George William Of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Celle

George William (German: Georg Wilhelm) was born on 26 January 1624 in Herzberg am Harz and died on 28 August 1705. He was a member of the House of Welf and held various titles during his lifetime. His parents were George, Prince of Calenberg, and his wife, who is not specified in the provided information.

Early Life and Family:

George William was the second son in his family. He had an elder brother, Christian Louis, Prince of Calenberg, as well as two younger brothers and multiple sisters. One of his sisters was Queen Sophia Amalie of Denmark.

Career and Titles:

In 1648, George William was granted the Principality of Calenberg as an appanage by his elder brother, Christian Louis, who had inherited the Principality of Lüneburg from their paternal uncle, Frederick IV. When Christian Louis died childless in 1665, George William inherited Lüneburg and the associated territories. He then transferred the holder of the Calenberg principality to his younger brother, John Frederick.

In accordance with earlier arrangements made in 1658, George William renounced his claim to Lüneburg in favor of his youngest brother, Ernest Augustus. Instead, George William received the sub-division of Celle and agreed to remain unmarried and without heirs to ensure that the broader Lüneburg inheritance would pass to Ernest Augustus’s descendants. Ernest Augustus married Sophia of the Palatinate and became Duke of Hanover.

Marriage and Offspring:

George William entered into a morganatic marriage with Eleanor, Countess of Wilhelmsburg, in 1665. Their only child, Sophia Dorothea, was born in 1666. In 1676, amid concerns about the succession of the Lüneburg territories, George William legitimized his daughter and declared his marriage with Eleanor to be valid both ecclesiastically and legally. His daughter married George Louis (later King George I of Great Britain) in 1682, and they had a son, George II, born in 1683.

Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg:

In 1689, upon the death of Julius Francis, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg, who died without a male heir, George William claimed the duchy. Julius Francis’s attempt to designate his elder daughter as heir was not accepted by other family members and led to a succession crisis. George William occupied the duchy with his troops shortly after Julius Francis’s death. The neighboring powers, including Denmark and others, were involved in the ensuing dispute.

An agreement known as the Hamburg Comparison (Hamburger Vergleich) was reached on 9 October 1693, whereby George William retained the duchy in a personal union. Emperor Leopold I occupied the Land of Hadeln, a Saxe-Lauenburgian exclave, in imperial custody, but did not directly contest George William’s control over the duchy. In 1728, his grandson, George II of Great Britain, was formally enfeoffed with Saxe-Lauenburg by Emperor Charles VI. The Land of Hadeln was also later ceded to George II Augustus in 1731.

Military Service:

George William participated in the Swedish-Brandenburg War from 1675 to 1676, serving as the commander-in-chief of allied forces against Sweden during the campaign against Bremen-Verden.

Death:

George William died in Wienhausen at the age of 81.