Lower Saxon Circle
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The Lower Saxon Circle (in German, Niedersächsischer Reichskreis) was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire.
An unusual aspect of this circle was that at various times the kings of Denmark, Great Britain, and Sweden were all princes of a number of the member states.
[edit] Composition
The circle was made up of the following states:
| Name | Type of entity | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Blankenburg am Harz | Principality | Held by the Dukes of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel from 1731 |
| Bremen | Archbishopric | Secularized as a duchy in 1648 and then held by Sweden until 1719 |
| Bremen | Imperial City | |
| Brunswick-Celle | Principality | Subdivision of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg |
| Brunswick-Grubenhagen | Principality | Subdivision of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg |
| Brunswick-Calenberg | Principality, Duchy | Subdivision of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Calenberg dukes managed to get all of Brunswick except Wolfenbüttel |
| Brunswick-Lüneburg | Duchy | Later became known as the Electorate of Hanover |
| Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel | Principality, Duchy | Became Duchy of Brunswick in 1815 |
| Goslar | Imperial City | |
| Halberstadt | Bishopric | Secularized as a principality held by Brandenburg in 1648 |
| Hamburg | Imperial City | |
| Hildesheim | Bishopric | |
| Holstein | Duchy | |
| Holstein-Glückstadt | Duchy | |
| Holstein-Gottorp | Duchy | |
| Lübeck | Bishopric | |
| Lübeck | Imperial City | |
| Magdeburg | Archbishopric | Secularized as a duchy held by Brandenburg in 1680 |
| Mecklenburg | Duchy | Partitioned into Mecklenburg-Güstrow and Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1621, re-unified in 1695, and partitioned finally into Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz in 1701 |
| Mecklenburg-Güstrow | Duchy | |
| Mecklenburg-Schwerin | Duchy | |
| Mecklenburg-Strelitz | Duchy | |
| Mühlhausen | Imperial City | |
| Nordhausen | Imperial City | |
| Rantzau | County | Held by the King of Denmark from 1734 |
| Ratzeburg | Bishopric | Secularized as a principality held by the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1648 |
| Regenstein | County | |
| Saxe-Lauenburg | Duchy | |
| Schwerin | Bishopric | Secularized as a principality held by the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1648 |
[edit] Sources
The list of states making up the Lower Saxon Circle is based on that in the German Wikipedia article Niedersächsischer Reichskreis.
Holy Roman Empire – Lower Saxon Circle (1500–1806)Blankenburg | Archbishopric of Bremen, Bremen | Brunswick-Lüneburg, Calenberg, Celle, Grubenhagen, Wolfenbüttel | Goslar | Halberstadt | Hamburg | Hildesheim | Holstein, Glückstadt, Gottorp | Bishopric of Lübeck, Lübeck | Magdeburg | Mecklenburg, Güstrow, Schwerin, Bishopric of Schwerin, Strelitz | Mühlhausen | Nordhausen | Rantzau | Ratzeburg | Regenstein | Saxe-Lauenburg
| Circles of the Holy Roman Empire after the Imperial Reform |
 |
|---|---|
| Created in 1500: Bavarian Circle · Franconian Circle · (Lower Rhenish-)Westphalian Circle · Lower Saxon Circle · Swabian Circle · Upper Rhenish Circle Created in 1512: Austrian Circle · Burgundian Circle · Electoral Rhenish Circle · Upper Saxon Circle |
