Hedwig of Brandenburg (23 February 1540 – 21 October 1602), a member of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Princess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel from 1568 to 1589, by her marriage with the Welf duke Julius.
Contents
Life
Born at the City Palace in Cölln (today part of Berlin), Hedwig was a younger daughter of Elector Joachim II Hector of Brandenburg (1505–1571) from his second marriage with Hedwig Jagiellon (1513–1573), a daughter of King Sigismund I of Poland. Her elder sister Elizabeth Magdalena was married to Duke Francis Otto of Brunswick-Lüneburg in 1559; however, her husband died in the same year.
One year later, on 25 February 1560, Hedwig was married in Cölln on the Spree river to the Welf prince Julius of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1528–1589). Catherine's mother and Sophia Jagellion (stepmother to Julius) were sisters.
The couple had met at the Küstrin court of Margrave John of Brandenburg, where Julius had fled in 1558 from his father, Duke Henry V. His two older brothers having died at Battle of Sievershausen, Julius had suddenly become the new heir - but he was disliked by his father for his intellectual pursuits, lack of interest in riding and hunting and for his adherence to Protestantism. This all came to a head in Easter 1558, when Julius refused to attend Catholic mass. This meant a final break with his father. He was able to avoid arrest by fleeing.
There was also the fact that his father had remarried to Sophia Jagiellon, and with the possibility of his father having another son to replace him, Julius, fearing for his life, quickly left his father's court.
