William, Duke of Brunswick

William, Duke of Brunswick (German: Wilhelm August Ludwig Maximilian Friedrich; 25 April 1806 – 18 October 1884), was ruling duke of the Duchy of Brunswick from 1830 until his death.

For other people named William of Brunswick, see William of Brunswick (disambiguation).
William
Duke of Brunswick
Reign9 September 1830 – 18 October 1884
PredecessorCharles II
SuccessorPrince Albert of Prussia
(as Imperial Regent)
Born(1806-04-25)25 April 1806
Brunswick, Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
Died18 October 1884(1884-10-18) (aged 78)
Sibyllenort, Silesia, Prussia
Names
William Augustus Louis Maximilian Frederick
German: Wilhelm August Ludwig Maximilian Friedrich
HouseHouse of Brunswick-Bevern
FatherFrederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
MotherPrincess Marie of Baden

William was the second son of Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and after the death of his father in 1815, was under the guardianship of King George IV of the United Kingdom. He became a Prussian major in 1823. When his brother, Charles, was deposed as ruling duke by a rebellion in 1830, William took over the government provisionally. In 1831, a family law of the House of Guelph made William the ruling duke permanently. William left most government business to his ministers, spending most of his time at Oleśnica Castle in what is now southwestern Poland.

While William joined the Prussian-led North German Confederation in 1866, his relationship to Prussia was strained, since Prussia refused to recognize Ernest Augustus, Crown Prince of Hanover, his nearest male-line relative, as his heir, because of the Duke of Cumberland's claim to the throne of Hanover. William died in 1884; he passed on his private possessions to the Duke of Cumberland. His death caused a constitutional crisis for Brunswick that lasted until the accession of Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick, the son of the Crown Prince of Hanover, in 1913.

William died unmarried, but had a number of illegitimate children.

Honours

References
  1. Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Baden (1834), "Großherzogliche Orden" pp. 32, 49
  2. Shaw, Wm. A. (1906) The Knights of England, I, London, p. 54
  3. Liste der Ritter des Königlich Preußischen Hohen Ordens vom Schwarzen Adler (1851), "Von Seiner Majestät dem Könige Friedrich Wilhelm III. ernannte Ritter" p. 20
  4. Staat Hannover (1865). Hof- und Staatshandbuch für das Königreich Hannover: 1865. Berenberg. p. 37.
  5. Hof- und Staatshandbuch des Großherzogtums Oldenburg0: 1879. Schulze. 1879. p. 32.
  6. "A Szent István Rend tagjai" Archived 22 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Adreß-Handbuch des Herzogthums Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha (1854), "Herzogliche Sachsen-Ernestinischer Hausorden" p. 29
  8. Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Hessen (1879), "Großherzogliche Orden und Ehrenzeichen" pp. 10, 44
  9. Staatshandbuch für das Großherzogtum Sachsen / Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach (1869), "Großherzogliche Hausorden" p. 12
  10. Staats- und Adreß-Handbuch des Herzogthums Nassau (1866), "Herzogliche Orden" p. 9
  11. Württemberg (1866). Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreichs Württemberg: 1866. p. 30.
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