Eric II, Duke of Calenberg
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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...
Principality of Calenberg from 1545 to 1584. Since 1495 the Principality of Göttingen
Principality of Göttingen
The Principality of Göttingen was a subdivision of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire with Göttingen as its capital. It was split off from the principality of Brunswick in 1286 in the course of an estate division among members of the House of Welf...
was incorporated in Calenberg.
He was the son of Eric I and Elisabeth of Brandenburg
Elisabeth of Brandenburg, Duchess of Brunswick-Calenberg-Göttingen
Elisabeth of Brandenburg was a princess of the House of Hohenzollern and a Margravine of Brandenburg by birth and by marriage Duchess of Brunswick-Göttingen-Calenberg and later and was Countess Consort of Henneberg...
. While he was still a minor, his mother acted as Regent and 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 Calenberg, including her children's conversion. However, in 1547 Eric II declared his reconversion to Roman Catholicism, to the dislike of his mother. In 1575, he married Dorothea of Lorraine (1545–1621), the daughter of Princess Christina of Denmark
Christina of Denmark
Christina of Denmark was a Danish princess who became Duchess-consort of Milan, then Duchess-consort of Lorraine...
and Francis I, Duke of Lorraine
Francis I, Duke of Lorraine
Francis I was a member of the French nobility. He was briefly Duke of Lorraine from 1544–1545.-History:...
. This marriage produced no issue, and on his death Calenberg reverted to Duke Julius
Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Julius of Brunswick-Lüneburg , Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, was prince of Wolfenbüttel from 1568 until his death....
, who was Prince of Wolfenbüttel.