Княжество Люнебург: История и Раздел Священной Римской Империи

Division of the Holy Roman Empire

The Principality of Lüneburg (later also referred to as Celle) was a territorial division of the Duchy of Brunswick Lüneburg within the Holy Roman Empire, immediately subordinate to the emperor. It existed from 1269 until 1705 and its territory lay within the modern day state of Lower Saxony in Germany. The principality was named after its first capital, Lüneburg (also called Lunenburg in English), which was ruled jointly by all Brunswick Lüneburg lines until 1637. From 1378, the seat of the principality was in Celle. At that time, the Principality of Lüneburg included the larger part of the Lüneburg Heath and the Wendland, and measured about .

When John died in 1277, the regency was held by his brother, Albert, on behalf of John's underage son, Otto the Strict, before Otto assumed power himself in 1282. Otto asserted his rule through the prosecution of numerous feuds against the lesser nobility, which enabled him to achieve consolidate his ducal authority within the state. He also continued the "systematic acquisition policy" (planmässige Erwerbspolitik) in the Lüneburg principality that had operated since the time of Otto the Child, "rounding off the Lüneburg allodial estate" (Arrondierung des Lüneburger Allodialbesitzes) through the purchase of numerous lands and rights, including those of Bleckede and Hitzacker, the County of Dannenberg and the County of Wölpe. Duke Otto was followed by his sons, Otto III of Lüneburg and William of Lüneburg. The instruction issued by their father in 1318 whereby the principality would be divided after his death between Otto III and his brother, William II, was ignored by the brothers and in 1330 they assumed joint control of an undivided state. The focus of their rule in the early years was a further territorial consolidation of the principality. For example, they were able to considerably increase their estate in the region of Gifhorn through the purchase of the village of Fallersleben, the County of Papenteich and Wettmarshagen. Another top priority was their political support for the towns, which were striving to develop themselves economically. For instance, the merchants of Lüneburg benefited considerably from work to make the River Ilmenau navigable between Lüneburg and Uelzen and from trade agreements between the Lüneburg princes and the dukes of Saxe Lauenburg. The two brothers reigned jointly until the death of Otto III in 1352, leaving William in sole charge until his own death in 1369.

When William II of Lüneburg died in 1369 without a son, the first house of Lüneburg became extinct. According to Welf house rules and the desire of William, Duke Magnus II Torquatus of Brunswick would have been the rightful heir. Emperor Charles IV, however, considered it an imperial fiefdom, however, and granted the principality to Albert of Saxe Wittenberg and his uncle Wenceslas, thus precipitating the Lüneburg War of Succession. The town of Lüneburg supported the Wittenbergs and took the opportunity to escape from the immediate influence of the duke, destroying the ducal castle on the Kalkberg on 1 February 1371 and forcing him to relocate his residence to Celle. An attempt on 21 October 1371, St. Ursula's Day, to overthrow Lüneburg militarily and to secure the old ducal rights, failed. In the military conflict that followed, neither the Brunswicks nor the Wittenbergs were able to enforce their claims, and only the peace of Hanover in 1373, ended the war, at least for a time. According to the agreement reached there, the Welfs and the Wittenbergs were to rule alternately. The Celle dukes, Bernard and Henry had emerged victorious from the conflict to be sure, but faced huge financial problems as a result. in which the estates were granted numerous privileges and the dukes had to submit to the authority of a council of the landowners of the estates, in return for a loan of 50,000 marks. The years that followed were characterised by renewed tensions between the rulers and the landowners and attempts by the dukes to weaken the standing of the Lüneburg Sate. In 1396 it was finally rejected. After he had secured the assistance Sweden and Mecklenburg by concluding a treaty of friendship and security, Duke Henry, soon to be followed by his brother, Bernard, took the town of Uelzen as his residence, which forced the town to announce its withdrawal from the Sate and to pay homage to the dukes of Lüneburg. In the course of the clashes that now arose between the dukes and the town of Lüneburg, numerous battles were fought across the entire country. Through the support of the Hanseatic towns of Hamburg and Lübeck, Lüneburg achieved military superiority, so that the Celle dukes sued for peace with their opponents. In October 1397 there was a contractual agreement between the warring parties, but the restitution of the Lüneburg Sate that had been sought by the town of Lüneburg was not forthcoming.

The joint reign of brothers, Bernard and Henry, from 1388 to 1409 was followed by another division of the principality in which Bernard was given Brunswick and Henry received Lüneburg. After Duke Henry's death in 1416, he was followed by his two sons, William and Henry. Their rule was characterized primarily by the financial constraints under which the country continued to suffer in the wake of the Lüneburg War of Succession. In 1428 there was a further division of the Welf estate between the 2 brothers and their uncle, Bernard, Prince of Brunswick. The brothers William and Henry received the land between the Deister and the Leine, which was later to become the Principality of Brunswick Wolfenbüttel, having acquired the Principality of Calenberg; and their uncle, Bernard, received the Principality of Lüneburg, thus becoming the progenitor of the Middle House of Lüneburg. After Duke Bernard died in 1434, his eldest son, Otto became the ruling prince. In 1446 he was followed by his brother, Frederick the Pious, who abdicated, however, in 1457 in favour of his sons, Bernard and Otto, in order to enter the Franciscan abbey at Celle. After both brothers had died in 1464 and 1471 respectively, Frederick the Pious left the abbey again in order to hold the reins of power for his 3 year old nephew, Henry the Middle, the son of Otto of Lüneburg and Anna of Nassau. George William, often called the "heath duke" (Heideherzog), led the princely court during its final flourish. During his reign the baroque theatre was built that is still open today, the French Garden was laid out and palace façade designed in its current baroque form. After his death in 1705, George of Hanover, who was both the benefactor of Georges William's 1658 renunciation in favour of his younger brother Ernest Augustus and the husband of George William's morganatic daughter Sophie Dorothea, inherited the state of Lüneburg, which was merged into the Electorate of Brunswick Lüneburg and finally lost its independence.

Following his marriage to lady in waiting Metta von Campen in 1527, Duke Otto relinquished his participation in the government of the principality, and was compensated with the Amt of Harburg as his own territorial lordship. Harburg remained an integral part of the principality; the ducal chancery in Celle continued to be responsible for border and territorial issues, the noble knights the Amt of Harburg continued to participate in the Lüneburg estates assembly and enfeoffed by the duke in Celle. When Otto died in 1549, the Amt of Harburg should have reverted to the dukes of Celle, but Otto's son, Otto the Second, succeeded in 1560 in having a new regulation added to the severance agreement of 1527. Harburg was defined as an hereditary possession and its territory increased by the district of Moisburg. When the Harburg line became extinct in 1642, the territory reverted to the lordship of the ducal house in Celle.

Personal disagreements between the brothers Ernest and Francis in 1539 led to the emergence of a domain at Gifhorn, the so called Duchy of Gifhorn. In return for renunciating his participation in the government of the principality, Francis received Gifhorn Castle as compensation along with the Ämter of Fallersleben, Gifhorn and Isenhagen. Even though Francis tried to force through his full sovereignty over his domain, important sovereign rights were retained by the ducal house in Celle. For example, Celle was still responsible for foreign policy issues and the Gifhorn nobility remained part of the Lüneburg estates. When Duke Francis died childless in 1549, the territory of Gifhorn went back to Celle. which were held by certain hereditary noble families. For example, the von Grote family provided the seneschal and the von Medings the marshal. The butler and the chamberlain were initially supplied by the vom Berge family and, when they died out, the von dem Knesebecks became the chamberlains and the von Behrs were the butlers. These offices are mentioned up to the 14th century, but had largely lost their political influence, by the turn of that century. At that time a princely council evolved, formed mainly of members of the Lüneburg ministeriales. The composition of these nobles at that time was not consistent, but depended on the residence of the duke. Only with the emergence of Celle as the ducal seat in the middle of the 15th century did it take a clear shape, although individual advisors were members of the duke's inner circle for a long time. At the head of the ducal chancery, the Kanzlei, the highest authority mentioned in the documents was the chief secretary or Kanzleivorsteher. Beneath him were the scribes, most of whom came from the Lüneburg clergy. In the 16th century, in addition to noble councillors, who by this time were known as Landräte, there were often learned, foreign advisors. The chancery was headed by the chancellor who was also a scholar. From that time the chancery acted, not simply as an office, but was also the advisory chamber of the councillors (Räte) and the seat of the chancery court (Kanzleigericht). From the 16th century the term Amt was used, and districts subordinate to the Ämter were then known as Vogteien. The process for establishing the offices (Ämter) was basically completed in the 16th century with the emergence of the ecclesiastical Klosterämter after the Reformation. In charge of the Amt was a bailiff cum magistrate (Amtmann), who was appointed by the duke. Belonging to the Amt was the so called Amtshof, which was originally run by the Amtsmann, but from the 17th century was usually leased. The Ämter reported to the ducal treasury, the Rentkammer, in Celle. The Ämter exercised the duke's territorial rights and were involved in the raising of sovereign taxes. Importantly, they were also the first level of jurisdiction for all civil disputes and lesser criminal cases. In addition, they were the administrative centre for the ducal estate, i. e. they levied the manorial obligations due to the Duke.

In the 13th and 14th centuries the regional magistracies (Gogerichte) were responsible for the administration of justice. Their magistrates (Gorichter) were usually freely elected by the community under their jurisdiction, but some were appointed by the duke or a lesser noble. From 1562 the highest, ecclesiastical court was the consistory (Konsistorium) in Celle, which was responsible for all marital matters, cases between churches and cases between the laity and the clergy.

Up to the 16th century military forces were provided by the Lehnsmiliz, knights required to do military service, and the militia (under the Heerbann) who were drawn from elements of the rural population. The conscription of the Lehnsmiliz resulted from their feudal obligations to the dukes of Celle; that of the militia from their obligation to their landlords. With the advent of firearms in the 15th century, mercenaries were increasingly engaged; they were committed to serve for a particular conflict and then discharged from the service. To begin with they only supplemented the armies raised by the knights; later they largely replaced them in the 17th century because of their military superiority. In 1650 troop strengths were reduced at the request of the estates (Landsstände), but were expanded significantly again in 1651 and 1665 during the rule of Duke George William. The troops were deployed during this period in several European wars, including those in Venice, Spain and the Netherlands. Although the Principality of Lüneburg was not directly involved in these conflicts, the dukes in Celle made their troops available to foreign forces in return for payment for their services. When the Principality of Lüneburg merged with the Electorate of Hanover, the Lüneburg Army was united with the Hanoverian Army.

The rulers of Lüneburg, like those of other principalities within the Duchy of Brunswick Lüneburg, were entitled to use the title "Duke of Brunswick Lüneburg" as well as "Prince of Lüneburg". See List of the rulers of Lüneburg.