Lower Saxon Circle

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The Lower Saxon Circle (

The first plans for a Lower Saxon Circle originated from Albert II of Germany in 1438. An Imperial Saxon Circle was formally created in 1500, but in 1512 it was divided into an Upper Saxon and Lower Saxon Circle. The division was only codified in 1522, and it took a while before the separation was completely implemented by the Imperial Chamber Court. Furthermore, the first mention of an Upper Saxon Circle, a Lower Saxon Circle or the Netherlands occurred much later on. The term Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) was first used only in 1548.

Territory

The Lower Saxon Circle included the easternmost part of current

and the kings of Denmark from completely dominating.

Composition

The circle was made up of the following states:

Name	Type of entity	Comments
Bremen	Duchy	Archbishopric of Bremen established in 787 by Charlemagne, secularized in 1648 as fief of Sweden, ceded to Great Britain in 1715; 12th seat to the Reichstag
Bremen	Imperial City	8th Rhenish City from 1186
Brunswick-Calenberg	Duchy	Subdivision of Brunswick-Lüneburg from 1494, united with Celle in 1705 to form Hanover, 34th seat to the Reichstag
Brunswick-Celle	Duchy	Subdivision of Brunswick-Lüneburg from 1269 until 1705, 32th seat to the Reichstag
Brunswick-Grubenhagen	Duchy	Subdivision of Brunswick-Lüneburg from 1291 until 1596, 36th seat to the Reichstag
Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel	Duchy	Subdivision of Brunswick-Lüneburg from 1269, included Blankenburg, became Duchy of Brunswick after Napoleon, 38th seat to the Reichstag
Gandersheim	Imperial Abbacy	Established in 852 by Duke Liudolf of Saxony, Immediacy confirmed by King Henry the Fowler in 919, contested by Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, 18th Prelature of the Rhine
Goslar	Imperial City	From 1290
Halberstadt	Prince-Bishopric	Established by Charlemagne in 804, secularized in 1648 as Principality of Halberstadt held by Brandenburg
Hamburg	Imperial City	9th Rhenish City from 1189
Hildesheim	Prince-Bishopric	Established in 815 by Louis the Pious; 27th seat to the Reichstag
Holstein	Duchy	Established in 1474, held by the Danish Royal House of Oldenburg, from 1648 residence in Glückstadt
Holstein-Gottorp	Duchy	Subdivision of Holstein from 1544 until 1773
Lübeck	Prince-Bishopric	Established in 1160 by Henry the Lion, 49th seat to the Reichstag
Lübeck	Imperial City	3rd Rhenish City, from 1226
Magdeburg	Prince-Archbishopric Duchy	Established in 955 by Otto I as Archbishopric of Magdeburg, secularized in 1680, held by Brandenburg
Mecklenburg-Schwerin	Duchy	Established in 1352
Mecklenburg-Güstrow	Duchy	Subdivision of Mecklenburg-Schwerin from 1520 until 1552, again from 1621 until 1695
Mecklenburg-Strelitz	Duchy	Subdivision of Mecklenburg-Schwerin from 1701
Mühlhausen	Imperial City	From 1251
Nordhausen	Imperial City	From 1220
Rantzau	County	Established in 1650, held by the Danish Royal House of Oldenburg from 1734
Ratzeburg	Prince-Bishopric	Established in 1154 by Henry the Lion, secularized in 1648 as Principality of Ratzeburg, held by the Dukes of Mecklenburg, Mecklenburg-Strelitz from 1701
Regenstein	County	From about 1160, united with Blankenburg in 1368, held by the Dukes of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel from 1599
Saxe-Lauenburg	Duchy	Established in 1296, in 1689 fell to the Dukes of Brunswick-Calenberg, 66th seat to the Reichstag
Schwerin	Prince-Bishopric	Established in 1154 by Henry the Lion, residence at Bützow from 1239, secularized in 1648 as a principality held by the Dukes of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Notes

Sources

• The list of states making up the Lower Saxon Circle is based on that in the German Wikipedia article Niedersächsischer Reichskreis.

External links

• Imperial Circles in the 16th Century – Historical Maps of Germany