Ernest III, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen


Ernest III of Brunswick-Grubenhagen-Herzberg, was a member of the noble family of Guelph and a duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen.

Life

Ernest was the eldest son of Duke Philip I of Brunswick-Grubenhagen and his second wife, Countess Catherine of Mansfeld-Vorderort, eldest daughter of Count Ernest II and his first wife Barbara of Querfurt. His paternal grandparents were Duke Albert II of Brunswick-Grubenhagen and his wife Countess Elisabeth of Waldeck.
Together with his father and brothers, he took part in a military campaign in southern Germany in 1546, during the Schmalkaldic War, which ended unsuccessfully at Ingolstadt.

Marriage and issue

On 9 October 1547 in Wolgast, Duke Ernest III married Princess Margaret of Pomerania-Wolgast, eldest daughter of Duke George I of Pomerania and his first wife, Princess Amalia of the Palatinate. From this marriage only one daughter reached adulthood:
Because Ernest had no sons, after his death, his duchy was inherited by his younger brother Wolfgang. When he, too, died without a male heir, the duchy was inherited by their youngest brother, Philip II. With Philip's death, the Brunswick-Grubenhagen line of the House of Guelph died out, and the duchy was merged back into Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.

Ancestors