Mecklenburg-Güstrow
Encyclopedia
Mecklenburg-Güstrow was a state of the Holy Roman Empire
in Northern Germany
, that existed on three separate occasions ruled by the House of Mecklenburg
at Güstrow
.
, in 1477 and the partition of the land among his sons in 1480, when Albert VI
received the estates of the former Lordship of Werle
around Güstrow. Nevertheless, Albert died without issue in 1483 and his lands were again inherited by his younger brother Magnus II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
When Magnus died in 1503, his sons Henry V
and Albert VII at first ruled jointly over the entire Mecklenburg duchy until its renewed division by the 1520 Neubrandenburg Treaty. Albert, a fierce opponent of the Protestant Reformation
, had insisted on the partititon and became duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, while his brother Henry retained Mecklenburg-Schwerin
. However Mecklenburg de jure remained undivided, both brothers held the title of Duke of Mecklenburg and, as Henry only left one insane son when he died in 1552, the Schwerin lands fell back to Albert's sons Ulrich III and John Albert I.
At this time John Albert and Ulrich had ruled jointly over the Güstrow lands, but now came into conflict over the inherited Schwerin part. The controversy was finally decided in 1556 by the Ruppin dictum of Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg
: John Albert I received Schwerin while Ulrich remained Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow. Nevertheless, Ulrich died without heirs in 1603 and Güstrow fell back to John Albert's grandchildren Adolf Frederick I and John Albert II, joint rulers of Mecklenburg-Schwerin from 1610 onwards.
Mecklenburg-Güstrow was created for a third and final time with the partition of 1621, when John Albert II received the Güstrow part of Mecklenburg. In 1628 he and his brother at Schwerin
were stripped off their duchies by order of Emperor Ferdinand II of Habsburg
in favour of his Generalissimo Albrecht von Wallenstein
. Officially the dukes were reproached for having secretly sided with Christian IV, King of Denmark
, while in fact Mecklenburg was given in compensation of the enormous expenses Wallenstein had paid in building up Imperial troops. He took his residence at Güstrow but nevertheless was dismissed by the Emperor under pressure of the Prince-elector
s three years later, while the dukes with the support of Swedish
troops were restored.
The House of Mecklenburg-Güstrow had assumed the administration of the former Catholic Prince-Bishopric of Ratzeburg
after its conversion to Lutheranism
in 1554. By the 1648 Peace of Westphalia
, the diocese was finally secularised and adjudicated to the last administrator, Duke Gustav Adolph
.
Gustav Adolph's death in 1695 led to an inheritance dispute between his son-in-law Adolphus Frederick II, younger son of Adolf Frederick I and his nephew Frederick William, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, which would lead to the creation of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
in 1701.
To Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
in Northern Germany
Northern Germany
- Geography :The key terrain features of North Germany are the marshes along the coastline of the North Sea and Baltic Sea, and the geest and heaths inland. Also prominent are the low hills of the Baltic Uplands, the ground moraines, end moraines, sandur, glacial valleys, bogs, and Luch...
, that existed on three separate occasions ruled by the House of Mecklenburg
House of Mecklenburg
The House of Mecklenburg is a North German dynasty of West Slavic origin that ruled until 1918.- Origins :Niklot was a lord of the Wendish tribe of Obotrites. When the Holy Roman Empire expanded eastwards, notably to the coast of Baltic in 13th century, a portion of Obotrite lords allied with...
at Güstrow
Güstrow
Güstrow is a town in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany the capital of the district of Güstrow. It has a population of 30,500 and is the seventh largest town in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Since 2006 Güstrow has the official suffix Barlachstadt.-Geography:The town of Güstrow is located...
.
History
A first short-lived predecessor existed after the death of Henry IV, Duke of MecklenburgHenry IV, Duke of Mecklenburg
Henry IV, Duke of Mecklenburg was from 1422 to 1477 Duke of Mecklenburg.- Life :Henry IV of Mecklenburg, because of his obesity and lavish lifestyle also called the "Henry the Fat", was the son of the Duke John IV of Mecklenburg and Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg.He inherited Mecklenburg when his...
, in 1477 and the partition of the land among his sons in 1480, when Albert VI
Albert VI, Duke of Mecklenburg
Albert VI, Duke of Mecklenburg was a Duke of Mecklenburg.Albert was the son of Henry IV and Dorothea, the daughter of the Elector Frederick I of Brandenburg. In 1464, he and his brother John VI received from their father the bailiwicks of Güstrow, Plau, Laage and Stavenhagen as a source of...
received the estates of the former Lordship of Werle
Werle
Werle was a fiefdom, or Herrschaft in German, in the Holy Roman Empire that was founded in 1235. It was created in the partition of territories in Mecklenburg that followed the death of Henry Borwin II of Mecklenburg ....
around Güstrow. Nevertheless, Albert died without issue in 1483 and his lands were again inherited by his younger brother Magnus II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
When Magnus died in 1503, his sons Henry V
Henry V, Duke of Mecklenburg
Henry 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....
and Albert VII at first ruled jointly over the entire Mecklenburg duchy until its renewed division by the 1520 Neubrandenburg Treaty. Albert, a fierce opponent of the Protestant 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...
, had insisted on the partititon and became duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, while his brother Henry retained Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Mecklenburg-Schwerin was a duchy in northern Germany created in 1348, when Albert II of Mecklenburg and his younger brother John were raised to Dukes of Mecklenburg by King Charles IV...
. However Mecklenburg de jure remained undivided, both brothers held the title of Duke of Mecklenburg and, as Henry only left one insane son when he died in 1552, the Schwerin lands fell back to Albert's sons Ulrich III and John Albert I.
At this time John Albert and Ulrich had ruled jointly over the Güstrow lands, but now came into conflict over the inherited Schwerin part. The controversy was finally decided in 1556 by the Ruppin dictum of 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...
: John Albert I received Schwerin while Ulrich remained Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow. Nevertheless, Ulrich died without heirs in 1603 and Güstrow fell back to John Albert's grandchildren Adolf Frederick I and John Albert II, joint rulers of Mecklenburg-Schwerin from 1610 onwards.
Mecklenburg-Güstrow was created for a third and final time with the partition of 1621, when John Albert II received the Güstrow part of Mecklenburg. In 1628 he and his brother at Schwerin
Schwerin
Schwerin is the capital and second-largest city of the northern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The population, as of end of 2009, was 95,041.-History:...
were stripped off their duchies by order of Emperor Ferdinand II of Habsburg
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 :...
in favour of his Generalissimo Albrecht von Wallenstein
Albrecht von Wallenstein
Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein , actually von Waldstein, was a Bohemian soldier and politician, who offered his services, and an army of 30,000 to 100,000 men during the Danish period of the Thirty Years' War , to the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II...
. Officially the dukes were reproached for having secretly sided with Christian IV, King 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...
, while in fact Mecklenburg was given in compensation of the enormous expenses Wallenstein had paid in building up Imperial troops. He took his residence at Güstrow but nevertheless was dismissed by the Emperor under pressure of the 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...
s three years later, while the dukes with the support of Swedish
Swedish Empire
The Swedish Empire refers to the Kingdom of Sweden between 1561 and 1721 . During this time, Sweden was one of the great European powers. In Swedish, the period is called Stormaktstiden, literally meaning "the Great Power Era"...
troops were restored.
The House of Mecklenburg-Güstrow had assumed the administration of the former Catholic Prince-Bishopric of Ratzeburg
Bishopric of Ratzeburg
The Bishopric of Ratzeburg , centered on Ratzeburg in Northern Germany, was originally a suffragan to the Archdiocese of Hamburg, which transformed into the Archdiocese of Bremen in 1072.- History :...
after its conversion to Lutheranism
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
in 1554. By the 1648 Peace of Westphalia
Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the...
, the diocese was finally secularised and adjudicated to the last administrator, Duke Gustav Adolph
Gustav Adolph, Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow
Gustav Adolph, Duke of Mecklenburg [-Güstrow] was the last ruler of Mecklenburg-Güstrow from 1636 until his death and last Lutheran Administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Ratzeburg from 1636 to 1648.-Life:...
.
Gustav Adolph's death in 1695 led to an inheritance dispute between his son-in-law Adolphus Frederick II, younger son of Adolf Frederick I and his nephew Frederick William, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, which would lead to the creation of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a duchy and later grand duchy in northern Germany, consisting of the eastern fifth of the historic Mecklenburg region, roughly corresponding with the present-day Mecklenburg-Strelitz district , and the western exclave of the former Bishopric of Ratzeburg in modern...
in 1701.
Dukes of Mecklenburg-Güstrow
- Albert VIAlbert VI, Duke of MecklenburgAlbert VI, Duke of Mecklenburg was a Duke of Mecklenburg.Albert was the son of Henry IV and Dorothea, the daughter of the Elector Frederick I of Brandenburg. In 1464, he and his brother John VI received from their father the bailiwicks of Güstrow, Plau, Laage and Stavenhagen as a source of...
1480–1483 - Güstrow reunited with Mecklenburg[-Schwerin] 1483–1520
- Albert VII 1520–1547
- John Albert I 1547–1556, son
- Ulrich III 1556–1603, brother
- Karl I 1603–1610, custodian for:
- John Albert II 1610–1628, jointly with his brother
- Adolf Frederick I, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin 1610–1621
- Albrecht von WallensteinAlbrecht von WallensteinAlbrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein , actually von Waldstein, was a Bohemian soldier and politician, who offered his services, and an army of 30,000 to 100,000 men during the Danish period of the Thirty Years' War , to the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II...
1628–1631 - John Albert II (restored) 1631–1636
- Gustav AdolphGustav Adolph, Duke of Mecklenburg-GüstrowGustav Adolph, Duke of Mecklenburg [-Güstrow] was the last ruler of Mecklenburg-Güstrow from 1636 until his death and last Lutheran Administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Ratzeburg from 1636 to 1648.-Life:...
, son 1636–1695
To Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Mecklenburg-Schwerin was a duchy in northern Germany created in 1348, when Albert II of Mecklenburg and his younger brother John were raised to Dukes of Mecklenburg by King Charles IV...