Mecklenburg-Güstrow was a state 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 ...

Northern Germany Northern Germany (german: link=no, Norddeutschland) is a linguistic, geographic, socio-cultural and historic region in the northern part of Germany which includes the coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony an ...

, that existed on three occasions ruled by the

House of Mecklenburg The House of Mecklenburg, also known as Nikloting, is a North German dynasty of Slavic origin that ruled until 1918 in the Mecklenburg region, being among the longest-ruling families of Europe. Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (1909–2004), ...

at Güstrow.

History

A first short-lived predecessor existed after the death of

Henry IV, Duke of Mecklenburg Henry IV, Duke of Mecklenburg (1417 – 9 March 1477) was from 1422 to 1477 Duke of Mecklenburg. Life Henry IV of Mecklenburg, because of his obesity and lavish lifestyle also called the "Henry the Fat", was the son of the Duke John IV of ...

in 1477 and the subsequent partition of his lands among his sons in 1480. Albert VI received the estates of the former Lordship of

Werle {{Infobox country , native_name = ''Herrschaft Werle'' ( de) , conventional_long_name = Lordship of Werle , common_name = Werle , era = Middle Ages , status = Vassal , empire = ...

around Güstrow. However, Albert died without issue in 1483 and his lands were inherited by his younger brother

Magnus II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Magnus II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Güstrow (1441 – 20 November 1503) was duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin from 1477 until his death. Biography He was the son of Henry IV, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and Dorothea of Brandenburg, daught ...

. When Magnus died in 1503, his sons

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...

and Albert VII at first ruled jointly over the entire Mecklenburg duchy until its renewed division by the 1520 Neubrandenburg Treaty. Albert, a fierce opponent of the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...

, had insisted on the partition and became duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, while his brother Henry retained

Mecklenburg-Schwerin 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. Ruled by the successors of the Nikloting Hou ...

. However Mecklenburg ''de jure'' remained undivided; both brothers held the title of Duke of Mecklenburg and, as Henry only left one insane son when he died in 1552, the Schwerin lands fell back to Albert's sons Ulrich III and John Albert I. At this time John Albert and Ulrich had ruled jointly over the Güstrow lands, but now came into conflict over the inherited Schwerin part. The controversy was finally decided in 1556 by the ''Ruppin dictum'' of

Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg Joachim II (german: Joachim II Hector or ''Hektor''; 13 January 1505 – 3 January 1571) was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (1535–1571), the sixth member of the House of Hohenzollern. Joachim II was the eldest son of Joa ...

: John Albert I received Schwerin while Ulrich remained Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow. Ulrich died without heirs in 1603 and Güstrow fell back to John Albert's grandchildren Adolf Frederick I and John Albert II, joint rulers of Mecklenburg-Schwerin from 1610 onwards. Mecklenburg-Güstrow was created for a third and final time with the partition of 1621, when John Albert II received the Güstrow part of Mecklenburg. In 1628 he and his brother at

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgian Low German: ''Swerin''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the capital and second-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as well as of the region of Mecklenburg, after Rostock. It ...

were stripped of their duchies by order of Emperor Ferdinand II von Habsburg in favour of his Generalissimo

Albrecht von Wallenstein Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein () (24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein ( cs, Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the Th ...

. Officially the dukes were reproached for having secretly sided with Christian IV, King of Denmark, while in fact Mecklenburg was given in compensation of the enormous expenses Wallenstein had paid in building up Imperial troops. He took his residence at Güstrow but was dismissed by the Emperor three years later under pressure from the

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 ...

s, while the dukes with the support of

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

troops were restored. The House of Mecklenburg-Güstrow had assumed the administration of the former Catholic

Prince-Bishopric of Ratzeburg The Prince-Bishopric of Ratzeburg (german: Fürstbistum Ratzeburg) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that was located in what is today the states of Schleswig-Holstein (the district of Herzogtum Lauenburg) and Mecklenbur ...

after its conversion to

Lutheranism Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

in 1554. By the 1648

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 ...

, the diocese was finally secularised and adjudicated to the last

administrator Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

, Duke Gustav Adolph. Gustav Adolph's death in 1695 led to an inheritance dispute between his son-in-law Adolphus Frederick II, younger son of Adolf Frederick I and his nephew Frederick William, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, which would lead to the creation of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in 1701.

Dukes of Mecklenburg-Güstrow

* Albert VI 1480–1483 Güstrow reunited with Mecklenburg

1483–1520 * Albert VII 1520–1547 * John Albert I 1547–1556, son * Ulrich III 1556–1603, brother *

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

1603–1610, brother, custodian for: * John Albert II 1610–1628, jointly with his brother **

Adolf Frederick I, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Adolf Frederick I (15 December 1588 – 27 February 1658) was the reigning Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin from his father's death in 1592 until 1628 and again from 1631 to 1658. Between 1634 and 1648 Adolf Frederick also ruled the Prince-Bishopric ...

1610–1621 * ''

'' (non-dynast) 1628–1631 * John Albert II (restored) 1631–1636 * Gustav Adolph 1636–1695, son To

References

Regnal chronologies
*

''Euratlas.net'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Mecklenburg-Gustrow States and territories established in 1480 1480 establishments in Europe 1695 disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire States and territories established in 1520 States and territories disestablished in 1695 Duchies of the Holy Roman Empire House of Mecklenburg Former principalities History of Mecklenburg Former states and territories of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania 1520 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire