1.
Mecklenburg
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Mecklenburg is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar, the name Mecklenburg derives from a castle named Mikilenburg, located between the cities of Schwerin and Wismar. In Slavic language it was known as Veligrad which also means big castle and it was the ancestral seat of the House of Mecklenburg and for a time divided into Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz among the same dynasty. Linguistically Mecklenburgers retain and use features of Low German vocabulary or phonology. The adjective for the region is Mecklenburgian, inhabitants are called Mecklenburgians, Mecklenburg is known for its mostly flat countryside. Much of the forms a morass, with ponds, marshes and fields as common features. The terrain changes as one moves north towards the Baltic Sea, under the peat of Mecklenburg are sometimes found deposits of ancient lava flows. Mecklenburg has productive farming, but the land is most suitable for grazing purposes, Mecklenburg is the site of many prehistoric dolmen tombs. Its earliest organised inhabitants may have had Celtic origins, by no later than 100 BC the area had been populated by pre-Christian Germanic peoples. The traditional symbol of Mecklenburg, the steers head, with an attached hide. It represents what early peoples would have worn, i. e. a steerss head as a hat, with the hide hanging down the back to protect the neck from the sun, and overall as a way to instill fear in the enemy. From the 7th through the 12th centuries, the area of Mecklenburg was taken over by Western Slavic peoples, most notably the Obotrites, the 11th century founder of the Mecklenburgian dynasty of Dukes and later Grand Dukes, which lasted until 1918, was Nyklot of the Obotrites. In the late 12th century, Henry the Lion, Duke of the Saxons, conquered the region, subjugated its local lords, from 12th to 14th century, large numbers of Germans and Flemings settled the area, importing German law and improved agricultural techniques. However, elements of certain names and words used in Mecklenburg speak to the lingering Slavic influence, an example would be the city of Schwerin, which was originally called Zuarin in Slavic. Another example is the town of Bresegard, the portion of the town name deriving from the Slavic word grad. Since the 12th century, the territory remained stable and relatively independent of its neighbours, during the reformation the Duke in Schwerin would convert to Protestantism and so would follow the Duchy of Mecklenburg. Like many German territories, Mecklenburg was sometimes partitioned and re-partitioned among different members of the ruling dynasty, in 1621 it was divided into the two duchies of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Güstrow. With the extinction of the Güstrow line in 1701, the Güstrow lands were redivided, part going to the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, life in Mecklenburg could be quite harsh
2.
Borwin, Duke of Mecklenburg
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Borwin, Duke of Mecklenburg has been the head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz since 1996 and of the House of Mecklenburg since 2001. The death of the last male member of the House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin on 31 July 2001 made Strelitz the only remaining line of the House of Mecklenburg, which ruled in Mecklenburg until 1918. He is a descendant of Grand Duke Georg of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and through his mother a descendant of King Frederick Augustus III of Saxony. Duke Borwin became the apparent to headship of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz on 6 July 1963 when his grandfather died. Borwin has studied Viticulture at the Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute and served as an officer in the German Army and he has also managed a Swiss drinks company. In 1928 his grandfather George was adopted by his uncle and the head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and his grandfather was also confirmed as head of the house. Duke Borwin succeeded as head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz following his fathers death on 26 January 1996, Duke Borwin is the patron and protector of the Order of the Griffon which was revived in September 1984. The order was founded by Grand Duke Frederick Francis III of Mecklenburg-Schwerin on 15 September 1884 and he has also served on the Almanach de Gothas Comité de Patronage. In 2005 Duke Borwin along with the head of the House of Hohenzollern, Georg Friedrich and it was at the castle where Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz who married Frederick William III of Prussia and became Queen of Prussia, died in 1810. Duke Borwin married Alice Wagner the daughter of Dr. Jürgen-Detlev Wagner,1178 Henry Borwin I, Lord of Mecklenburg, d.1956 The Order of the Griffin House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz website
3.
Duke
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A duke or duchess can either be a monarch ruling over a duchy or a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch. During the Middle Ages the title signified first among the Germanic monarchies, Dukes were the rulers of the provinces and the superiors of the counts in the cities and later, in the feudal monarchies, the highest-ranking peers of the king. During the 19th century many of the smaller German and Italian states were ruled by Dukes or Grand Dukes, but at present, with the exception of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, there are no dukes ruling as monarchs. Duke remains the highest hereditary title in Portugal, Spain, in Sweden, members of the Royal Family are given a personal dukedom at birth. The Pope, as a sovereign, has also, though rarely. In some realms the relative status of duke and prince, as borne by the nobility rather than by members of reigning dynasties, varied—e. g. in Italy. A woman who holds in her own right the title to such duchy or dukedom, Queen Elizabeth II, however, is known by tradition as Duke of Normandy in the Channel Islands and Duke of Lancaster in Lancashire. A duchy is the territory or geopolitical entity ruled by a duke, a dukedom is the title or status of a duke, a rank in the present or past nobility, and is not necessarily attached to a duchy. A few examples exist today, The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is a independent state and its head. In Scotland the male heir apparent to the British crown is always the Duke of Rothesay as well, the Channel Islands are two of the three remaining Crown Dependencies, the last vestiges of the lands of the Duchy of Normandy. The Islanders in their loyal toast will say La Reine, notre Duc, however, the Channel Islands, part of the lost Duchy, remained a self-governing possession of the English Crown. While the islands today retain autonomy in government, they owe allegiance to The Queen in her role as Duke of Normandy. During the Middle Ages, after Roman power in Western Europe collapsed, in 1332, Robert of Taranto succeeded his father, Philip. John took the style of Duke of Durazzo, in 1368, Durazzo fell to Karl Thopia, who was recognized by Venice as Prince of Albania. The Visigoths retained the Roman divisions of their kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula and they were the most powerful landowners and, along with the bishops, elected the king, usually from their own midst. They were the commanders and in this capacity often acted independently from the king. The army was structured decimally with the highest unit, the thiufa, the cities were commanded by counts, who were in turn answerable to the dukes, who called up the thiufae when necessary. When the Lombards entered Italy, the Latin chroniclers called their war leaders duces in the old fashion and these leaders eventually became the provincial rulers, each with a recognized seat of government
4.
Regent
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A regent is a person appointed to administer a state because the monarch is a minor, is absent or is incapacitated. The rule of a regent or regents is called a regency, a regent or regency council may be formed ad hoc or in accordance with a constitutional rule. Regent is sometimes a formal title, if the formally appointed regent is unavailable or cannot serve on a temporary basis, a Regent ad interim may be appointed to fill the gap. In a monarchy, a regent usually governs due to one of these reasons and this was the case in the Kingdom of Finland and the Kingdom of Hungary, where the royal line was considered extinct in the aftermath of World War I. In Iceland, the regent represented the King of Denmark as sovereign of Iceland until the country became a republic in 1944, in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, kings were elective, which often led to a fairly long interregnum. In the interim, it was the Roman Catholic Primate who served as the regent, in the small republic of San Marino, the two Captains Regent, or Capitani Reggenti, are elected semi-annually as joint heads of state and of government. Famous regency periods include that of the Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, giving rise to terms such as Regency era. Strictly this period lasted from 1811 to 1820, when his father George III was insane, as of 1 December 2016, Liechtenstein is the only country with an active regency. The term regent may refer to lower than the ruler of a country. The term may be used in the governance of organisations, typically as an equivalent of director, some university managers in North America are called regents and a management board for a college or university may be titled the Board of Regents. The term regent is used for members of governing bodies of institutions such as the national banks of France. This type of group portrait was popular in Dutch Golden Age painting during the 17th century, in the Dutch East Indies, a regent was a native prince allowed to rule de facto colonized state as a regentschap. Consequently, in the state of Indonesia, the term regent is used in English to mean a bupati. Again in Belgium and France, Regent is the title of a teacher in a lower secondary school. In the Philippines, specifically, the University of Santo Tomas, the Father Regent and they also form the Council of Regents that serves as the highest administrative council of the university. In the Society of Jesus, a regent is a training to be a Jesuit. A regent in the Jesuits is often assigned to teach in a school or some other academic institution as part of the formation toward final vows, list of regents Viceroy, an individual who, in a colony or province, exercised the power of a monarch on his behalf
5.
Duchy of Brunswick
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The Duchy of Brunswick was a historical German state. Its capital was the city of Brunswick and it was established as the successor state of the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel by the Congress of Vienna in 1815. In the course of the 19th-century history of Germany, the duchy was part of the German Confederation and it was disestablished after the end of World War I, its territory incorporated into the Weimar Republic as the Free State of Brunswick. The title Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg was held, from 1235 on and these holdings did not have all of the formal characteristics of a modern unitary state, being neither compact nor indivisible. The unifying element of all territories was that they were ruled by male-line descendants of Duke Otto I. After several early divisions, Brunswick-Lüneburg re-unified under Duke Magnus II, following his death, his three sons jointly ruled the Duchy. After the murder of their brother Frederick I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, brothers Bernard and Henry redivided the land, received the southern half of Brunswick-Lüneburg as Prince of Wolfenbüttel while his brother John became Prince of Lüneburg. Wolfenbüttel fell to his brother Albert II, Otto the Mild 1318–1344, son of Albert II, was Prince of Wolfenbüttel and Prince of Göttingen. After his death his son Ernest became Prince of Göttingen 1344–1367, Magnus the Pious became Prince of Wolfenbüttel 1344–1369. Magnus son Magnus II with the Necklace, Prince of Wolfenbüttel 1369–1373, the War of the Lüneburg Succession continued until 1388. Frederick 1373–1400, son of Magnus II, conquered Lüneburg in 1388, succeeded by his brothers, Henry the Mild, 1400–1408 Bernard, 1409–1428. Returned control of Wolfenbüttel to his nephew, Henrys son, was deprived by his brother, Henry the Peaceful 1432–1473, moved the residence to Wolfenbüttel. William regained control of Wolfenbüttel after his brothers death, and left the Principality to his two sons, Frederick III 1482–1484, imprisoned and deprived of power by his younger brother, William IV 1484–1491. Took control of all of Wolfenbüttel, then ceded Wolfenbüttel to his sons, co-rulers, sons of William IV, Eric I 1491–1494. Divided the territory in 1494, taking Calenberg, sole ruler in Wolfenbüttel from 1494. Acquired Calenberg in 1584 on the death of his cousin Eric II, last of the male descendants of Albert the Tall. On Frederick Ulrichs death, his complex of territories passed to a line of distant cousins ruling in Lüneburg, Wolfenbüttel was eventually awarded to Augustus, son of Henry of Dannenberg. Augustus 1635–1666 Augustuss sons succeeded him, sometimes ruling together, Rudolph Augustus 1666–1704 Anthony Ulrich 1685–1702, deposed 1702–1704 for allying with France in the War of the Spanish Succession
6.
Northern Germany
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Northern Germany is the region in the north of Germany. Its exact area is not precisely or consistently defined but varies depending on one is taking a linguistic, geographic. Northern Germany generally refers to the Sprachraum area north of the Uerdingen and Benrath line isoglosses, however, since World War II and the immigration of expellees from the former eastern territories of Germany, its prevalence has steadily reduced. Besides which, Frisian is spoken in East and North Frisia, from a linguistic and cultural perspective, Northern Germany is linked to the Netherlands, Scandinavia and England. Additionally, Jansen/Janssen, Hansen, and Petersen are the most common surnames in the far north of Germany, which are also some of the most common surnames in Denmark. The key terrain feature of Northern Germany is the North German Plain including the marshes along the coastline of the North and Baltic Seas, as well as the geest and heaths inland. Also prominent are the low hills of the Baltic Uplands, the moraines, end moraines, sandur, glacial valleys, bogs. Likewise the Altmark in Saxony-Anhalt, the Prignitz and Uckermark areas of northern Brandenburg, culturally and socially, Northern Germany is characterized by higher levels of income equality and gender equality, relative to southern and south-western Germany. The traditional Northern German daily diet is centered around boiled potatoes, rye bread, dairy products, cabbages, cucumbers, berries, jams, fish, and pork and beef. A breakfast specialty is the Crispbread or Knäcke, eaten with a variety of such as ham, cheese, fruits. Lentil stews and soups are popular as a working lunch. Regional specialties in Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony include Blutwurst or Blood sausage, another Northern German regional specialty are Hackbraten, meatloaves, made from a mixture of ground pork and beef and served with mashed potatoes, brown sauce and lingonberry jam. Many traditional meat-based lunch dishes are served boiled or mashed potatoes. Eating brunch is popular during weekends in the larger towns. In regions nearer to the coast, fish is popular, with Pickled herring. Coffee drinking is strongly rooted in Northern Germany and the Northern provinces on average consume around 8 kilograms of coffee per capita annually and this is fairly more than the 6 kilograms of coffee per capita consumed in the south. Coffee is frequently drunk four times a day, with breakfast, after lunch, in the evening at around 4, and after dinner. Many working people also drink a coffee at the workstation with the start of the days work, besides, there is a strong tradition of taking coffee breaks and visits to the café with friends and acquaintances
7.
Dynasty
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A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
8.
Obotrites
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The Obotrites or Obodrites, also spelled Abodrites, were a confederation of medieval West Slavic tribes within the territory of modern Mecklenburg and Holstein in northern Germany. For decades, they were allies of Charlemagne in his wars against the Germanic Saxons, the Obotrites under Prince Thrasco defeated the Saxons in the Battle of Bornhöved. The still heathen Saxons were dispersed by the emperor, and the part of their land in Holstein north of Elbe was awarded to the Obotrites in 804. This however was soon reverted through an invasion of the Danes, the Obotrite regnal style was abolished in 1167, when Pribislav was restored to power by Duke Henry the Lion, as Prince of Mecklenburg, thereby founding the German House of Mecklenburg. The Bavarian Geographer, a medieval document compiled in Regensburg in 830. The list includes the Nortabtrezi - with 53 civitates, adam of Bremen referred to them as the Reregi because of their lucrative trade emporium Reric. In common with other Slavic groups, they were described by Germanic sources as Wends. The main tribes of the Obotritic confederation were, the Obotrites proper, the Wagrians, the Warnower, other tribes associated with the confederation include, the Linonen near Lenzen, the Travnjane near the Trave, the Drevani in the Hanoverian Wendland and the northern Altmark. When opportunities arose, for instance upon the death of an emperor, they would seek to seize power, at times they levied tribute from the Danes and Saxons. Under the leadership of Niklot, they resisted a Christian assault during the Wendish Crusade, German missionaries such as Vicelinus converted the Obotrites to Christianity. In 1170 they acknowledged the suzerainty of the Holy Roman Empire, however, up to the late 15th century most villagers in the Obotritic area were still speaking Slavic dialects, although subsequently their language was displaced by German. The Polabian language survived until the beginning of the 19th century in what is now the German state of Lower Saxony. The ruling clan of the Obotrites kept its power throughout the Germanisation, the rulers of Obotrite lands were later the Dukes and Grand Dukes of Mecklenburg. List of Medieval Slavic tribes Praedenecenti Herrmann, Joachim
9.
Henry the Lion
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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, the duchies of which he held until 1180. At the height of his reign, Henry ruled over a vast territory stretching from the coast of the North and Baltic Seas to the Alps, Henry achieved this great power in part by his political and military acumen and in part through the legacies of his four grandparents. Born in Ravensburg, in 1129 or 1131, he was the son of Henry the Proud, Duke of Bavaria and Saxony, who was the son of Duke Henry the Black, Henrys father died in 1139, aged 32, when Henry was still a child. King Conrad III had dispossessed Henry the Proud of his duchies in 1138 and 1139, handing Saxony to Albert the Bear and this was because Henry the Proud had been his rival for the crown in 1138. Henry III, however, did not relinquish his claims to his inheritance, a participant in the 1147 Wendish Crusade, Henry also reacquired Bavaria by a decision of the new Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1156. However, the East Mark was not returned, which became Austria, Henry is the founder of Munich and Lübeck, he also founded and developed numerous other cities in Northern Germany and Bavaria, a. o. Augsburg, Hildesheim, Stade, Kassel, Güstrow, Lüneburg, Salzwedel, Schwerin, in Brunswick, his capital, he had a bronze lion, his heraldic animal, erected in the yard of his castle Dankwarderode in 1166 — the first bronze statue north of the Alps. Later, he had Brunswick Cathedral built close to the statue, in 1147, Henry married Clementia of Zähringen, thereby gaining her hereditary territories in Swabia. In 1165, Henry married Matilda, the daughter of King Henry II of England and Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, during Fredericks first invasion of northern Italy, Henry took part, among the others, in the victorious sieges of Crema and Milan. In 1172, Henry had taken a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, meeting with the Knights Templar and Knights Hospitaller, spending Easter of that year in Constantinople. By December 1172, he was back in Bavaria and in 1174 and he did not consider these Italian adventures worth the effort, unless Barbarossa presented Henry with the Saxon imperial city Goslar, a request Barbarossa refused. Barbarossas expedition into Lombardy ultimately ended in failure and he bitterly resented Henry for failing to support him. Declaring that Imperial law overruled traditional German law, the court had Henry stripped of his lands, Frederick then invaded Saxony with an Imperial army to bring his cousin to his knees. Henrys allies deserted him, and he finally had to submit in November 1181 at a Reichstag in Erfurt and he was exiled from Germany in 1182 for three years, stayed with his father-in-law, in Normandy before being allowed back into Germany in 1185. He was exiled again in 1188 and his wife Matilda died in 1189. When Frederick Barbarossa went on the Crusade of 1189, Henry returned to Saxony, mobilized an army of his faithful, only the churches were left standing. Henry the Lion remains a figure to this day. During World War I a nail man depicting Henry the Lion, nazi propaganda later declared Henry an antecessor of the Nazis Lebensraum policy and turned Brunswick Cathedral and Henrys tomb into a National Place of Consecration
10.
Niklot
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Niklot or Nyklot was a pagan chief or prince of the Slavic Obotrites and an ancestor of the House of Mecklenburg. He became chief of the Obotrite confederacy, including the Kissini and he remained in this position until his death in 1160. At the same time he was Lord of Schwerin, Quetzin, for nearly 30 years he resisted Saxon princes, especially Henry the Lion during the Wendish Crusade. He fought the conversion of the pagan Polabian Slavs to Christianity, after the death of Obodrite Prince Henry, a Christian, Niklot renounced Christianity in favor of traditional pagan beliefs. Niklot began his open resistance when the German King Lothar III granted the Obotrite realm to his Danish vassal Canute Lavard, together with Pribislaw, the son of Henry of Alt-Lübeck, Niklot fought Lothar and Canute. After the murder of Canute in 1131, Niklot and Pribislav partitioned the Obotrite territory, in order to weaken Pribislav in the following years, Niklot allied with Saxon lords, especially Count Adolf II of Holstein, allowing Slavic pirates to attack the Danes. The princes Saxon allies turned against him during the 1147 Wendish Crusade, although Niklot resisted the siege of his fortress at Dobin, he was forced to pay tribute to the Christian crusaders. He subsequently arranged peaceful terms with Adolf of Holstein, Duke Henry the Lion of Saxony, by 1158, King Valdemar the Great of Denmark began to pay Henry the Lion for assistance, leading Niklot to retaliate. The Danish king and the Saxon duke then allied in 1160, while the Danes harried the coast and distracted the Rani, the Saxons killed Niklot at his stronghold of Burg Werle, the Obotrite territory was largely partitioned by the Christians. Niklots death ended Slavic control in Mecklenburg up to the Peene River and his son Pribislav recovered his inheritance as Prince of Mecklenburg in 1167 as a Saxon vassal
11.
Germanisation
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Germanisation refers to the spread of the German language, people and culture or policies which introduced these changes. It was a plank of German conservative thinking in the 19th and 20th centuries. In linguistics, Germanisation also occurs when a word from the German language is adopted into a foreign language, during the Nazi era, Germanisation turned into a policy of ethnic cleansing and later into genocide of non-Germans. Historically, there are different forms and degrees of the expansion of the German language. There are examples of complete assimilation into German culture, as happened with the pagan Slavs in the Diocese of Bamberg in the 11th century. A perfect example of adoption of German culture is the field of law in Imperial and present-day Japan. Germanisation took place by cultural contact, by decision of the adopting party. Since the flight and expulsion of Germans from Central and Eastern Europe however, another form of Germanisation is the forceful imposition of German culture, language and people upon non-German people, Slavs in particular. Early forms of Germanisation were related by German monks in manuscripts like Chronicon Slavorum, a complex process of Germanisation took place in Bohemia after the defeat of Bohemian Protestants at the Battle of White Mountain in 1620. The German prince and Frederick V, Elector Palatine, elected as king of Bohemia by the Bohemian estates in 1619, was defeated by Catholic forces loyal to the Habsburg Emperor, Ferdinand II. Among the Bohemian lords who were punished and had their lands expropriated after Fredericks defeat in 1620 were German-, thus, this conflict was feudal in nature, not national. This linguistic border remained almost unchanged until the late 19th century, in Tyrol there was a Germanisation of the Ladino-Romantsch of the Venosta Valley promoted by the Austria in the 16th century. There was made for avoiding contact with Protestants of the Graubünden, in the German colonies, the policy of having German as an official language led to the forming of German-based pidgins and German-based creole languages, such as Unserdeutsch. Joseph II, a leader influenced by the Enlightenment, sought to control of the empire. He decreed that German replace Latin as the official language. Hungarians perceived Josephs language reform as German cultural hegemony, and they reacted by insisting on the right to use their own tongue, as a result, Hungarian lesser nobles sparked a renaissance of the Hungarian language and culture. The lesser nobles questioned the loyalty of the magnates, of less than half were ethnic Magyars. The Magyar national revival subsequently triggered similar movements among the Slovak, Romanian, Serbian, following the partitions, the previous Germanisation attempts pursued by Frederick the Great in Silesia were extended to the newly gained Polish territories
12.
Henry Borwin II, Lord of Mecklenburg
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Henry Borwin II, Lord of Mecklenburg was a member of the House of Mecklenburg, was a Prince of Mecklenburg from 1219 to 1226 and Lord of Rostock. Borwin Henry II was a son of Henry Borwin I and Matilda of Blieskastel and he was the grandson of the Slavic prince Pribislav, the founder of the House of Mecklenburg. After he died in 1226 in Güstrow, his four sons ruled Mecklenburg jointly until 1234 and they then divided Mecklenburg into the principalities of Werle, Parchim-Richenberg, Rostock and Mecklenburg. Henry Borwin married in 1200 Christina of Sweden, the daughter of King Sverker II of Sweden
13.
Sverker II of Sweden
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Sverker II or Sverker the Younger, was King of Sweden from 1195 or 1196 to 1208. Sverker was a son of King Karl Sverkersson of Sweden and Queen Christine Stigsdatter of Hvide, through his mother, he was a cousins son of the Danish kings Canute VI and Valdemar Sejr. His parents marriage has been dated to 1162 or more probably 1163, Sverker also allied himself with the Galen clan leaders in Skåne who were close to the Hvide, by marriage through lady Benedikte Ebbesdotter of Hvide. The Danish king supported him as claimant to Sweden, thus helping to destabilize the neighboring country, the troubled Danish-Swedish relations at this time can bee seen from attempts by Canute I and his jarl Birger Brosa to support rebels against Valdemar I and Canute VI. When King Canute I of Sweden died in 1195 or 1196, his sons were young, one of them had been appointed heir to the throne, but was passed over. Sverker was chosen as the king of Sweden, surprisingly without quarrel. At some point he had returned to his country, however being regarded quite Danish. His uncontested election probably owed much to Jarl Birger Brosa whose daughter, Ingegerd Birgersdotter of Bjelbo, Sverker married soon after his first wife had died. In his own letters he emphasized his birth-right to kingship, son of King Charles, King of the Swedes, King Sverker confirmed and enlarged privileges for the Swedish church and Valerius, the Archbishop of Uppsala. The privilege document of 1200 is the oldest known ecclesiastical privilege in Sweden, skáldatal names two of Sverkers court skalds, Sumarliði skáld and Þorgeirr Danaskáld. In 1202 Earl Birger died and the late jarls grandson, Sverkers one-year-old son John received the title of Jarl from his father and this was intended to strengthen him as heir of the crown, but led to much ridicule. Desultory warfare with the peoples east of the Baltic Sea continued during Sverkers reign, Birger Brosa undertook a sea-borne expedition that ended up in Wierland in eastern Estonia, either before or after Sverkers accession. A late and unreliable source indicates that troops from the Novgorod Republic attacked Finland in 1198 and this may be an elaboration of another Russian attack in 1191, and Åbo did not yet exist as a settlement. A certain Dux John flourished in the early 13th century, according his grave inscription and his widow supposedly gathered levies which killed the marauders at Estaskär. It has been suggested that this place in 1206. In general, Estonian and Curonian raiders constituted a problem for the coasts of Sweden, around 1203, Canutes four sons, who had lived in Swedish royal court, began to claim the throne and Sverker exiled them to Norway. His position as king became insecure from this point forward, the sons of Canute returned with troops in 1205, supported by the Norwegian party of Birkebeiner. Sverker, however, attacked and defeated them in the Battle of Älgarås in Tiveden, the only survivor, Eric, returned with Norwegian support in 1208
14.
Barnim I, Duke of Pomerania
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Barnim I the Good from the Griffin dynasty was a Duke of Pomerania from 1220 until his death. A minor when his father died, his lands until about 1226 were under regency of his mother Miroslawa from the Pomerelian Samborides dynasty. At first still a Danish fief, the Pomeranian lands fell back to the Holy Roman Empire after the victory of several North-German princes at the 1227 Battle of Bornhöved. When Duke Wartislaw III died in 1264, Barnim I was able to unite the whole Duchy of Pomerania under his rule and he was also known for his generous ecclesiastical foundations, and supported the extension of the secular reign of the Cammin bishops in the Kołobrzeg area. Duke Barnim died at the town of Dąbie, today part of Szczecin, the Minnesinger Meister Rumelant wrote a dirge in his honour. Modern historiography considers that her origins are unknown and they had one daughter, Anastasia, married in 1259 to Henry I the Pilgrim, Lord of Mecklenburg. Historian Robert Klempin identified her as the widow of Vitslav I, Prince of Rügen and they had one son, Bogislaw IV, co-ruler from 1276 and sole ruler after his fathers death, sharing power with his younger half-brothers. Before 20 May 1267, Barnim I married thirdly with Matilda and they had five children, Miroslawa, married in 1285 to Niklot I, Count of Schwerin. Beatrix, married bef.1290 to Henry II, Lord of Werle in Penzlin, list of Pomeranian duchies and dukes History of Pomerania Duchy of Pomerania House of Pomerania Attribution, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Barnim s. v
15.
Wolgast
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Wolgast is a town in the district of Vorpommern-Greifswald, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the bank of the river Peenestrom, vis-a-vis the island of Usedom that can be accessed by road, in December 2004, the town had a population of 12,725. The precursor of present-day Wolgast was a Slavic Wendish stronghold located on an island within the Peenestrom sound, wilhelm Ferdinand Gadebusch traces the name through Wendish to mean a large grove. It is unclear which of the tribes documented in the area the population belonged to, in 1123/24, prince Henry of the Obodrites used the stronghold as a stepping stone in his campaign against the Rani. In 1128, after the Pomeranian duke Wartislaw I had subdued the area, in this context, Wolgast was described as a opulentissima civitas by the chronicler Ebo, it is however unclear whether this should be read as meaning opulent or mighty castle or town. Otto destroyed a temple devoted to Gerowit, a god of war. The thesis that this first church was a predecessor of todays St. Peters church has not yet been confirmed, Wolgast was made the seat of a Pomeranian castellany, and played an important role in the 12th-century warfare between Pomeranians, Rani and the Danes. In 1162, Wolgast was targeted by an allied Danish-Rani fleet, in 1164, in the context of the battle of Verchen, a Danish force took control of Wolgast, and left it to a mixed Rani-Pomeranian-Obrodite garrison after peace was restored. Yet, the Rani were soon expelled by the Pomeranians, the Danes attacked Wolgast again in the summer of 1167, and again either in late 1167 or in 1168, and devastated the area. In 1177, another Danish assault on Wolgast failed, but a campaign in 1179 was successful, in 1184, Wolgast was unsuccessfully besieged by the Danes, but finally came under Danish control in 1185 when the Pomeranian duke accepted Danish suzerainty. While t Danes lost control over most of Pomerania in 1227, on the mainland opposite to island with the castle, a new planned town was built in the course of the Ostsiedlung. It is not known when exactly this city of Wolgast was granted German town law, the original charter was issued by both Pomeranian dukes of the time, Wartislaw III and Barnim I, and a confirmation of the Lübeck law was issued in 1282 by duke Bogislaw IV. Wolgast was residence of the Pomeranian dukes from 1285 until the ruling House of Pomerania became extinct in 1637, capital of Pomerania-Wolgast, a longtime inner partition of the duchy, a residential palace was built in Renaissance style on an island hence called Castle Island. The ducal line of Pomerania-Wolgast became extinct when Philipp Julius died without issue, during the Thirty Years War, the Swedish Empire occupied Wolgast in 1630 and kept it as a part of Swedish Pomerania until 1815. The former ducal palace decayed, and the town was burned down in 1713 by Russian forces during the Great Northern War, only the church, four chapels and four more buildings were spared by the fire. Most houses of the Old Town therefore date back to the 18th and 19th centuries, after the Swedish withdrawal from Pomerania in 1815, the city was integrated into the Prussian Province of Pomerania. Last remnants of the palace were removed in 1849, Wolgast prospered throughout the 19th century as a port for grain trade. Wolgast lost its status as a Kreis capital on June 12,1994, when Kreis Wolgast was merged into Kreis Ostvorpommern, the towns history is presented in the Stadtgeschichtliches Museum in a building at the market place nicknamed Kaffeemühle
16.
Eric XI of Sweden
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Eric XI the Lisp and Lame Swedish, Erik Eriksson or Erik läspe och halte, Old Norse, Eiríkr Eiríksson was king of Sweden in 1222–1229 and 1234–1250. Eric was the son of Eric Knutsson of Sweden and Richeza of Denmark, according to the chronicle Erikskrönikan written in the early 1320s, Eric is said to have been partly lame. When King John I died in 1222, the six-year-old Eric was hailed king, with a distant male cousin who was adult, first as leader of the regency council, Knut was a member of the council which ruled Sweden. In 1229, after having been a king in seven years. The battle is believed to have taken place in Olustra in Södermanland, after his loss, the young king fled to Denmark where his uncle was King Valdemar II of Denmark. Knut Holmgersson was crowned King Canute II of Sweden in 1231 but his time in office was short, after King Canutes death, Eric returned and ruled until his own death in 1250. Eric was married to Queen Catherine, daughter of Sune Folkason of Bjälbo, commonly, sources say that Eric was childless, but some sources claim that he had a couple of baby daughters who died. Eric was buried in the monastery of Varnhem Abbey in Västergötland, in 1236, King Erics sister Ingeborg had been married to Birger Magnusson, in Birgers first marriage. Birger Magnusson was the son of an heiress of the Sverker dynasty. Their under aged eldest son Valdemar was elected king 1250 to succeed Eric, possibly by-passing the sons, if such existed, Birger Magnusson became the Regent, holding the true power in Sweden until his own death in 1266. Skáldatal reports that Óláfr Þórðarson was one of Erics court skalds
17.
Dynasty of Eric
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The House of Eric was one of the two clans that were rivals for the kingship of Sweden between 1150 and 1220. The other was the House of Sverker, the first king from the House of Eric was Eric IX of Sweden also known as Saint Eric. Almost all the subsequent kings of Sweden have been descendants of the House of Eric, the House of Eric favored the Varnhem Abbey, and several of its members are interred there. Foremother of the dynasty was Eric IXs wife Christina Björnsdatter, whom legend claims to have been the granddaughter of King Inge I of Sweden. The female first name Catherine seems to have been favored within the Erik dynasty, two branches of the dynasty came into conflict in 1226. Canute the Tall, allegedly the adult heir of Filip, younger son of Eric IX, deposed the underage Eric XI, the Lisp and Lame, conflict continued between the royal senior branch and Canutes two sons until the sons were executed in 1248 and 1251. Eric XI was the last king of the line of this dynasty. He died in 1250 and apparently left no surviving children, though some romantic genealogies, and later research influenced by them, have attributed one or two daughters to him, they were more likely daughters of his sister and Birger jarl. Eric XIs nephew, the then underage son of his sister Ingeborg, was elected king Valdemar I of Sweden, under the regency of his father Birger Jarl
18.
Birger Jarl
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Birger Jarl, or Birger Magnusson, was a Swedish statesman, Jarl of Sweden and a member of the House of Bjelbo, who played a pivotal role in the consolidation of Sweden. Birger also led the Second Swedish Crusade, which established Swedish rule in Finland, additionally, he is traditionally attributed to have founded the Swedish capital, Stockholm around 1250. Birger used the Latin title of Dux Sweorum which in English equals Duke of Sweden, and it is known that Birger grew up and spent his adolescence in Bjälbo, Östergötland but the exact date of his birth remains uncertain and available historical sources are contradictory. Examinations of his mortal remains indicate that he was probably about 50 upon his death in 1266 which would indicate a birth around 1216. However, his father Magnus Minnesköld is assumed to have died no later than 1210 and his brothers or half-brothers — Eskil, Karl, and Bengt — were all born long before 1200, and it can therefore be assumed that they had another mother. He was also a nephew of the jarl Birger Brosa from the House of Bjelbo, the combination of this background proved to be of vital importance. During the 15 years to follow, Birger then consolidated his position and was one of the most influential men years before being formally given the title jarl in 1248 by King Eric XI. Although Birger Jarl saw many battles, some have speculated that traces of a blow in Birgers cranium might have originated from this battle. However, the original 14th-century Russian version of the battle had no information on this at all, in 1247, royal troops led by Birger at the Battle of Sparrsätra fought with Folkung forces led by pretender Holmger Knutsson, son of King Canute II. The Folkungs lost the battle and were unable to resist the central government, Holmger Knutsson fled to Gästrikland and was captured there by Birger in the following year. Quickly brought to trial, he was beheaded, in 1249, Birger succeeded in ending a decades-long period of hostilities with Norway. As a part of the Treaty of Lödöse, he managed to marry off his daughter Rikissa, then only 11 years old, to Haakon Haakonsson the Young. Presumably later that year, Birger led an expedition to Finland, later dubbed as the Second Swedish Crusade, on King Erics death in 1250, Birgers son Valdemar was elected as the new king while Birger acted as regent, holding the true power in Sweden until his death. Birger thus combined financial support from Germany with papal political support to consolidate his own position, ingeborg died in 1254 and in 1261 Birger married the widow of King Abel of Denmark, the Danish queen dowager, Matilda of Holstein. Birger died on 21 October 1266, at Jälbolung in Västergötland and his grave in Varnhem Abbey was opened in May 2002. There is a cenotaph for him at the base of the tower of Stockholm City Hall and it was originally intended that his remains be removed there, but this was never done. Several other historical structures there are named for him including the street Birger Jarlsgatan on Norrmalm. The Hotel Birger Jarl is located in Stockholms Norrmalm neighborhood and he is also the central figure of Bröllopet på Ulvåsa by Frans Hedberg
19.
Ingeborg Eriksdotter of Sweden
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Ingeborg Eriksdotter was a Swedish princess and duchess, daughter of King Eric X of Sweden, eldest sibling of King Eric XI of Sweden, wife of Birger Jarl, and mother of King Valdemar I of Sweden. Ingeborg was born the eldest daughter of King Eric X of Sweden and his wife and she lived her youth in exile in Denmark, after her brother had been deposed by his guardian and regent in 1229. Princess Ingeborg bore a vast number of children to her husband dux Birger Jarl, Ingeborg thereby became the Kings Mother and first lady of the royal court. Ingeborg is recorded to have inherited her brother Erics private property upon his death, even in her forties, she continued to give birth to children, and her death is believed to have occurred because of childbirth complications, possibly giving birth to twins. Sverige och dess regenter under 1.000 år
20.
Albert II, Duke of Mecklenburg
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Albert II Duke of Mecklenburg was a feudal lord in Northern Germany on the shores of the Baltic Sea. He reigned as the head of the House of Mecklenburg and his princely seat was located in Schwerin beginning in the 1350s. Duke Albert succeeded his father as reigning Prince of Mecklenburg in 1329 and he was also keenly interested in obtaining influence in Scandinavia, e. g. fiefs or income. The Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund elevated Mecklenburg to the status of a Duchy on 1 July 1347, on 10 April 1336, Albert married a kinswoman, the Scandinavian heiress Euphemia of Sweden and Norway. Her father was Eric of Sweden, Duke of Södermanland and Halland, her mother was Princess Ingeborg of Norway, the heiress, through this marriage, Albert gained standing in Sweden by means of his wifes hereditary estates and ancestral connections. These enabled him to participate in the politics of Scandinavia. Albert acquired the nickname The Fox of Mecklenburg from the Swedes to evoke his scheming, Albert arranged for his eldest son, the future Henry III of Mecklenburg, to marry Ingeborg, the eldest daughter and potential heiress of King Valdemar IV of Denmark. Alberts brother-in-law King Magnus IV of Sweden faced grave difficulties beginning in the 1350s, influential nobles attempted to curb the concentration of royal power in Sweden and set up Magnus own elder son Eric as a rival king. After young Erics death, Alberts second son and namesake Albert became the next puppet claimant of the party in Sweden. Duke Albert was deeply involved in trying to make his son king in Sweden, the younger Albert deposed his uncle Magnus IV from the Swedish throne and ascended as King Albert of Sweden. Already in Albert and Euphemias lifetime it was recognized that her position would become a pivotal point for any future claims to the Scandinavian thrones. When his first wife died, Duke Albert married a second time to countess Adelheid of Hohenstein, Duke Albert had five surviving children born from his marriage with Euphemia, his sons Henry, Albert and Magnus and daughters Ingeborg and Anna
21.
Euphemia of Sweden
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Euphemia of Sweden was a Swedish princess, spouse of Albert II, Duke of Mecklenburg, Duchess consort of Mecklenburg, heiress of Sweden and of Norway, and mother of King Albert of Sweden. In 1319, her infant elder brother Magnus VII of Norway succeeded their maternal grandfather to the throne of Norway and that same year, Swedish nobles exiled their uncle, King Birger of Sweden, after which the infant Magnus was elected King of Sweden. Their mother Ingeborg had a seat in the government as well as the position of an independent ruler of her own fiefs. The 24 July 1321 marriage contract for Euphemia was signed in Bohus Castle in her mothers fief in Bohuslän and her mother had plans to take control over Danish Scania, next to her duchy. The marriage was arranged with the terms that Mecklenburg, Saxony, Holstein, Rendsburg and this was approved by the council of Norway but not Sweden. When Ingeborgs forces under command of her lover Knut Porse invaded Scania in 1322–23, Mecklenburg betrayed her, the marriage took place anyway, after a fifteen-year engagement. Euphemia did not lack influence in Sweden and she is known to have acted as the witness of seals in several documents. In 1335, when King Magnus appointed Nils Abjörnsson to drots, later, Albert was to gain the nickname Fox of Mecklenburg, to reflect his intrigues as well as avarice. Later the same year, the returned to Sweden with Rudolf of Saxony and Henry of Holstein to be present at the coronation of her brother. She was the mistress of a very expensive ducal court, in 1340–41, she convinced Magnus to grant renewed trading privileges in Norway to the Hanseatic cities of Mecklenburg, Rostock and Wismar. On 15 April 1357, she granted her inheritance after her brothers Håkan and Knut and it is not known if she was involved in the succession of her son to the throne of Sweden in 1363. She is last confirmed alive 27 October 1363, when she gave up the ownership of her dower estate Hagenow and her death year is not known, but she is confirmed dead 16 June 1370, when her widower made a vicaria to her memory. Euphemia lived long enough to see her brothers branch of the family get into severe difficulties, Euphemia saw her own second son depose her brother from the Swedish throne, and ascend as King Albert of Sweden. Already in Euphemias lifetime it was evident that her position would become a pivotal point to many future claims to the Scandinavian thrones. Although her spouse married a second time after her death, all his children were born of Euphemia. At the time of her death, she had five surviving children, Henry III, Duke of Mecklenburg, married, firstly, Ingeborg of Denmark, eldest daughter of sonless King Waldemar IV of Denmark. They had children, Albert, Euphemia, Mary, and Ingeborg, Henry III married, secondly, Matilda of Werle. Albert III, Duke of Mecklenburg, better known as Albert of Sweden, married, firstly, in 1359, Richardis of Schwerin, they had children, Eric I, Duke of Mecklenburg and Richardis Catherine
22.
Albert, King of Sweden
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Albert was King of Sweden from 1364 to 1389 and Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin from 1384 to 1412 as Albert III. He was the son of Duke Albert II of Mecklenburg and Euphemia Eriksdotter, the daughter of duke Erik Magnusson of Södermanland. He married Richardis of Schwerin, daughter of count Otto of Schwerin, in 1384 he inherited the ducal title of Mecklenburg and united it with Sweden in a personal union. Sverker II had been the king of Sweden between 1196 and 1208, in 1363, members of the Swedish Council of Aristocracy, led by Bo Jonsson Grip, arrived in the court of Mecklenburg. They had been banished from the country after a revolt against king Magnus Eriksson, at the nobles request, Albert launched an invasion of Sweden supported by several German dukes and counts. Several Hanseatic cities and dukes in Northern Germany expressed support of the new king, Stockholm and Kalmar, with large Hanseatic populations, also welcomed the intervention. Albert was proclaimed King of Sweden and officially crowned on 18 February 1364, the coronation took place at the Stones of Mora. A fragment still remains of the stone commemorating the occasion, the Three Crowns stone and this is the earliest known example of the use of the three crowns as a national symbol for Sweden. The arrival of Albert led to eight years of war in Sweden between Alberts and Magnus supporters. In a battle near Enköping in 1365 between Alberts German forces and king Magnus Erikssons forces, supported by king Haakon VI of Norway, Magnus was defeated and taken prisoner by Albert. After the initial defeat, Valdemar IV of Denmark intervened on Magnus and Haakons behalf, apart from German strongholds like Stockholm, Albert was unpopular among Swedes who were discontent with Alberts policy of appointing Germans as officials in all the Swedish provinces. With the help of Danish and Swedish allies, Haakon managed to beat back Albert. However, the siege was short-lived, with help from the Swedish nobility in Stockholm, Albert was able beat back the Norwegians. A peace agreement was signed, with the condition that Magnus be released and allowed to travel back to Norway. Albert had secured the Swedish crown, but was forced to make a belated coronation oath in which he agreed to extensive concessions to the Swedish nobility in the regency council. Albert kept the crown of Sweden for another 19 years, however, it was only when he attempted to introduce reduction of the large estates of the Swedish nobility that he lost his support in Stockholm. In 1389, facing a loss of landholdings and wealth, the Swedish regency council turned to Margaret I of Denmark to plead for help in getting rid of Albert, Margaret sent troops and in February 1389, the Danes defeated Albert at the Battle of Åsle. Albert was captured, deposed and sent to Lindholmen Castle in Scania and he was released after 16 days of peace negotiations in 1395, during which he agreed to either give up Stockholm within three years, or pay large sums in retribution to Margaret
23.
Margaret I of Denmark
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Margaret I, was ruler and for a brief time monarch of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, though there are ambiguities regarding her specific titles. She was the founder of the Kalmar Union, which spanned Scandinavia for over a century, Margaret was known as a wise, energetic and capable leader, earning the nickname Semiramis of the North, or the Lady King. Though the latter was a nickname invented by her rival Albert of Mecklenburg. The youngest daughter of King Valdermar Atterdag, Margaret was born at the Søborg Castle and she did not leave any biological heirs, with the early demise of her only son, though some historians suggest she had an illegitimate daughter with Abraham Brodersson. Margaret was ultimately succeeded by a string of incompetent monarchs, despite her efforts to raise and educate her heir Eric of Pomerania, Philippa in particular was an excellent pupil, but died young. Ultimately, the Union into which she put so much effort, some historians have criticized Margaret for favouring Denmark and being too autocratic, though she is generally thought to have been highly regarded in Norway and respected in Denmark and Sweden. She was painted in a light in contemporary religious chronicles. Margaret is known in Denmark as Margrethe I to distinguish her from the current queen, Margaret was born in March 1353 as the sixth and youngest child of Valdemar IV of Denmark and Helvig of Schleswig. She was born in the prison of Søborg Castle, where her father had already confined her mother. She was baptised in Roskilde and in 1359, at the age of six, engaged to the 18-year-old King Haakon VI of Norway, Margarets marriage was thus a part of the Nordic power struggle. There was dissatisfaction with this in some circles, and the political activist Bridget of Sweden described the agreement in a letter to the Pope as children playing with dolls, the goal of the marriage for King Valdemar was regaining Scania, which since 1332 had been mortgaged to Sweden. The attack was ostensibly to support Magnus against Erik, but in June 1359, as a result, the balance of power changed, and all agreements between Magnus and Valdemar were terminated, including the marriage contract between Margaret and Haakon. This did not result in the withdrawal of Valdemar from Scania, Visby, which was populated by Germans, was the main town on the island and was the key to domination of the Baltic Sea. On 27 July 1361 a battle was fought between a well-equipped Danish army and an array of local Gotland peasants, the Danes won the battle and took Visby, while the Germans did not take part. King Magnus and the Hanseatic League could not disregard this provocation, at the same time, negotiations opened between King Magnus and Henry of Holstein about a marriage between Haakon and the latters sister Elizabeth. On 17 December 1362, a ship left with Elizabeth bound for Sweden, a storm, however, diverted her to the Danish island Bornholm, where the archbishop of Lund declared the wedding a violation of church law because Haakon had already been engaged to Margaret. The Swedish and Hanseatic armies also ultimately withdrew from their siege of Helsingborg, following this, a truce was concluded with the Hanseatic States and King Magnus abandoning the war, meaning the marriage of the now 10-year-old Margaret and King Haakon was again relevant. The wedding was held in Copenhagen on 9 April 1363, Merete Ulvsdatter was a distinguished noblewoman and daughter of Bridget of Sweden, as well as the wife of Knut Algotsson, who was one of King Magnuss faithful followers
24.
Eric of Pomerania
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Eric of Pomerania KG was King Eric III of Norway, King Eric VII of Denmark, and King Eric XIII of Sweden, in all three known mainly as Erik af/av Pommern. He was the first King of the Nordic Kalmar Union, succeeding his adoptive mother Margaret I of Denmark, and was also Duke Eric I of Pomerania. Referring to Eric of Pomerania as King Eric XIII of Sweden is an invention, counting backwards from Eric XIV. Going back into prehistory, it is not known how many Swedish monarchs were named Eric before this one, born Boguslaw, he was the son of Wartislaw VII, Duke of Pomerania, and Maria of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Erics paternal grandparents were Boguslaw V, Duke of Pomerania and his second wife Adelheid of Brunswick-Grubenhagen and his maternal grandparents were Henry III, Duke of Mecklenburg and Ingeborg of Denmark, Duchess of Mecklenburg. Their son Albert was a rival of Olaf Haakonsson in regard to the Danish succession in 1375, Ingeborg was a daughter of Valdemar IV of Denmark and his Queen consort Heilwig of Schleswig. Eric was born in 1382 in Rügenwalde, initially named Boguslaw, he was son to the only surviving grandson of Valdemar IV of Denmark and also a descendant of Magnus III of Sweden and Haakon V of Norway. On 2 August 1387, Olav Håkonsson, King of Denmark since he was five years old and King of Norway since the death of his father, died unexpectedly at seventeen years of age. His mother the Dowager Queen of Norway had added the phrase the true heir of Sweden to Boguslaws list of titles at his coronation, Boguslaws claim to the Swedish throne came through his great-granduncle, Magnus IV of Sweden, who was forced to abdicate by the Swedish nobles. After the abdication, the Swedish nobles, led by Bo Jonsson, had invited Duke Albert of Mecklenburg to take the Swedish throne, however, when Albert attempted to introduce reduction of their large estates, they quickly turned against him. The Rigsråd elected Queen Margaret as all powerful lady and mistress, just a year later, the Norwegians proclaimed Margaret the reigning queen and Albert of Sweden fought off an incursion from Norway. His respite was temporary — the Swedish nobility soon enlisted the Danish regents help to remove Albert from the Swedish throne, in 1388, several of the Swedish nobles wrote secretly to Margaret telling her that if she could rid them of Albert, they would make her Regent. Margaret lost no time and sent an army into Sweden to attack Albert while the Swedish nobles raised their own army to him out of the country. In 1389, Alberts forces were defeated at the Battle of Falköping in Västergötland, Albert and his son Erik were captured when their horses became mired in mud so deep they could not escape. They were put into chains and sent by Queen Margaret to Scania and it took until 1395 for Margaret to force Alberts supporters out of Stockholm. She made provisions for the three kingdoms in the event of her death and she wanted the kingdoms to be unified and peaceful and hence, chose the son of her fathers surviving granddaughter, Boguslaw, to be named heir. Young Boguslaw was the grandson of Margarets sister, in 1389 he was brought to Denmark to be brought up by Queen Margaret. His name was changed to the more Nordic-sounding Erik, on 8 September 1389, he was hailed as King of Norway at the Ting in Trondheim
25.
Olaf II of Denmark
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Olaf II Haakonsson was King of Denmark as Olaf II and King of Norway as Olaf IV. Olaf was son of King Haakon VI of Norway and the grandson of King Magnus IV of Sweden. His mother was Queen Margaret I of Denmark which made him the grandson of King Valdemar IV of Denmark, in addition to his claim on the thrones of Denmark and later Norway, he was in the direct succession line to the throne of Sweden. He became King of Denmark when only five years old and later succeeded his father as King of Norway. When his grandfather Valdemar IV of Denmark died, Olaf was just five years old and he was proclaimed King of Denmark by a Danehof in Slagelse the following year. His mother, Queen Margaret, was to serve as regent due to his young age and his proclamation included the title true heir of Sweden added at his mothers insistence since his grandfather had been king of Sweden until forced to abdicate. Olaf was hailed as king in Scania, including the towns controlled by the Hanseatic league since the Treaty of Stralsund in 1370, Queen Margaret signed a coronation charter on behalf of Olaf who was too young to rule until he came of age at fifteen. In the charter Olaf agreed to meet with the Danehof at least once a year, Olaf became King of Norway on his fathers death in 1380. Even when Olaf reached his majority in 1385, his mother ruled through him, with his ascent to the Norwegian throne, Denmark and Norway were thus united in a personal union ruled from Denmark. Denmark and Norway would have the king, with the exception of short interregnums. Despite all the hope Margaret and the peoples of Denmark, Norway and he died unexpectedly in August,1387 at age 16. He was buried at Sorø Abbey on the Danish island of Zealand where also his grandfather and, rumors immediately arose that Olaf had been poisoned which gave rise to many years later to the story of False Olaf. Following his death at Falsterbohus, Olafs mother was proclaimed all powerful lady and mistress, Denmark had at the time no provision that enabled a woman to rule in her own right. The next year Norway proclaimed her Norways reigning queen, after the defeat and overthrow of King Albert in 1389 she was proclaimed all powerful lady of Sweden. On 13 June 1397, she was able to unite the three Scandinavian kingdoms in a union under one crown for her successor Eric of Pomerania by the Kalmar Union. After Olaf, no Norwegian king was to be born on Norwegian soil for more than 550 years, Olafs death was also the end of the male line of the Bjelbo dynasty in Sweden. Prussian historian Johan von Posilge reported that in 1402 a poor man came to the country. A group of merchants from Denmark asked him if he was not well known in Denmark, the merchants left to find another who had seen the king and returned with him. When the newcomer saw the one they took for Olaf, he cried out, many people especially in Norway didnt believe that Olaf had died
26.
Haakon V of Norway
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Haakon V Magnusson was king of Norway from 1299 until 1319. Haakon was the surviving son of Magnus the Lawmender, King of Norway. Through his mother, he was a descendant of Eric IV, in 1273, his elder brother, Eirik, was named junior king under the reign of their father, King Magnus. Haakon succeeded to the throne when his older brother died without sons. In 1295, Haakon married firstly with Isabelle, daughter of Jean I, Count of Joigny and their son, Magnus Eriksson would succeed Haakon V as king of Norway. He also had a daughter named Agnes Hákonardottir. During Haakons reign, Oslo gradually took over the functions of capital of Norway from Bergen, Haakon is also associated with the construction of Akershus Fortress and Bohus Fortress. During his reign he revived his brothers war policy against Denmark, in domestic matters he energetically and successfully tried to limit the power of the magnates and to strengthen the kings power. In 1319, Haakon was succeeded by his daughters son, prince Magnus who was an infant, Haakons daughter Ingeborg was recognized as formal regent of her son. Havtore Jonsson was put in the government until he himself died the following year. Haakon was buried in St. Marys church in Oslo, remains of two people, deemed to be Haakon and Eufemia, were discovered during excavations of the ruins of that church and reinterred in the royal mausoleum at Akershus Castle. Helle, Knut Norge blir en stat, 1130–1319 ISBN 82-00-01323-5 Holmsen, fra de eldste tider til 1660 Gjerset, Knut History of the Norwegian People
27.
Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
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The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was a duchy in northern Germany created in 1701, when Frederick William and Adolphus Frederick II divided the Duchy of Mecklenburg between Schwerin and Strelitz. Niklots son, Pribislav, submitted himself to Henry, and in 1167 came into his inheritance as the first Prince of Mecklenburg. After they both had received the title, the former lordship of Stargard was recreated as the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Stargard for John in 1352. Albert II retained the western part of Mecklenburg, and after he acquired the former County of Schwerin in 1358. In 1363 Alberts son, Duke Albert III, campaigned in Sweden, in 1436, William, the last Lord of Werle, died without a male heir. Because Williams son-in-law, Ulric II of Mecklenburg-Stargard, had no issue, all possessions fell back to Duke Henry IV of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, who was then the sole ruler over all of Mecklenburg. In 1520 Henrys grandsons, Henry V and Albert VII, again divided the duchy, creating the subdivision of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, in a second partition of 1621, he granted Güstrow to his brother, John Albert II. Both were deposed in 1628 by Albrecht von Wallenstein, as they had supported Christian IV of Denmark in the Thirty Years War, nevertheless, the Swedish Empire forced their restoration three years later. When John Albert IIs son, Duke Gustav Adolph, died without heirs in 1695. In June 1692, when Christian Louis I died in exile and without sons, in 1701, with the endorsement of the Imperial state of the Lower Saxon Circle, the Treaty of Hamburg was signed and the final division of the country was made. Mecklenburg was divided between the two claimants, the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was given to Frederick William, and the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, roughly a recreation of the medieval Stargard lordship, to Adolphus Frederick II. At the same time, the principle of primogeniture was reasserted, continued conflicts and partitions weakened the rule of the dukes and affirmed the reputation of Mecklenburg as one of the most backward territories of the Empire. Mecklenburg-Schwerin began its existence during a series of struggles between the duke and the nobles. His brother, Christian Ludwig II, was appointed administrator of the duchy, under this prince, who became ruler de jure in 1747, the Convention of Rostock, by which a new constitution was framed for the duchy, was signed in April 1755. By this instrument, all power was in the hands of the duke, the nobles, and the classes generally. During the Seven Years War, Frederick II took up an attitude towards Frederick the Great. In other ways his rule was beneficial to the country, in the early years of the French Revolutionary Wars, Frederick Francis I remained neutral, and in 1803 he regained Wismar from Kingdom of Sweden. In 1806 the land was overrun by the First French Empire and he was the first member of the confederation to abandon Napoleon, to whose armies he had sent a contingent, and in 1813–1814 he fought against France
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Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
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At the time of its establishment, the duchy bordered on the territory of Swedish Pomerania in the north and of Brandenburg in the south. After more than five years of dispute over succession to the House of Mecklenburg, the Güstrow branch of the House of Mecklenburg had died out with the death of Duke Gustav Adolph in 1695. The emissaries of the Lower Saxon Circle finally negotiated a compromise on March 8,1701, the agreement created the final, definitive division of Mecklenburg and was sealed with the 1701 Treaty of Hamburg. At the same time the principle of primogeniture was reasserted, the 1701 provisions were maintained with minor changes until the end of the monarchy. Both parties continued to call themselves Dukes of Mecklenburg, Adolphus Frederick took his residence at Strelitz, the Strelitz duchy remained one of the most backward regions of the Empire. Her niece Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, daughter of Duke Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, married Frederick William III of Hohenzollern in 1793, Mecklenburg-Strelitz adopted the constitution of the sister duchy in September 1755. In 1806 was spared the infliction of a French occupation through the offices of the king of Bavaria. In 1808 its duke, Charles, joined the Confederation of the Rhine, the Congress of Vienna recognized both Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Mecklenburg-Schwerin as grand duchies and members of the German Confederation. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
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Congress of Vienna
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The objective of the Congress was to provide a long-term peace plan for Europe by settling critical issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. The goal was not simply to restore old boundaries but to resize the main powers so they could balance each other off, the leaders were conservatives with little use for republicanism or revolution, both of which threatened to upset the status quo in Europe. France lost all its recent conquests, while Prussia, Austria and Russia made major territorial gains, Prussia added smaller German states in the west, Swedish Pomerania and 60% of the Kingdom of Saxony, Austria gained Venice and much of northern Italy. The new Kingdom of the Netherlands had been created just months before, the immediate background was Napoleonic Frances defeat and surrender in May 1814, which brought an end to twenty-five years of nearly continuous war. Negotiations continued despite the outbreak of fighting triggered by Napoleons dramatic return from exile, the Congresss Final Act was signed nine days before his final defeat at Waterloo on 18 June 1815. However, others praise it for having created relatively long-term stable, the Congress of Vienna settlement, despite later changes, formed the framework for European international politics until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. The Treaty of Chaumont in 1814 had reaffirmed decisions that had made already. The Treaty of Chaumont became the cornerstone of the European Alliance which formed the balance of power for decades, other partial settlements had already occurred at the Treaty of Paris between France and the Sixth Coalition, and the Treaty of Kiel which covered issues raised regarding Scandinavia. The Treaty of Paris had determined that a general congress should be held in Vienna, the opening was scheduled for July 1814. The Four Great Powers had previously formed the core of the Sixth Coalition, as the Congresss sessions were in Vienna, Emperor Francis was kept closely informed. Great Britain was represented first by its Foreign Secretary, Viscount Castlereagh, then by the Duke of Wellington, in the last weeks it was headed by the Earl of Clancarty, after Wellington left to face Napoleon during the Hundred Days. Tsar Alexander I controlled the Russian delegation which was led by the foreign minister. The tsar had two goals, to gain control of Poland and to promote the peaceful coexistence of European nations. He succeeded in forming the Holy Alliance, based on monarchism and anti-secularism, Prussia was represented by Prince Karl August von Hardenberg, the Chancellor, and the diplomat and scholar Wilhelm von Humboldt. King Frederick William III of Prussia was also in Vienna, playing his role behind the scenes, France, the fifth power, was represented by its foreign minister, Talleyrand as well as the Minister Plenipotentiary the Duke of Dalberg. Talleyrand had already negotiated the Treaty of Paris for Louis XVIII of France, Sweden – Count Carl Löwenhielm Denmark – Count Niels Rosenkrantz, foreign minister. King Frederick VI was also present in Vienna, the Netherlands – Earl of Clancarty, the British Ambassador at the Dutch court, and Baron Hans von Gagern Switzerland – Every canton had its own delegation. Charles Pictet de Rochemont from Geneva played a prominent role, mecklenburg-Schwerin – Leopold von Plessen Virtually every state in Europe had a delegation in Vienna – more than 200 states and princely houses were represented at the Congress
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Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
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The Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was a territory in Northern Germany held by the House of Mecklenburg residing at Schwerin. It was a member state of the German Confederation and became a federated state of the North German Confederation. The smaller southeastern part was held by the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz branch of the ducal house. Likewise in the west, the Duchy of Holstein was incorporated into the Schleswig-Holstein Province, in the early years of the French Revolutionary Wars Duke Frederick Francis I of Mecklenburg-Schwerin had remained neutral, and in 1803 he regained Wismar, which was pawned to him from Sweden. After Napoleons victory at the Battle of Austerlitz and the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. Napoleon, in preparation for the French invasion of Russia in 1812, disregarded this alliance, instead, Denmark was promised the adjacent lands of Swedish Pomerania by the 1814 Peace of Kiel and the rule of the Mecklenburg dukes remained inviolate. In 1819 serfdom was abolished in his dominions. During the revolutions of 1848, the duchy witnessed a considerable agitation in favour of a liberal constitution, on 10 October 1849 Grand Duke Frederick Francis II granted a new Basic law elaborated by his First Minister Ludwig von Lützow. In the dispute over neighbouring Holstein which culminated in the 1866 Austro-Prussian War, Frederick Francis II supported the Kingdom of Prussia and his grand duchy began to pass more and more under Prussian influence. In 1867 he joined the North German Confederation and the Zollverein, in the Franco-Prussian War, Prussia again received valuable assistance from Grand Duke Frederick Francis II, who was an ardent advocate of German unity and held a high command in her armies. In the course of the German unification in 1871, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, there was now renewed agitation for a more democratic constitution, and the German Reichstag parliament gave some countenance to this movement. In 1897 Frederick Francis IV succeeded his father Frederick Francis III as the last grand duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, in 1907 the Grand Duke promised a constitution to his subjects. The duchy had always been under a system of government. The duchy shared a diet, which met for a short session each year, at other times they were represented by a committee consisting of the proprietors of knights estates, known as the Ritterschaft, and the Landschaft, or burgomasters of certain towns. Mecklenburg-Schwerin returned six members to the Reichstag, upon the suicide of his cousin Grand Duke Adolphus Frederick VI on 23 February 1918, Frederick Francis served as regent of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Shortly afterwards, on 14 November, he was forced to renounce the Mecklenburg throne in the course of the German Revolution, the grand duchy turned into the Free State of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, a federated state of the Weimar Republic. Thereby ended nearly eight centuries of rule by the originally Obotrite Mecklenburg dynasty. Until 1918 the grand duke was styled as Prince of the Wends and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. article name needed
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Duchess Donata of Mecklenburg
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Duchess Donata of Mecklenburg is the senior remaining member of the House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. She was born in Kiel in the state of Schleswig-Holstein the eldest daughter of Duke Christian Louis of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and her father was the younger brother to the last surviving male of the House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Friedrich Franz, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. As Donata had only one sister Edwina, and as her uncle had no children the House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin became extinct in the line in 2001 when her uncle died. As a result, the Mecklenburg-Strelitz line, headed by Borwin, Duke of Mecklenburg and her paternal grandfather was the last reigning Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Frederick Francis IV. Her maternal grandfather was Prince Sigismund of Prussia, a grandson of German Emperor Frederick III and Victoria, marlene A. Eilers, Queen Victorias Descendants, page 161-162
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Duchess Woizlawa Feodora of Mecklenburg
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Princess Woizlawa Feodora Reuss is a member of the House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Since there are no males left in the family, the house is considered due to the Salic law of succession. Her parents were Duke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg and Princess Victoria Feodora Reuss zu Schleiz and her father was the seventh son of Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin by his third wife Princess Marie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Her mother Princess Victoria Feodora died a day after her birth and she is first cousin of, Cyril Vladimirovich, Grand Duke of Russia pretender to the Russian throne after the assassination of his cousin Nicholas II of Russia. Queen Alexandrine of Denmark, consort of Christian X of Denmark, cecilie, German Crown Princess, wife of William, German Crown Prince. Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, queen regnant of the Netherlands, the affair was the result of Wilhelminas opinion that the wedding be a family affair, consequently, she did not invite foreign royalty unless she was personally familiar with them. As a result, Juliana’s chosen bridesmaids were either her relatives or family friends and these included Woizlawa herself, Duchess Thyra of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia, Princess Sophie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, and two of Bernhard’s sisters, among others. On 15 September 1939 in Bad Doberan Woizlawa married, Prince Heinrich I Reuss elder son of Prince Heinrich XXXIV Reuss of Köstritz, in 1945 however, the communist land reform in the Soviet occupation zone expropriated all movable and immovable assets of the House of Reuss. Furthermore, a restitution claim for movable assets was passed by the Bundestag. In a settlement, the princess also received Thallwitz castle and some forest property, genealogics - Leo van de Pas Woizlawa Feodora Herzogin von Mecklenburg-Schwerin thePeerage. com Woizlawa-Feodora Herzogin von Mecklenburg-Schwerin
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Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
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The Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a territory in Northern Germany, held by the younger line of the House of Mecklenburg residing in Neustrelitz. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–19 it was succeeded by the Free State of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the first was bounded by the Prussian provinces of Pomerania and Brandenburg, the second bordered on the Duchy of Lauenburg and the territory of the Free City of Lübeck. Major towns beside Neustrelitz included Neubrandenburg, Friedland, Woldegk, Stargard, Fürstenberg, the Grand Duchy also comprised the former commandries of the Knights Hospitaller in Mirow and Nemerow. Thereupon, the Grand Duchy joined the North German Confederation and the reconstituted Zollverein, also in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71, the Kingdom of Prussia received valuable assistance from Mecklenburg-Strelitz. In 1871 both Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz became States of the German Empire, Mecklenburg-Strelitz returned one member to the Bundesrat chamber of states. However, the Grand Duke was still styled Prince of the Wends, the Grand Dukes exercised absolute power through their ministers, with an antiquated type of diet representing social classes. There was now a renewal of agitation for a democratic constitution. In 1904 Adolphus Frederick V, a son of Grand Duke Frederick William and his wife Princess Augusta of Cambridge, daughter of Prince Adolphus, in 1907, the grand duke promised a constitution to the duchys subjects, but this was met with opposition from the nobility. The Mecklenburg-Strelitz dynasty ended just prior to the loss of the monarchy in developments associated with World War I, in 1914, before the proclamation of war between Germany and Russia, Duke Charles Michael renounced his Mecklenburgish citizenship. On 23 February 1918, Grand Duke Adolf Frederick VI committed suicide, George subsequently assumed the title Duke of Mecklenburg which was acknowledged by Grand Duke Frederick Francis IV of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. He was later given the style of Highness by the House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, georges grandson Borwin is the present head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The county of Mecklenburg in the U. S. state of North Carolina, the City of Charlotte, known as The Queen City was named for Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III of Great Britain. Queen Charlotte was Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, born on 19 May 1744 and she was the youngest daughter of Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Prince of Mirow and his wife Princess Elizabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
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Duke Carl Gregor of Mecklenburg
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Duke Carl Gregor of Mecklenburg is a member of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and a music and art historian. He was born in Remplin, Mecklenburg at the grand ducal families estate the youngest child of Duke Georg of Mecklenburg and his first wife Irina Mikhailovna Raievskya. Of his names, Gregor was given as honoring his maternal uncle, Grigori Potemkin, Prince of Tauride - in Russian context. He spent the first years of his life at Schloss Remplin until the part of the palace was destroyed in a fire in 1940. His family then moved to Grunewald, where lived until their home was completely destroyed in February 1944 during a bombing raid. Carl Gregor studied music and art history at the University of Tübingen and he has worked as an assistant professor in the department of art history at the Technische Hochschule in Stuttgart. In 1974 he was appointed the director of the Museum of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, Carl Gregor is the author of a number of books. Duke Carl Gregor married Princess Maria Margarethe of Hohenzollern, the daughter of Franz Joseph, Prince of Hohenzollern-Emden and they were married religiously on 23 April 1966 in the Chapel at Burg Hohenzollern. Duke Carl Gregor of Mecklenburg in the German National Library catalogue Die Demokratie soll ihre Chance bekommen House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz website
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Duke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg
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Born in Schwerin, Adolf Friedrich was the third child of Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and his third wife Princess Marie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. His younger brother was Prince Hendrik of the Netherlands, prince consort to the Dutch Queen Wilhelmina, from 1907 to 1908, Adolf Friedrich led a scientific research expedition in the region of the Central African Graben and traversed Africa from east to west. In 1908, he was awarded the Eduard Vogel Medal of the Association of Geography of Leipzig, Adolf Friedrich and his companions explored the then little-known primeval forest region of the Congo tributaries and the basin of Lake Chad. Individual groups extended their explorations to the Bahr el Ghazal near the upper Nile, while others travelled to south Cameroon, vom Kongo zum Niger und Nil, a two-volume work based on the 1910–1911 expeditions, has an excellent reputation today for its detail and images. From 1912 to 1914, Adolf Friedrich was the last governor of Togoland in German West Africa, after World War I, he served as the vice-president of the privately chartered German Colonial Society for Southwest Africa, his brother Johann Albrecht was president from 1895 to 1920. A temporary regency council for all the Baltic provinces led by Baron Adolf Pilar von Pilchau was formed on 5 November 1918 and it was to be a confederation of seven cantons, Kurland, Riga, Lettgallen, Südlivland, Nordlivland, Ösel, and Estland. The capital of the new state was to be Riga, the proposed United Baltic Duchy was to be located in the future territory of Latvia and Estonia covering the territory of the medieval Livonian Confederation. The first head of state of the United Baltic Duchy was to be Adolf Friedrich, the appointed regency council consisting of four Baltic Germans, three Estonians and three Latvians functioned until 28 November 1918, without any international recognition, except from Germany. Adolf Friedrich then served as a member of the International Olympic Committee from 1926 to 1956, in Gera on 24 April 1917, he married Princess Viktoria Feodora of Reuss-Schleiz, a daughter of Heinrich XXVII, Prince Reuss Younger Line. She died a day giving birth to their only daughter, Duchess Woizlawa Feodora. Princess Elisabeth survived her husband by only a few weeks after his death in Eutin in 1969, translated into English as In the Heart of Africa. Vom Kongo zum Niger und Nil, translated into English as, From the Congo to the Niger and the Nile, An Account of the German Central African Expedition of 1910-1911. Wissenschaftliche Erlebnisse der Deutschen Zentral-Afrika-Expedition unter Führung Adolf Friedrichs, Herzog zu Mecklenburg, history of Togo German South-West Africa United Baltic Duchy International Olympic Committee
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George, Duke of Mecklenburg
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George, Duke of Mecklenburg was the head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz from 1934 until his death. Through his father, he was a descendant of Russian Emperor Paul I. When his father died in 1909, his uncle Duke Charles Michael was appointed guardian of George and his sisters Katharina, Marie, after the 1917 October Revolution George and his family fled Russia heading first to France before later moving to Germany. On 11 September 1928 George was adopted by his uncle Duke Charles Michael, the adoption was confirmed in the courts in Malchin on 5 October 1928 and as a result he took his uncle and adopted fathers surname of Mecklenburg. Following his adoption, George assumed the title Duke of Mecklenburg with the style Serene Highness and this was confirmed by the head of the Imperial House of Russia, Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich on 18 July 1929 and recognised on 23 December by Grand Duke Friedrich Franz IV of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Duke George studied political science at the University of Freiburg and became a Doctor of Economics, on 6 December 1934, his uncle Duke Charles Michael died, and George succeeded him as head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. He lived with his family at Schloss Remplin until April 1940, the Grand Ducal family then moved to Grunewald, where they lived until their home was destroyed in an Allied bombing raid in February 1944. In August 1944, George was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp by the Nazi government, following his release, Duke George and his family moved to Sigmaringen at the invitation of Princess Margarete of Hohenzollern in March 1945. At the same time, the Count of Carlow title was abolished, George died in Sigmaringen, Germany of a heart attack. He was succeeded as head of the Grand Ducal House by his eldest son Duke Georg Alexander, irina was daughter of the Rayevski family who were one of heirs of the famed Grigori Potemkin, Prince of Tauria, descending from the childless Princes sister. The couple had four children one son Alexander born on 3 August 1922 died at the age of just eighteen days. The children who survived into adulthood were, HH Georg Alexander, Duke of Mecklenburg HH Duchess Helene of Mecklenburg m. Hassan Sayed Kamil, an Egyptian-Swiss arms dealer and she was killed in a plane crash. HH Duke Carl Gregor of Mecklenburg m and they were married in a civil ceremony on 21 July 1956 in Pöcking, Germany followed by a religious ceremony four days later. Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Beiträge zur Geschichte einer Region, huberty, Michel, Alain Giraud, F. et B
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Charles Michael, Duke of Mecklenburg
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Charles Michael studied at the University of Strasbourg and gained a PhD. When his brother died in 1909 Charles Michael was appointed the guardian of his children Katharina, Marie, Natalia, from 1908 to 1910, he served as the head of artillery in the 1st Army Corps of the Russian Imperial Army. On 7 August shortly after the outbreak of World War I he became a naturalised Russian citizen, in March,1917 Charles Michael was arrested and made to appear before the Russian parliament the Duma. He later fled to the Caucasus region, a petition to accept the throne was also sent to Charles Michael by the citizens of Mecklenburg-Strelitz as they wanted to maintain their independence and not be united with Mecklenburg-Schwerin. As a result, the issue could not be resolved in time. Charles Michael eventually left Russia with his family arriving first in France before going into exile in Denmark, while there he served as Chairman of the Mutual Charitable Society for Russian Officers in Denmark. In 1921 he was five million marks by the Mecklenburg government in return for renouncing his claim to the Strelitz throne. In April,1930 he returned to Germany and took up residence at his estate, Charles Michael died unmarried in Remplin, Germany and was succeeded as head of the Grand Ducal house by his nephew and adopted son the former Count of Carlow, Duke Georg of Mecklenburg. Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Beiträge zur Geschichte einer Region, huberty, Michel, Alain Giraud, F. et B. Mecklenburg-Strelitz – Beiträge zur Geschichte einer Region, steffen,22001 ISBN 3-9807532-0-4 Grewolls, Grete. Wer war wer in Mecklenburg und Vorpommern, Duke Carl Michael | House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
