The Rostock Inheritance Agreement (German: Rostocker Erbvertrag) describes several agreements reached by the Hanseatic city of Rostock with the dukes of Mecklenburg as landlords.
The inheritance agreements should not be confused with the State Constitutional Heritable Settlement (Landesgrundgesetzlicher Erbvergleich[de]; LGGEV) of 1755, which Duke Christian Louis agreed with the duchy's estates (Landstände) combining the knights' federation (Ritterschaft) and the chartered cities eligible for the estates (Seestädte and Landstädte forming together the Landschaft), which also included the city of Rostock. This led to a permanent involvement of the estates in the government of the state and from then on blocked constitutional development in the modern sense. The strength of the estates, opposing dynastic divisions, kept Mecklenburg together, at times partitioned into several branch duchies with each its own government but one common body of the estates. And the power of the estates held down the dominance of the monarchs and successfully blocked absolutism in Mecklenburg.
Mecklenburg is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow.
The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was a duchy in northern Germany created in 1701, when Frederick William and Adolphus Frederick II divided the Duchy of Mecklenburg between Schwerin and Strelitz. Ruled by the successors of the Nikloting House of Mecklenburg, Mecklenburg-Schwerin remained a state of the Holy Roman Empire along the Baltic Sea littoral between Holstein-Glückstadt and the Duchy of Pomerania.
Holstein is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germany.
Adolphus Frederick II, Duke of Mecklenburg, was the first Duke of the Mecklenburg-Strelitz, reigning from 1701 until his death. Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a part of the Holy Roman Empire.
The House of Mecklenburg, also known as Nikloting, is a North German dynasty of Slavic origin that ruled until 1918 in the Mecklenburg region, being among the longest-ruling families of Europe. Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (1909–2004), former Queen of the Netherlands (1948–1980), was an agnatic member of this house.
Saxe-Hildburghausen was an Ernestine duchy and Imperial Estate of the Holy Roman Empire in the southern side of the present State of Thuringia in Germany. It existed from 1680 to 1826 but its name and borders are currently used by the District of Hildburghausen.
Christian Ludwig II was the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin from 1747 to 1756.
The Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was a territory in Northern Germany held by the House of Mecklenburg residing at Schwerin. It was a sovereign member state of the German Confederation and became a federated state of the North German Confederation and finally of the German Empire in 1871.
The Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a territory in Northern Germany, held by the younger line of the House of Mecklenburg residing in Neustrelitz. Like the neighbouring Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, it was a sovereign member state of the German Confederation and became a federated state of the North German Confederation and finally of the German Empire upon the unification in 1871. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–19 it was succeeded by the Free State of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
Adolphus Frederick VI was the last reigning grand duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
George ruled the state of Mecklenburg-Strelitz as Grand Duke of Mecklenburg from 1816 until his death.
Mecklenburg-Güstrow was a state of the Holy Roman Empire in Northern Germany, that existed on three occasions ruled by the House of Mecklenburg at Güstrow.
Magnus II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Güstrow was duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin from 1477 until his death.
Jördenstorf is a municipality in the Rostock district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.
Bogisław VIII, a member of the House of Griffin, was Duke of Pomerania ruling in Pomerania-Stolp from 1395 until his death. He also served as administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Cammin from 1387 and as Cammin Prince-bishop from 1394 to 1398.
Balthasar of Mecklenburg was a Duke of Mecklenburg and Coadjutor of the Diocese of Hildesheim between 1471 and 1474 and the Diocese of Schwerin between 1474 and 1479.
John Albert I, in older literature known as John or Johann, was the reigning duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow from 1547 to 1556 and of Mecklenburg-Schwerin from 1556 to 1576. In 1549 John Albert I saw to it that the parliament of Mecklenburg carried through the Reformation for the entire duchy.
During its history, the state of Mecklenburg has been repeatedly partitioned into various successor states. Modern historians distinguish three main Partitions of Mecklenburg:
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
