Christian the Younger of Brunswick, Bishop of Halberstadt
Encyclopedia
Brunswick-Lüneburg
The Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg , or more properly Duchy of Brunswick and Lüneburg, was an historical ducal state from the late Middle Ages until the late Early Modern era within the North-Western domains of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, in what is now northern Germany...
and Bishop of Halberstadt, was a German Protestant military leader during the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
. During the war, he earned a reputation as a dangerous fanatic.
Life
Christian was born in GröningenGröningen
Gröningen is a town in the Börde district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It lies approx. 40 km south-west of Magdeburg, and 10 km east of Halberstadt. It has 4,180 inhabitants . Gröningen is part of the Verbandsgemeinde Westliche Börde....
(in today's Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of...
), the third son of Henry Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Henry Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Henry Julius was duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and prince of Wolfenbüttel from 1589 until his death. In 1576 he had become the first rector of the Protestant University of Helmstedt.- Life :...
. After his father's death, he was educated by his maternal uncle, King Christian IV of Denmark
Christian IV of Denmark
Christian IV was the king of Denmark-Norway from 1588 until his death. With a reign of more than 59 years, he is the longest-reigning monarch of Denmark, and he is frequently remembered as one of the most popular, ambitious and proactive Danish kings, having initiated many reforms and projects...
, and attended the University of Helmstedt
University of Helmstedt
The University of Helmstedt, official Latin name: Academia Julia , was a university in Helmstedt in the Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel that existed from 1576 until 1810....
. After the death of his brother, Rudolf, Bishop of Halberstadt, in 1616, he was elected his successor as Lutheran administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Halberstadt
Bishopric of Halberstadt
The Bishopric of Halberstadt was a Roman Catholic diocese from 804 until 1648 and an ecclesiastical state of the Holy Roman Empire from the late Middle Ages...
. This position provided him the necessary finances to start a military career.
In 1621 Christian joined the army of Maurice of Orange and fought in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
against a Spanish army. Later he raised his own army and, in liege to Frederick V, Elector Palatine
Frederick V, Elector Palatine
Frederick V was Elector Palatine , and, as Frederick I , King of Bohemia ....
, he carried out three significant battles: the Battle of Höchst
Battle of Höchst
The Battle of Höchst was fought on June 20, 1622, between the combined army led by Johan Tzerclaes, Count of Tilly and Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba against Protestant forces led by Christian of Brunswick. It was a strategic Roman Catholic victory....
(1622), the Battle of Fleurus
Battle of Fleurus (1622)
The Battle of Fleurus of August 29, 1622 was fought between a Spanish army, and the Protestant Powers of the Holy Roman Empire in the Thirty Years' War. The bloody struggle left the Protestants mangled and the Spanish masters of the field.-Campaign:...
(1622), and lastly at the Battle of Stadtlohn
Battle of Stadtlohn
The Battle of Stadtlohn was fought on August 6, 1623 between the armies of Christian of Brunswick and of the Catholic League during the Thirty Years' War...
(1623). He participated in a number of plunderings and burnings along the France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
-Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
border and throughout the Netherlands. Christian fought alongside the Count of Mansfeld in the first two engagements, and suffered two losses to the Count of Tilly
Johan t'Serclaes, Count of Tilly
Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly , commanded the Imperial forces in the Thirty Years' War. He had a string of important victories against the Protestants but was then defeated by forces led by the King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden...
: an arguable one at Höchst, and his final one at Stadtlohn. Christian's major success was at Fleurus, where his actions directly led to the relieving of the Protestant stronghold of Bergen op Zoom
Bergen op Zoom
Bergen op Zoom is a municipality and a city located in the south of the Netherlands.-History:Bergen op Zoom was granted city status probably in 1266. In 1287 the city and its surroundings became a lordship as it was separated from the lordship of Breda. The lordship was elevated to a margraviate...
.
A lover of cavalry warfare, Christian gained a reputation for cruelty and violence, especially against the Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
church. His Catholic opponents dubbed him der Tolle ("the mad") due to his excesses in war. This has been disputed and considered by some to be undeserved as it was probably started by pro-Imperial pamphlets at the time. Christian died childless of wounds sustained in battle in 1626.
Campaigns of 1622-23
In 1621, Christian was one of the few men to continue rallying behind Frederick VFrederick V, Elector Palatine
Frederick V was Elector Palatine , and, as Frederick I , King of Bohemia ....
, who had only the year before claimed and been deposed from the throne of Bohemia following his crushing loss at the Battle of White Mountain
Battle of White Mountain
The Battle of White Mountain, 8 November 1620 was an early battle in the Thirty Years' War in which an army of 30,000 Bohemians and mercenaries under Christian of Anhalt were routed by 27,000 men of the combined armies of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor under Charles Bonaventure de Longueval,...
. Frederick was still leader of the Protestant resistance rooted from the 1618 crushed Bohemian Revolution. What attracted Christian to the cause is arguable, but something that may have had to do with it was the fact that before his campaigning, Christian declared a chivalric love for Elizabeth
Elizabeth of Bohemia
Elizabeth of Bohemia was the eldest daughter of King James VI and I, King of Scotland, England, Ireland, and Anne of Denmark. As the wife of Frederick V, Elector Palatine, she was Electress Palatine and briefly Queen of Bohemia...
, Frederick's wife and daughter of James I of England
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
, who at this point of the war had sent several thousand troops under Sir Horace Vere
Horace Vere
Sir Horace Vere, 1st Baron Vere of Tilbury was an English military leader during the Eighty Years' War and the Thirty Years' War, a son of Geoffrey Vere and brother of Francis Vere. He was sent to the Palatinate by James I in 1620...
to the Palatinate.
By the end of 1621 he had managed to raise 10,000 troops, with whom he wintered in Westphalia
Westphalia
Westphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Minden and Münster.Westphalia is roughly the region between the rivers Rhine and Weser, located north and south of the Ruhr River. No exact definition of borders can be given, because the name "Westphalia"...
, gathering a great treasure from the dioceses of Münster
Bishopric of Münster
The Bishopric of Münster was an ecclesiastical principality in the Holy Roman Empire, located in the northern part of today's North Rhine-Westphalia and western Lower Saxony...
and Paderborn
Bishopric of Paderborn
The Archdiocese of Paderborn is an Archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in Germany; its seat is Paderborn. It was a diocese from its foundation in 799 until 1802, and again from 1821 until 1930. In 1930, it was promoted to an archdiocese...
. Christian's military actions began in 1622 when Ernst von Mansfeld
Ernst von Mansfeld
Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld , was a German military commander during the early years of the Thirty Years' War.-Biography:...
began organizing his forces and expressed interest in linking up with his army, especially after his ally Georg Friedrich, Margrave of Baden-Durlach
Georg Friedrich, Margrave of Baden-Durlach
George Frederick of Baden-Durlach was Margrave of Baden-Durlach from 1604 until his abdication in 1622. He also ruled Baden-Baden....
, was crushingly defeated at the Battle of Wimpfen
Battle of Wimpfen
The Battle of Wimpfen was a battle in the Bohemian Revolt period of the Thirty Years' War on 6 May 1622 near Wimpfen. The forces of the Holy Roman Empire and Catholic League under Marshal Tilly and Gonzalo de Córdoba defeated the Protestant forces of General Ernst von Mansfeld and Georg Friedrich,...
. They were caught at the Battle of Höchst
Battle of Höchst
The Battle of Höchst was fought on June 20, 1622, between the combined army led by Johan Tzerclaes, Count of Tilly and Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba against Protestant forces led by Christian of Brunswick. It was a strategic Roman Catholic victory....
, June 22, 1622, and although Christian was arguably defeated, he was able to escape with much of his army despite crossing a river under heavy fire and losing all of his baggage. The newly united Protestant army moved into Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
, leaving Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
, the capital of the Palatinate, to fall to Count von Tilly in September 1622, effectively forcing Frederick V out of the war.
After intense foraging and ravaging of the Alsace region, Christian and Mansfeld moved north in Lorraine, and upon the news of the Spanish siege of Bergen op Zoom
Bergen op Zoom
Bergen op Zoom is a municipality and a city located in the south of the Netherlands.-History:Bergen op Zoom was granted city status probably in 1266. In 1287 the city and its surroundings became a lordship as it was separated from the lordship of Breda. The lordship was elevated to a margraviate...
, they marched to the relief of the city, fighting the Battle of Fleurus
Battle of Fleurus (1622)
The Battle of Fleurus of August 29, 1622 was fought between a Spanish army, and the Protestant Powers of the Holy Roman Empire in the Thirty Years' War. The bloody struggle left the Protestants mangled and the Spanish masters of the field.-Campaign:...
(August 29, 1622) and in the midst of the battle, Christian displayed his well-known courage and stubbornness on the field by leading four unsuccessful cavalry charges against the Spanish lines under Fernández de Córdoba. It was on the fifth charge that the Protestant horsemen broke the Spanish lines and paved the way for the Protestant relief of Bergen op Zoom that October. This came at a cost of most of Christian's infantry and one of Christian's arms. Fresh from that victory, Christian spent the winter of 1622-23 in the Spanish Netherlands resting and replenishing his army to what would be in spring 1623 set at roughly 15,000.
Spring 1623 saw a plan between Christian, Mansfeld, the Hungarian general Bethlen Gabor, and his ally Count Thurn
Jindrich Matyas Thurn
Jindřich Matyáš Thurn-Valsassina , was a leading Bohemian nobleman, one of leaders against Ferdinand II of Bohemia and in events that led to the Thirty Years War, and in the end a...
to retake Bohemia for the Protestants and to breathe new life into the ailing Protestant cause. The campaign faltered from the start as Count von Tilly received news of the troop movements and positioned himself in Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
, with reports from Mansfeld coming to Christian that he did not have the money to pay his armies or to campaign, leaving Christian to himself in the north. Outnumbered again, and leading an army that was not as disciplined as Tilly's, Christian made a break for the relative safety of the United Provinces
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
. He was outrun and out-maneuvered 10 miles short of the Dutch border, and in a stand typical of Christian's bravery, he was nonetheless decisively defeated at the Battle of Stadtlohn
Battle of Stadtlohn
The Battle of Stadtlohn was fought on August 6, 1623 between the armies of Christian of Brunswick and of the Catholic League during the Thirty Years' War...
on August 6, 1623, when he lost all but 2,000 of this 15,000 man army. Broken, he fled for The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
with the remnants of his army.
Defeat and death
Christian's defeat signalled the "Palatine Phase" of the Thirty Years' WarThirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, and the end of the Protestant rebellion as a whole. Three days after Stadtlohn, Frederick V signed an armistice with Ferdinand II
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand II , a member of the House of Habsburg, was Holy Roman Emperor , King of Bohemia , and King of Hungary . His rule coincided with the Thirty Years' War.- Life :...
, ending the former's resistance to what seemed as impending Catholic domination of the Holy Roman Empire. Mansfeld shortly thereafter disbanded his army on the Rhine with the entrance of Denmark, the United Provinces, and England into the war in 1625. Under a plan that involved Christian, Mansfeld, and Christian IV
Christian IV of Denmark
Christian IV was the king of Denmark-Norway from 1588 until his death. With a reign of more than 59 years, he is the longest-reigning monarch of Denmark, and he is frequently remembered as one of the most popular, ambitious and proactive Danish kings, having initiated many reforms and projects...
, King of Denmark, pushing from the United Provinces and from Denmark, Christian found himself with ample financial backing. Ordered to advance on the Rhineland, he undertook this mission but quickly found himself checked by Tilly in Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
, and opted this time to retreat rather than fight. Ill from the outset of the campaign, he died at 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...
on June 16, 1626, at the age of 26.
Ancestors
| Christian the Younger of Brunswick, Bishop of Halberstadt | Father: Henry Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg Henry Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg Henry Julius was duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and prince of Wolfenbüttel from 1589 until his death. In 1576 he had become the first rector of the Protestant University of Helmstedt.- Life :... |
Paternal Grandfather: Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg Julius of Brunswick-Lüneburg , Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, was prince of Wolfenbüttel from 1568 until his death.... |
Paternal Great-grandfather: Henry V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg Henry V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg Henry , Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, called the Younger, was Prince of Wolfenbüttel from 1514 until his death... |
| Paternal Great-grandmother: Mary of Württemberg |
|||
| Paternal Grandmother: Hedwig of Brandenburg Hedwig of Brandenburg Hedwig of Brandenburg was a Margravine of Brandenburg by birth and by marriage Margravine of Meissen.- Life :Hedwig was born in 1140 as a daughter of Albert I of Brandenburg and his wife, Sophie of Winzenburg... |
Paternal Great-grandfather: Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg Joachim II Hector was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg . A member of the House of Hohenzollern, Joachim II was the son of Joachim I Nestor, Elector of Brandenburg, and his wife Elizabeth of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden... |
||
| Paternal Great-grandmother: |
|||
| Mother: Elizabeth |
Maternal Grandfather: Frederick II of Denmark Frederick II of Denmark Frederick II was King of Denmark and Norway and duke of Schleswig from 1559 until his death.-King of Denmark:Frederick II was the son of King Christian III of Denmark and Norway and Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg. Frederick II stands as the typical renaissance ruler of Denmark. Unlike his father, he... |
Maternal Great-grandfather: Christian III of Denmark Christian III of Denmark Christian III reigned as king of Denmark and Norway. He was the eldest son of King Frederick I and Anna of Brandenburg.-Childhood:... |
|
| Maternal Great-grandmother: Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg Dorothea 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... |
|||
| Maternal Grandmother: Sofie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Sofie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (d. 1631) Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow was a German noble and Queen of Denmark and Norway. She was the mother of King Christian IV of Denmark... |
Maternal Great-grandfather: Duke Ulrich III of Mecklenburg-Schwerin |
||
| Maternal Great-grandmother: Elizabeth of Denmark |