Ernest Augustus (german: Ernst August; 20 November 1629 – 23 January 1698) was ruler of the

Principality of Lüneburg The Principality of Lüneburg (later also referred to as Celle) was a territorial division of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg within the Holy Roman Empire, immediately subordinate to the emperor. It existed from 1269 until 1705 and its territory ...

from 1658 and of the Principality of Calenberg from 1679 until his death, and father of

George I of Great Britain George I (George Louis; ; 28 May 1660 – 11 June 1727) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 and ruler of the Electorate of Hanover within the Holy Roman Empire from 23 January 1698 until his death in 1727. He was the fir ...

. He was appointed as the ninth

prince-elector The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century onwards, the princ ...

of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

in 1692, but died before the appointment became effective. He was also ruler of the

Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück The Prince-Bishopric of OsnabrückAlso known as the Prince-Bishopric of Osnaburg) (german: link=no, Hochstift Osnabrück; Fürstbistum Osnabrück, Bistum Osnabrück) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1225 until 1803. ...

from 1662 until his death.

Early life and marriage

Unbekannt, Maison de Plaisir d'Herrenhausen, c1708

Osnabrück Bischöfliche Residenz (1777)@01

Ernest Augustus was born on 20 November 1629 at

Herzberg Castle Herzberg Castle (german: Schloss Herzberg) is a German '' schloss'' in Herzberg am Harz in the district of Göttingen in the state of Lower Saxony. The present-day, quadrangular building has its origins in the 11th century as a medieval ''cas ...

near

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...

, Principality of Calenberg, the youngest son of

George, Duke of Brunswick-Calenberg George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (17 February 1582, in Celle – 12 April 1641, in Hildesheim), ruled as Prince of Calenberg from 1635. George was the sixth son of William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1535–1592) and Dorothea of Denmark ...

and Prince of Calenberg, and

Anne Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt Princess Anne Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt (30 July 1601 – 6 May 1659) was the daughter of Louis V, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and Magdalena von Brandenburg. She was born in Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany. She married George, Duke of Brunswick-L� ...

. On 30 September 1658, he married

Sophia of the Palatinate Sophia of Hanover (born Princess Sophia of the Palatinate; 14 October 1630 – 8 June 1714) was the Electress of Hanover by marriage to Elector Ernest Augustus and later the heiress presumptive to the thrones of England and Scotland (later Gre ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German: ') is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914, of which roughly a quarter consisted of students ...

.Cavendish, Richard
"Sophia of Hanover Dies"
''History Today'', Vol. 64 Issue 6, June 2014 She was the daughter of

Frederick V, Elector Palatine Frederick V (german: link=no, Friedrich; 26 August 1596 – 29 November 1632) was the Elector Palatine of the Rhine in the Holy Roman Empire from 1610 to 1623, and reigned as King of Bohemia from 1619 to 1620. He was forced to abdicate bo ...

and Elizabeth Stuart of England, and granddaughter of King

James I of England James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

. Sophia had been betrothed to Ernest Augustus's older brother, George William, who did not want her. When she married Ernest Augustus instead, releasing George William from this obligation, George William ceded to Ernest Augustus his claim to

Lüneburg Lüneburg (officially the ''Hanseatic City of Lüneburg'', German: ''Hansestadt Lüneburg'', , Low German ''Lümborg'', Latin ''Luneburgum'' or ''Lunaburgum'', Old High German ''Luneburc'', Old Saxon ''Hliuni'', Polabian ''Glain''), also called ...

Prince-Bishop

As the fourth son, Ernest Augustus had little chance of succeeding his father as ruler. Therefore, the couple had to live in the

Leineschloss The Leineschloss (English: Leine Palace), situated on the Leine in Hanover, Germany, is the former residence of the Hanoverian dukes, electors and kings. Currently it is the seat of the Landtag of Lower Saxony. The first building on the site w ...

at the Hanover court of Ernest Augustus' eldest brother Christian Louis. However, in the

Peace of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia (german: Westfälischer Friede, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought pe ...

of 1648, it had been agreed between the Catholic and Protestant powers that the rulership of the

should alternate between the two churches, and that the respective Protestant bishops should be members of the

House of Welf The House of Welf (also Guelf or Guelph) is a European dynasty that has included many German and British monarchs from the 11th to 20th century and Emperor Ivan VI of Russia in the 18th century. The originally Franconian family from the Meus ...

. When the Osnabruck throne became vacant in 1662, the family appointed Ernest Augustus Prince-Bishop. Ernest Augustus and Sophia moved to Iburg Castle, together with their two living sons and Sophia's niece Princess Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate (future sister-in-law of

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of ...

). In 1667 they began to build a more up-to-date residence, Osnabruck Palace, and in 1673 they moved there. Their youngest son was born there in 1674. Christian Louis died childless in 1665, leaving Lüneburg to the second brother, George William, who had ceded his right to Ernest Augustus, who thus succeeded to that title. George William kept the district of Celle for himself. In 1679, Ernest Augustus inherited the Principality of Calenberg from the third brother John Frederick. In 1680 the family moved back to Hanover.

Prince-elector

In 1683, against the protestations of his five younger sons, Ernest Augustus instituted

primogeniture Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...

, so that his territory would not be further subdivided after his death, and also as a pre-condition for obtaining the coveted electorship. He participated in the

Great Turkish War The Great Turkish War (german: Großer Türkenkrieg), also called the Wars of the Holy League ( tr, Kutsal İttifak Savaşları), was a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League consisting of the Holy Roman Empire, Pola ...

on the side of

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I (Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Franz Felician; hu, I. Lipót; 9 June 1640 – 5 May 1705) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. The second son of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, by his first wife, Maria ...

. In 1692, he was appointed

Prince-elector The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century onwards, the princ ...

by the Emperor, thus raising the

House of Hanover The House of Hanover (german: Haus Hannover), whose members are known as Hanoverians, is a European royal house of German origin that ruled Hanover, Great Britain, and Ireland at various times during the 17th to 20th centuries. The house or ...

to electoral dignity, the elevation becoming effective in 1708 when confirmed by the Imperial Diet. He was nonetheless recognized as Elector of Hanover, the very first.

Death, succession, and legacy

Ernest Augustus died in 1698 at Herrenhausen Palace, Hanover. He was succeeded as ruler by his eldest son, George Louis, later King George I of Great Britain. His main residences were the Leineschloss, in Hanover, and the Herrenhausen, a summer residence a short distance outside the city. Ernest Augustus and Sophia had the Great Garden at Herrenhausen enlarged after Italian and Dutch models, creating one of the most distinguished baroque formal gardens of Europe.

Issue

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ernest Augustus Of Hanover, Elector 1629 births 1698 deaths People from Herzberg am Harz Princes of Calenberg House of Hanover Lutheran Prince-Bishops of Osnabrück Prince-electors of Hanover Sophia of Hanover Burials at Berggarten Mausoleum, Herrenhausen (Hanover)