Saxe-Lauenburg

The Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg (German: Herzogtum Sachsen-Lauenburg, Danish: Hertugdømmet Sachsen-Lauenborg), was a reichsfrei duchy that existed from 1296 to 1803 and again from 1814 to 1876 in the extreme southeast region of what is now Schleswig-Holstein. Its territorial centre was in the modern district of Herzogtum Lauenburg and originally its eponymous capital was Lauenburg upon Elbe, though the capital moved to Ratzeburg in 1619.

In addition to the core territories in the modern district of Lauenburg, other territories, mostly south of the river Elbe, occasionally belonged to the duchy:

In 1203, King Valdemar II of Denmark conquered the area later composing Saxe-Lauenburg, but it reverted to Albert I, Duke of Saxony in 1227. In 1260, Albert I's sons Albert II and John I succeeded their father. In 1269, 1272 and 1282, the brothers gradually divided their governing competences within the three territorially unconnected Saxon areas along the Elbe river (one called Land of Hadeln, another around Lauenburg upon Elbe and the third around Wittenberg upon Elbe), thus preparing a partition.

After John I's resignation, Albert II ruled with his minor nephews Albert III, Eric I and John II, who by 1296 definitely partitioned Saxony, providing Saxe-Lauenburg for the brothers and Saxe-Wittenberg for their uncle Albert II. The last document mentioning the brothers and their uncle Albert II as Saxon fellow dukes dates back to 1295. A deed of 20 September 1296 mentions the Vierlande, Sadelbande (Land of Lauenburg), the Land of Ratzeburg, the Land of Darzing (later Amt Neuhaus), and the Land of Hadeln as the separate territory of the brothers.

By 1303, the three jointly ruling brothers had partitioned Saxe-Lauenburg into three shares; however, Albert III died in 1308, and the surviving brothers established, in a territorial realignment in 1321, the Lauenburg Elder Line, with John II ruling Saxe-Bergedorf-Mölln, seated in Bergedorf, and the Lauenburg Younger Line, with Eric I ruling Saxe-Ratzeburg-Lauenburg, seated in Lauenburg upon Elbe. John II, the eldest brother, wielded the electoral privilege for the Lauenburg Ascanians, but was rivalled by their cousin Rudolph I of Saxe-Wittenberg.

In 1314, the dispute escalated into the election of two hostile German kings, the Habsburg Frederick III, the Fair, and his Wittelsbach cousin Louis IV, the Bavarian. Louis received five of the seven votes, to wit John II, Archbishop-Elector Baldwin of Trier, the legitimate King-Elector John of Bohemia, Duke John II of Saxe-Lauenburg using his claim as the Saxon prince-elector, Archbishop-Elector Peter of Mainz, and Prince-Elector Waldemar of Brandenburg.

Frederick the Fair received four of the seven votes in the same election, with the deposed King-Elector Henry of Bohemia illegitimately assuming electoral power, Archbishop-Elector Henry II of Cologne, Louis's brother Prince-Elector Rudolph I of the Electorate of the Palatinate, and Duke Rudolph I of Saxe-Wittenberg, claiming the Saxon prince-electoral power. However, only Louis the Bavarian finally asserted himself as emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The Golden Bull of 1356, however, conclusively named the dukes of Saxe-Wittenberg as electors.

In 1370, John II's fourth successor Eric III of Saxe-Bergedorf-Mölln pawned the Herrschaft of Bergedorf, the Vierlande, half the Saxon Wood, and Geesthacht to Lübeck in return for a credit of 16,262.5 Lübeck marks. This acquisition included much of the trade route between Hamburg and Lübeck, thus providing a safe passage for freight between the cities. Eric III only retained a life tenancy.