Clara of Saxe-Lauenburg
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox royalty
|name = Clara of Saxe-Lauenburg
|image = Clara Gifhorn.jpg
|caption = Clara of Saxe-Lauenburg, wood sculpture in Gifhorn's palace chapel
|birth_date = 13 December 1518
|death_date = 27 March 1576
|father = Magnus I, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg
|mother = Catherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg
|spouse = Francis, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
}}
Clara of Saxe-Lauenburg (13 December 1518 – 27 March 1576) was a Princess of Saxe-Lauenburg and Duchess of Brunswick-Gifhorn by marriage.
Life
Clara was born on 13 December 1518 in Lauenburg upon Elbe, a daughter of Duke Magnus I of Saxe-Lauenburg (1470–1543) and his wife Catherine (1488–1563), daughter of Duke Henry I of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.
She married Duke Francis of Brunswick-Gifhorn (1508–1549) on 29 September 1547 in the Saxe-Lauenburgian castle at Neuhaus in Darzing. The couple were greatly loved by their subjects even if their short marriage of convenience was unlucky. Clara, who was very benevolent and went into medicine, used to prepared an herbal beer (Kräuterbier) for the poor and sick, which was produced long after her death.H. Ch. Heimbürger, Wilhelm der Jüngere, Herzog von Braunschweig-Lüneburg u. Stammvater des Hauses Hannover: Ein Lebens- and Zeitbild nach ungedruckten and gedruckten Quellen dargestellt, E. H. Ch. Schulze, 1857, p. 10
Following the untimely death of her husband, Clara lived at the dower pledged to her as a life annuity in Fallersleben,Ernst of Malortie: Beiträge zur Geschichte des Brunswick-Lüneburgischen Hauses and Hofes, Hahn, 1864, p. 85, where she finished building her castle in 1551 and presided over a boom in the local economy. Later she went to the court of her daughter in Barth, where she died on March 27, 1576. Clara was interred in St. Mary's Church there.Andrea Baresel-Brand: Grabdenkmäler nordeuropäischer Princeenhäuser im Zeitalter der Renaissance 1550-1650, Verlag Ludwig, 2007, S. 212 Her tomb in the castle chapel in Gifhorn is empty.[http://www.kuris-reisen.de/Deutschland-Dateien/Gifhorn/Schloss/bodyschloss.html Schloss Gifhorn] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719053622/http://www.kuris-reisen.de/Deutschland-Dateien/Gifhorn/Schloss/bodyschloss.html |date=19 July 2011 }} at www.kuris-reisen.de.
Descendants
Clara had two daughters from her marriage:
- Catherine (1548–1565)
:∞ 1564 Burgrave Henry VI of Meißen (1536–1572)
- Clara (1550–1598)
:∞ 1. 1565 Prince Bernhard VII of Anhalt (1540–1570)
:∞ 2. 1572 Duke Bogislaw XIII of Pomerania (1544–1606)
Ancestry
{{ahnentafel
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|boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;
|1= 1. Clara of Saxe-Lauenburg
|2= 2. Magnus I, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg
|3= 3. Catherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
|4= 4. John V, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg
|5= 5. Dorothea of Brandenburg
|6= 6. Henry IV, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
|7= 7. Catherine of Pomerania-Wolgast
|8= 8. Bernard II, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg
|9= 9. Adelheid of Pomerania-Stolp
|10= 10. Frederick II, Elector of Brandenburg
|11= 11. Catherine of Saxony
|12= 12. William IV, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
|13= 13. Elisabeth of Stolberg-Wernigerode
|14= 14. Eric II, Duke of Pomerania
|15= 15. Sophia of Pomerania-Stolp
|16= 16. Eric IV, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg
|17= 17. Sophie of Brunswick-Lüneburg
|18= 18. Bogislaw VIII, Duke of Pomerania
|19= 19. Sophia of Holstein
|20= 20. Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg
|21= 21. Elisabeth of Bavaria
|22= 22. Frederick I, Elector of Saxony
|23= 23. Catherine of Brunswick-Lüneburg
|24= 24. William the Victorious, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
|25= 25. Cecilia of Brandenburg
|26= 26. Bodo VII, Count of Stolberg-Wernigerode
|27= 27. Anna of Schwarzburg
|28= 28. Wartislaw IX, Duke of Pomerania
|29= 29. Sophie of Saxe-Lauenburg
|30= 30. Bogislaw IX, Duke of Pomerania
|31= 31. Maria of Masovia
}}
References
Sources
- Johann H. Steffens: Johann Henry Steffens Auszug aus der Geschichte des Gesammthauses Brunswick-Lüneburg, Bartsch, 1785, S. 381
External links
- [http://www.geneall.net/D/per_page.php?id=2800 Clara of Saxe-Lauenburg-Ratzeburg] {{in lang|de}}
- [http://www.pkgodzik.de/Fortgang%20der%20Reformation%20im%20Lauenburger%20Land.pdf The Reformation in Lauenburg Land under Francis I of Saxe-Lauenburg] {{in lang|de}}
{{Authority control}}
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Category:People from Lauenburg (Elbe)
Category:Duchesses of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Category:Duchesses of Saxe-Lauenburg
Category:Converts to Lutheranism from Roman Catholicism