Magnus I, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg
Encyclopedia
Magnus I of Saxe-Lauenburg (Ratzeburg
, 1 January 1488 – 1 August 1543, Ratzeburg) was a Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg from the House of Ascania.
and Dorothea of Brandenburg
, daughter of Frederick II, Elector of Brandenburg
.
In 1481 John V redeemed Saxe-Lauenburg's exclave Land of Hadeln, which had been pawned to Hamburg
as security for a credit of 3,000 Rhenish guilder
s since 1407. John V then made his son and heir apparent, Magnus, vicegerent of Hadeln, and finally regent as of 1498.
, a de facto autonomous region of free Frisian
peasants in a North Sea
marsh at the Weser estuary, but he failed Magnus tried to justify his violent act with the pretence that Wursten used to be Saxon before the imperial deposition of Duke Henry the Lion
and the carve-up of his Duchy of Saxony
in 1180, which only brought Magnus' Ascanian dynasty to take the belittled dukedom. The Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen
, claiming Wursten for itself, was alarmed.
After becoming Regent Magnus planned a new conquest of Wursten. On 24 November 1498 Magnus allied with his father and Henry IV the Elder of Brunswick and Lunenburg, Prince of Wolfenbüttel
to conquer Wursten. Henry IV obliged to send 3,000 lansquenet
s, who should gain their payment by ravaging and plundering the free peasants of Wursten, once successfully subjected. Bremen's Prince-Archbishop Johann Rode
had prepared for this, he and Hamburg's three burgomasters (upcoming, presiding, and outgoing), Johannes Huge, Hermen Langenbeck and Henning Buring had concluded a defensive alliance on 16 November. Hamburg feared for its exclave Ritzebüttel, its military outpost at the Outer Elbe to defend the free access to Hamburg via Elbe, thus the city became the driving force in preparing everything for Magnus' eventual attack.
Rode appealed at the burghers of Bremen, Hamburg and Stade
, which considered the areas downstream the rivers Elbe
and Weser their own front yard existential for their free maritime trade connections, so the three cities supported Rode, who further won the Ditmarsians, free peasants under Bremen's loose overlordship. On 1 May Rode gathered representatives of the Land of Wursten, of the cities of Hamburg and Bremen and they concluded a defensive alliance in favour of Wursten in case of another invasion by Oldenburg, which had conquered westerly neighbouring Butjadingen
in April.
Wursten was thus threatened by Oldenburg from the west and by Magnus from the east. In order to avoid war on two fronts Rode tried to ease the relation with Magnus, but in vain. On 1 August Rode, Bremen's cathedral chapter, more prelates from the prince-archbishopric, as well as the cities of Bremen, Buxtehude
, Hamburg, and Stade concluded a war alliance to supply 1,300 warriors and equipment to defend Wursten and / or invade Hadeln, while all members of Bremian ministerialis and nobility abstained. Many a member of ministerialis and nobility rather sided with Magnus. Finally on 9 September 1499 Rode waged feud
against John V and Magnus. The allied forces easily conquered the Land of Hadeln, defeating Magnus and even driving him out of Hadeln.
By 20 November 1499 Magnus hired the so-called Great or Black Guard of ruthless and violent Dutch and East Frisian mercenaries, commanded by Thomas Slentz, prior operating in Oldenburg. Their invasion into the prince-archbishopric was repelled at Bremen, however, upstream they succeeded to cross the Weser in the neighbouring Prince-Bishopric of Verden
near Verden city by the end of November, ravaging the prince-bishopric, especially looting and robbing the monasteries, heading northeastwards towards the Brunswick-Lunenburgian Principality of Lunenburg-Celle
. Having crossed the latter's border the Guard turned westwards into the Bremian prince-archbishopric, by-passing the fortified Buxtehude and Stade, leaving behind a wake of devastation on the countryside and in the monasteries (Altkloster, Neukloster, both localities of today's Buxtehude).
Since prince-archiepiscopal forces secured Vörde
the Guard circumvented them southerly, not sparing Zeven
nunnery. Finally on Christmas Eve arriving downstream the Weser in Lehe
the Black Guard tried to invade Wursten, however, the free peasants there repelled their attack near Weddewarden
on 26 December. So the Guard turned northeastwards, looting Neuenwalde nunnery underways, into Hadeln, recapturing it for Magnus in early 1500. For the Hadelers, however, this invasion meant no less man slaughter, looting and incendiary than for the rural population in the prince-archbishopric.
By early December Rode turned for help to Duke Henry IV the Elder, who was actually allied with Magnus. In return Rode had to offer appointing Henry's 12-year old son Christopher as his coadjutor, a position usually (as coadiutor cum iure succedendi), and in this case indeed, entailing the succession to the respective see. This exactly accomplished Henry's own expansionist ambitions, so he changed sides, dropped the alliance with Magnus and John V in order to militarily support the prince-archbishopric.
Henry IV the Elder and his troops were now hunting the Black Guard. Magnus, unable to pay the mercenaries so that they turned even the more oppressive for Hadeln's population, was like the Sorcerer's Apprentice
, who could not get rid of "the spirits that he called". By mid-January 1500 King John of Denmark finally hired the Guard and guaranteed for its safe conduct to his Holstein
. King John employed the Black Guard in order to subject Ditmarsh. It were the Ditmarsians then, who destroyed the Black Guard utterly in the Battle of Hemmingstedt
on 17 February 1500 and thus King John's dream of subjecting them.
Magnus conflict with Bremen was solved through the mediation of Eric I, Duke of Brunswick-Calenberg
and Henry IV with the latter's son Coadjutor Christopher (Prince-Archbishop
of Bremen as of 1511). So Rode and Magnus had concluded peace on 20 January 1500. Hadeln was restored to Magnus, while the Wursteners rendered homage to Rode on 18 August, who in return had confirmed their autonomy, thus in fact little had changed as compared with the status quo ante
.
in 1509 Magnus further intensified his ties with her father Henry IV, Prince of Wolfenbüttel, his deserted former war ally.
Magnus was the first Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg, who adopted a compliant position as to the dispute on the electoral privilege between Saxe-Lauenburg and Saxe-Wittenberg
. He refrained from showing on his coat-of-arms on a sable
and argent background the electoral swords in gules. The electoral swords indicated the office as Imperial Arch-Marshal (Erzmarschall, Archimarescallus), pertaining to the privilege as prince-elector
, besides the much more important right to elect the new emperor after the decease of the former.
Emperor Charles V enfeoffed Magnus with the Duchy of Saxony, Angria
and Westphalia (so its official name, but colloquially Saxe-Lauenburg) and the pertaining regalia
at the imperial diet
in Augsburg
on 12 November 1530. The imperial writ of feoffment emphasises, that Magnus had requested to be also enfeoffed with the Saxon electoral privilege, however, further explaining that this could not happen at that time "due to moving reasons". For Sigismund
, King of the Romans
, had already enfeoffed the House of Wettin with the Electorate of Saxony (Saxe-Wittenberg)
on 1 August 1425.
In 1531 Magnus introduced the Reformation
in his duchy and became Lutheran, as did most of his subjects. Magnus was buried in Ratzeburg
.
(1488 – 29 July 1563) in Wolfenbüttel
, daughter of Duke Henry the Evil, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and they had six children:
Ratzeburg
Ratzeburg is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is surrounded by four lakes—the resulting isthmuses between the lakes form the access lanes to the town. Ratzeburg is the capital of the Kreis of Lauenburg.-History:...
, 1 January 1488 – 1 August 1543, Ratzeburg) was a Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg from the House of Ascania.
Life
Magnus was the second son of John V, Duke of Saxe-LauenburgJohn V, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg
John V of Saxe-Lauenburg was the eldest son of Duke Bernard II of Saxe-Lauenburg and Adelheid of Pomerania-Stolp , daughter of Duke Bogislaus VIII of Pomerania-Stolp...
and Dorothea of Brandenburg
Dorothea of Brandenburg, Duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg
Dorothea of Brandenburg was a princess of Brandenburg by birth and by marriage Duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg.- Life :...
, daughter of Frederick II, Elector of Brandenburg
Frederick II, Elector of Brandenburg
Frederick II of Brandenburg , nicknamed "the Iron" and sometimes "Irontooth" , was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from 1440 until his abdication in 1470, and was a member of the House of Hohenzollern.-Biography:Frederick II was born in Tangermünde to Frederick I, Brandenburg's...
.
In 1481 John V redeemed Saxe-Lauenburg's exclave Land of Hadeln, which had been pawned to Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
as security for a credit of 3,000 Rhenish guilder
Rhenish guilder
Rhenish guilder is the name of the golden, base currency coin of the Rhineland in the 14th and 15th centuries.- Formation :...
s since 1407. John V then made his son and heir apparent, Magnus, vicegerent of Hadeln, and finally regent as of 1498.
Vicegerent and regent of the Land of Hadeln
In 1484 Magnus, who aimed at increasing his local revenues, had reached out to conquer the rich neighbouring Land of WurstenLand Wursten
Land Wursten is a Samtgemeinde in the district of Cuxhaven, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 20 km southwest of Cuxhaven, and 15 km north of Bremerhaven...
, a de facto autonomous region of free Frisian
Frisians
The Frisians are a Germanic ethnic group native to the coastal parts of the Netherlands and Germany. They are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, East Frisia and North Frisia, that was a part of Denmark until 1864. They inhabit an area known as Frisia...
peasants in a North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
marsh at the Weser estuary, but he failed Magnus tried to justify his violent act with the pretence that Wursten used to be Saxon before the imperial deposition of Duke Henry the Lion
Henry the Lion
Henry the Lion was a member of the Welf dynasty and Duke of Saxony, as Henry III, from 1142, and Duke of Bavaria, as Henry XII, from 1156, which duchies he held until 1180....
and the carve-up of his Duchy of Saxony
Duchy of Saxony
The medieval Duchy of Saxony was a late Early Middle Ages "Carolingian stem duchy" covering the greater part of Northern Germany. It covered the area of the modern German states of Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt and most of Schleswig-Holstein...
in 1180, which only brought Magnus' Ascanian dynasty to take the belittled dukedom. The Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen
Archbishopric of Bremen
The Archdiocese of Bremen was a historical Roman Catholic diocese and formed from 1180 to 1648 an ecclesiastical state , named Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen within the Holy Roman Empire...
, claiming Wursten for itself, was alarmed.
After becoming Regent Magnus planned a new conquest of Wursten. On 24 November 1498 Magnus allied with his father and Henry IV the Elder of Brunswick and Lunenburg, Prince of Wolfenbüttel
Henry IV, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Henry , Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, called Henry the Elder or Henry the Evil, was prince of Wolfenbüttel from 1491 until his death.-Life:...
to conquer Wursten. Henry IV obliged to send 3,000 lansquenet
Lansquenet
Lansquenet is a card game. Lansquenet also refers to 15th and 16th century German foot soldiers; the lansquenet drum is a type of field drum used by these soldiers.-Game play:The dealer or banker stakes a certain sum, and this must be met by the nearest to the dealer first, and so...
s, who should gain their payment by ravaging and plundering the free peasants of Wursten, once successfully subjected. Bremen's Prince-Archbishop Johann Rode
Johann Rode von Wale
Johann Rode von Wale was a Catholic cleric, a Doctor of Canon and Civil Law, a chronicler, a long-serving government official and as John III Prince-archbishop of Bremen between 1497 and...
had prepared for this, he and Hamburg's three burgomasters (upcoming, presiding, and outgoing), Johannes Huge, Hermen Langenbeck and Henning Buring had concluded a defensive alliance on 16 November. Hamburg feared for its exclave Ritzebüttel, its military outpost at the Outer Elbe to defend the free access to Hamburg via Elbe, thus the city became the driving force in preparing everything for Magnus' eventual attack.
Rode appealed at the burghers of Bremen, Hamburg and Stade
Stade
Stade is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany and part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region . It is the seat of the district named after it...
, which considered the areas downstream the rivers Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
and Weser their own front yard existential for their free maritime trade connections, so the three cities supported Rode, who further won the Ditmarsians, free peasants under Bremen's loose overlordship. On 1 May Rode gathered representatives of the Land of Wursten, of the cities of Hamburg and Bremen and they concluded a defensive alliance in favour of Wursten in case of another invasion by Oldenburg, which had conquered westerly neighbouring Butjadingen
Butjadingen
Butjadingen is a peninsula and municipality in the Wesermarsch districts, in Lower Saxony, Germany.-Geography:Butjadingen is situated on the German North Sea coast. It is bordered on the west and southwest by the Jade River and on the east by the Weser River. It forms the northern part of the...
in April.
Wursten was thus threatened by Oldenburg from the west and by Magnus from the east. In order to avoid war on two fronts Rode tried to ease the relation with Magnus, but in vain. On 1 August Rode, Bremen's cathedral chapter, more prelates from the prince-archbishopric, as well as the cities of Bremen, Buxtehude
Buxtehude
Buxtehude is a town on the Este River in Northern Germany in the district of Stade and part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region . Buxtehude is a steadily growing medium-sized town and the second largest in the district of Stade. It lies on the southern borders of the Altes Land within easy reach of...
, Hamburg, and Stade concluded a war alliance to supply 1,300 warriors and equipment to defend Wursten and / or invade Hadeln, while all members of Bremian ministerialis and nobility abstained. Many a member of ministerialis and nobility rather sided with Magnus. Finally on 9 September 1499 Rode waged feud
Feud
A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight between parties—often groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one party perceives itself to have been attacked, insulted or wronged by another...
against John V and Magnus. The allied forces easily conquered the Land of Hadeln, defeating Magnus and even driving him out of Hadeln.
By 20 November 1499 Magnus hired the so-called Great or Black Guard of ruthless and violent Dutch and East Frisian mercenaries, commanded by Thomas Slentz, prior operating in Oldenburg. Their invasion into the prince-archbishopric was repelled at Bremen, however, upstream they succeeded to cross the Weser in the neighbouring Prince-Bishopric of Verden
Verden (state)
The historic territory of Verden emerged from the secular estates of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Verden in the area of present-day central and northeastern Lower Saxony and existed as such until 1648. The territory managed by secular lords for the bishops was not identical with that of the...
near Verden city by the end of November, ravaging the prince-bishopric, especially looting and robbing the monasteries, heading northeastwards towards the Brunswick-Lunenburgian Principality of Lunenburg-Celle
Principality of Lüneburg
The Principality of Lüneburg 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...
. Having crossed the latter's border the Guard turned westwards into the Bremian prince-archbishopric, by-passing the fortified Buxtehude and Stade, leaving behind a wake of devastation on the countryside and in the monasteries (Altkloster, Neukloster, both localities of today's Buxtehude).
Since prince-archiepiscopal forces secured Vörde
Bremervörde
Bremervörde is a town in the north of the district Rotenburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated at the Oste river near the mid of the triangle, which is formed of the rivers Weser and Elbe respectively the cities of Hamburg, Bremen and Cuxhaven....
the Guard circumvented them southerly, not sparing Zeven
Zeven
Zeven is a town in the district of Rotenburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It has a population of around 14,000. The nearest large towns are Bremerhaven, Bremen and Hamburg. It is situated approximately 22 km northwest of Rotenburg, and 40 km northeast of Bremen...
nunnery. Finally on Christmas Eve arriving downstream the Weser in Lehe
Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...
the Black Guard tried to invade Wursten, however, the free peasants there repelled their attack near Weddewarden
Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...
on 26 December. So the Guard turned northeastwards, looting Neuenwalde nunnery underways, into Hadeln, recapturing it for Magnus in early 1500. For the Hadelers, however, this invasion meant no less man slaughter, looting and incendiary than for the rural population in the prince-archbishopric.
By early December Rode turned for help to Duke Henry IV the Elder, who was actually allied with Magnus. In return Rode had to offer appointing Henry's 12-year old son Christopher as his coadjutor, a position usually (as coadiutor cum iure succedendi), and in this case indeed, entailing the succession to the respective see. This exactly accomplished Henry's own expansionist ambitions, so he changed sides, dropped the alliance with Magnus and John V in order to militarily support the prince-archbishopric.
Henry IV the Elder and his troops were now hunting the Black Guard. Magnus, unable to pay the mercenaries so that they turned even the more oppressive for Hadeln's population, was like the Sorcerer's Apprentice
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
The Sorcerer's Apprentice is the English name of a poem by Goethe, Der Zauberlehrling, written in 1797. The poem is a ballad in fourteen stanzas.-Story:...
, who could not get rid of "the spirits that he called". By mid-January 1500 King John of Denmark finally hired the Guard and guaranteed for its safe conduct to his Holstein
Holstein
Holstein is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is part of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germany....
. King John employed the Black Guard in order to subject Ditmarsh. It were the Ditmarsians then, who destroyed the Black Guard utterly in the Battle of Hemmingstedt
Battle of Hemmingstedt
The Battle of Hemmingstedt took place on February 17, 1500 south of the village of Hemmingstedt, near the present village of Epenwöhrden, in the western part of present-day Schleswig-Holstein in Germany. It was an attempt by Duke Friedrich and Duke Johann to subdue the peasantry of Dithmarschen,...
on 17 February 1500 and thus King John's dream of subjecting them.
Magnus conflict with Bremen was solved through the mediation of Eric I, Duke of Brunswick-Calenberg
Eric I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Eric I, the Elder was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg from 1495 and the reigning prince of Calenberg-Göttingen.- Ancestry :Eric I was born on 16 February 1470 in Neustadt am Rübenberge at the castle of Rovenburg....
and Henry IV with the latter's son Coadjutor Christopher (Prince-Archbishop
Prince-Bishop
A Prince-Bishop is a bishop who is a territorial Prince of the Church on account of one or more secular principalities, usually pre-existent titles of nobility held concurrently with their inherent clerical office...
of Bremen as of 1511). So Rode and Magnus had concluded peace on 20 January 1500. Hadeln was restored to Magnus, while the Wursteners rendered homage to Rode on 18 August, who in return had confirmed their autonomy, thus in fact little had changed as compared with the status quo ante
Status quo ante bellum
The term status quo ante bellum is Latin, meaning literally "the state in which things were before the war".The term was originally used in treaties to refer to the withdrawal of enemy troops and the restoration of prewar leadership. When used as such, it means that no side gains or loses...
.
Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg proper
During the declining years of his father he governed the country and succeeded his father as the regnant Duke in 1507. The first years of his governing has been filled by various conflicts with the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen and its suffragan Prince-Bishopric of Ratzeburg. Through his marriage with CatherineCatherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg
Catherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was a member of the house of Welf and a Princess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and by marriage Duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg.- Life :...
in 1509 Magnus further intensified his ties with her father Henry IV, Prince of Wolfenbüttel, his deserted former war ally.
Magnus was the first Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg, who adopted a compliant position as to the dispute on the electoral privilege between Saxe-Lauenburg and Saxe-Wittenberg
Electorate of Saxony
The Electorate of Saxony , sometimes referred to as Upper Saxony, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was established when Emperor Charles IV raised the Ascanian duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg to the status of an Electorate by the Golden Bull of 1356...
. He refrained from showing on his coat-of-arms on a sable
Sable (heraldry)
In heraldry, sable is the tincture black, and belongs to the class of dark tinctures, called "colours". In engravings and line drawings, it is sometimes depicted as a region of crossed horizontal and vertical lines or else marked with sa. as an abbreviation.The name derives from the black fur of...
and argent background the electoral swords in gules. The electoral swords indicated the office as Imperial Arch-Marshal (Erzmarschall, Archimarescallus), pertaining to the privilege as prince-elector
Prince-elector
The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an...
, besides the much more important right to elect the new emperor after the decease of the former.
Emperor Charles V enfeoffed Magnus with the Duchy of Saxony, Angria
Angria
Angria or Angaria is a historical region in the present-day German states of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. The chronicler Widukind of Corvey in his Res gestae saxonicae sive annalium libri tres denoted it as the central region of the mediæval Duchy of Saxony lying along the middle...
and Westphalia (so its official name, but colloquially Saxe-Lauenburg) and the pertaining regalia
Regalia
Regalia is Latin plurale tantum for the privileges and the insignia characteristic of a Sovereign.The word stems from the Latin substantivation of the adjective regalis, 'regal', itself from Rex, 'king'...
at the imperial diet
Reichstag (Holy Roman Empire)
The Imperial Diet was the Diet, or general assembly, of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire.During the period of the Empire, which lasted formally until 1806, the Diet was not a parliament in today's sense; instead, it was an assembly of the various estates of the realm...
in Augsburg
Augsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
on 12 November 1530. The imperial writ of feoffment emphasises, that Magnus had requested to be also enfeoffed with the Saxon electoral privilege, however, further explaining that this could not happen at that time "due to moving reasons". For Sigismund
Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor
Sigismund of Luxemburg KG was King of Hungary, of Croatia from 1387 to 1437, of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor for four years from 1433 until 1437, the last Emperor of the House of Luxemburg. He was also King of Italy from 1431, and of Germany from 1411...
, King of the Romans
King of the Romans
King of the Romans was the title used by the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire following his election to the office by the princes of the Kingdom of Germany...
, had already enfeoffed the House of Wettin with the Electorate of Saxony (Saxe-Wittenberg)
Electorate of Saxony
The Electorate of Saxony , sometimes referred to as Upper Saxony, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was established when Emperor Charles IV raised the Ascanian duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg to the status of an Electorate by the Golden Bull of 1356...
on 1 August 1425.
In 1531 Magnus introduced the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
in his duchy and became Lutheran, as did most of his subjects. Magnus was buried in Ratzeburg
Ratzeburg
Ratzeburg is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is surrounded by four lakes—the resulting isthmuses between the lakes form the access lanes to the town. Ratzeburg is the capital of the Kreis of Lauenburg.-History:...
.
Family and children
He was married on 17–20 November 1509 with CatherineCatherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg
Catherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was a member of the house of Welf and a Princess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and by marriage Duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg.- Life :...
(1488 – 29 July 1563) in Wolfenbüttel
Wolfenbüttel
Wolfenbüttel is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, located on the Oker river about 13 kilometres south of Brunswick. It is the seat of the District of Wolfenbüttel and of the bishop of the Protestant Lutheran State Church of Brunswick...
, daughter of Duke Henry the Evil, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and they had six children:
- Francis I, Duke of Saxe-LauenburgFrancis I, Duke of Saxe-LauenburgFrancis I of Saxe-Lauenburg was the eldest child and only son of Duke Magnus I of Saxe-Lauenburg and Catherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel , daughter of Duke Henry IV the Evil of Brunswick and Lunenburg...
(1510 – 19 March 1581) - Dorothea of Saxe-LauenburgDorothea of Saxe-LauenburgDorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg , consort of Christian III from 1525 and Queen consort of Denmark and Norway. She was daughter of Duke Magnus I of Saxe-Lauenburg and Catherine, daughter of Henry IV, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
(9 July 1511 – 7 October 1571), married on 29 October 1525 to King Christian III of DenmarkChristian III of DenmarkChristian III reigned as king of Denmark and Norway. He was the eldest son of King Frederick I and Anna of Brandenburg.-Childhood:... - Catherine of Saxe-LauenburgCatherine of Saxe-LauenburgCatherine of Saxe-Lauenburg was the first consort of Gustav I of Sweden and Queen of Sweden from 1531 until her death in 1535. She was born in Ratzeburg to Magnus I, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg and Catherine, daughter of Henry IV, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg.-Biography:King Gustav married Catherine for...
(24 September 1513 – 23 September 1535), married on 24 September 1531 to King Gustav I of SwedenGustav I of SwedenGustav I of Sweden, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known simply as Gustav Vasa , was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death.... - Clara of Saxe-LauenburgClara of Saxe-LauenburgClara of Saxe-Lauenburg was a Princess of Saxe-Lauenburg and Duchess of Brunswick-Gifhorn by marriage.- Life :Clara was born on 13 December 1518 in Lauenburg upon Elbe, a daughter of Duke Magnus I of Saxe-Lauenburg and his wife Catherine , daughter of Duke Henry I of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.She...
(13 December 1518 – 27 March 1576), married on 29 September 1547 to Francis, Duke of Brunswick and Lunenburg, Prince of GifhornFrancis, Duke of Brunswick-LüneburgFrancis of Brunswick-Lüneburg was the youngest son of Henry the Middle. Following a thirty-year joint reign of Brunswick-Lüneburg with his brother Ernest the Confessor, he ruled the newly-founded Duchy of Gifhorn from Gifhorn Castle for over 10 years from 1539 until his death in 1549... - Sophia of Saxony (1521 – 13 May 1571), married on 1 January 1537 to Anton I, Count of Oldenburg-Delmenhorst
- Ursula of Saxony (ca. 1523 – 31 December 1577, MindenMindenMinden is a town of about 83,000 inhabitants in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The town extends along both sides of the river Weser. It is the capital of the Kreis of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of Detmold. Minden is the historic political centre of the...
), married on 14 May 1551 to Henry V, Duke of Mecklenburg-SchwerinHenry V, Duke of MecklenburgHenry V, Duke of Mecklenburg, nicknamed the Peaceful, was the reigning Duke of Mecklenburg in the region Mecklenburg-Schwerin, son of the Duke Magnus II and Sophia of Pomerania....