-led North German Confederation in 1866, his relationship to Prussia was strained, since Prussia refused to recognize Ernest Augustus, 3rd Duke of Cumberland, his nearest male-line relative, as his heir, because of the Duke of Cumberland's claim to the throne of Hanover. William died in 1884; he passed on his private possessions to the Duke of Cumberland. His death caused a constitutional crisis for Brunswick that lasted until the accession of Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick, the son of the Duke of Cumberland, in 1913.

William died unmarried, but had a number of illegitimate children.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

*25 April 1806 – 16 June 1815: "His Serene Highness" Duke William of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
*16 June 1815 - 9 September 1830: "His Serene Highness" The Hereditary Duke of Brunswick
*9 September 1830 – 18 October 1884: "His Serene Highness" The Duke of Brunswick

References

* [http://susi.e-technik.uni-ulm.de:8080/Meyers2/seite/werk/meyers/band/16/seite/0637/meyers_b16_s0637.html Meyers Konversationslexikon, 1889]
* [http://mdz.bib-bvb.de/digbib/lexika/adb/images/adb043/@ebt-link?target=idmatch(entityref,adb0430006) Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, vol. 43, p. 4-13]

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1=1. William, Duke of Brunswick
2=2. Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
3=3. Princess Mary of Baden
4=4. Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick
5=5. Princess Augusta of Great Britain
6=6. Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden
7=7. Landgravine Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt
8=8. Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
9=9. Princess Philippine Charlotte of Prussia
10=10. Frederick, Prince of Wales
11=11. Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha
12=12. Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Baden
13=13. Landgravine Karoline Luise of Hesse-Darmstadt
14=14. Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt
15=15. Countess Palatine Caroline of Zweibrücken
16=16. Ferdinand Albert II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
17=17. Duchess Antoinette Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg
18=18. Frederick William I of Prussia
19=19. Sophia Dorothea of Hanover
20=20. George II of Great Britain
21=21. Caroline of Ansbach
22=22. Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
23=23. Princess Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst
24=24. Friedrich, Hereditary Prince of Baden-Durlach
25=25. Princess Amelia of Nassau-Dietz
26=26. Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt
27=27. Countess Charlotte Christine Magdalene Johanna of Hanau-Lichtenberg
28=28. Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (= 26)
29=29. Countess Charlotte Christine Magdalene Johanna of Hanau-Lichtenberg (= 27)
30=30. Christian III, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken
31=31. Princess Caroline of Nassau-Saarbrücken