Brunswick-Bevern was a secundogeniture of the Younger House of Brunswick, itself a branch of the House of Welf.
A secundogeniture was a dependent territory given to a younger son of a princely house and his descendants, creating a cadet branch. This was a special form of inheritance in which the second and younger son received more possessions and prestige than the apanage which was usual in principalities practising primogeniture. It avoided the generational division of the estate to the extent that occurred under gavelkind, and at the same time gave younger branches a stake in the stability of the house.
The Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, or more properly the Duchy of Brunswick and Lüneburg, was a historical duchy that existed from the late Middle Ages to the Early Modern era within the Holy Roman Empire. The duchy was located in what is now northwestern Germany. Its name came from the two largest cities in the territory: Brunswick and Lüneburg.
The House of Welf is a European dynasty that has included many German and British monarchs from the 11th to 20th century and Emperor Ivan VI of Russia in the 18th century.
Its first member was Ferdinand Albert I of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1636–1687), the fourth son of Duke Augustus the Younger, ruling Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Upon the death of his father in 1666 and a lengthy dispute with his elder brothers, Ferdinand Albert I received Bevern Palace near Holzminden as part of his inheritance. In turn, he had to waive all rights and claims to rule in the Welf Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.
Augustus II, called the Younger, a member of the House of Welf was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. In the estate division of the House of Welf of 1635, he received the Principality of Wolfenbüttel which he ruled until his death. Considered one of the most literate princes of his time, he is known for founding the Herzog August Library at his Wolfenbüttel residence, then the largest collection of books and manuscripts north of the Alps.
Bevern is a municipality in the District of Holzminden, Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the adminsitrative seat of the Samtgemeinde of Bevern.
Nevertheless, the Bevern line came to power in the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel when the main line of the Younger House of Brunswick became extinct with the death of Duke Louis Rudolph in 1735. Ferdinand Albert II, fourth son of Ferdinand Albert I who had succeeded his father in Bevern in 1687, ascended to the throne. At that time, he passed the appanage of Brunswick-Bevern to his younger brother Ernest Ferdinand (1682–1746), who thereby became head of the Younger Brunswick-Bevern line. His sons Augustus William and Frederick Charles Ferdinand held the secundogeniture until 1809. The main Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel line became extinct with the death of Duke William in 1884. [1]
Louis Rudolph, a member of the House of Welf, was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and ruling Prince of Wolfenbüttel from 1731 until his death. Since 1707, he ruled as an immediate Prince of Blankenburg.
Ferdinand Albert, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, was an officer in the army of the Holy Roman Empire. He was prince of Wolfenbüttel during 1735.
An appanage or apanage or French: apanage is the grant of an estate, title, office, or other thing of value to a younger male child of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture. It was common in much of Europe.
