Eric I of Saxe-Lauenburg (c.1280–1360) was a member of the House of Ascania who ruled as one of the dukes of Saxony from 1282 until 1338.
Early life
Eric was a son of John I, Duke of Saxony, and Ingeborg (*ca. 1253–30 June 1302*, Mölln), a daughter or grandchild of Birger Jarl, the regent of Sweden. Eric's father John I resigned from the ducal throne in 1282 in favour of his sons: Eric I, Albert III, and John II. As they were minors, their uncle Albert II fostered them. Eric and his brothers came to age and joined the government. The last document, mentioning the brothers and their uncle Albert II as Saxon fellow dukes dates back to 1295.[1]
Personal rule
The definite partitioning of Saxony into Saxe-Lauenburg, jointly ruled by Eric I and his brothers and Saxe-Wittenberg, ruled by their uncle Albert II, took place before 20 September 1296, when the Vierlande, Sadelbande (Land of Lauenburg), the Land of Ratzeburg, the Land of Darzing (later Amt Neuhaus), and the Land of Hadeln are mentioned as the separate territory of the brothers.[1] Albert II received Saxe-Wittenberg around the eponymous city and Belzig.
Eric I and his brothers at first jointly ruled Saxe-Lauenburg, before they partitioned it into three parts, while the exclave Land of Hadeln remained a trilateral condominium. Eric then held Bergedorf (Vierlande) and Lauenburg and inherited the share of his childless brother Albert III, Saxe-Ratzeburg, after he already deceased in 1308 and a retained section from Albert's widow Margaret of Brandenburg-Salzwedel on her death.[2] However, his other brother then claimed a part for him, so in 1321 Eric passed Bergedorf (Vierlande) on to John II, whose share thus became known since as Saxe-Bergedorf-Mölln and Eric's as Saxe-Ratzeburg-Lauenburg.
In 1316 or 1318 Eric married Elisabeth of Pomerania (*1291–after 16 October 1349*), daughter of Bogislaw IV, Duke of Pomerania. They had the following four children:
Jutta (*?–after 1354*), married Gerard III of Hoya-Nienburg (*?–1383*)
Notes
^ abCordula Bornefeld, "Die Herzöge von Sachsen-Lauenburg", in: Die Fürsten des Landes: Herzöge und Grafen von Schleswig, Holstein und Lauenburg [De slevigske hertuger; German], Carsten Porskrog Rasmussen (ed.) on behalf of the Gesellschaft für Schleswig-Holsteinische Geschichte, Neumünster: Wachholtz, 2008, pp. 373–389, here p. 375. ISBN978-3-529-02606-5
^Cordula Bornefeld, "Die Herzöge von Sachsen-Lauenburg", in: Die Fürsten des Landes: Herzöge und Grafen von Schleswig, Holstein und Lauenburg [De slevigske hertuger; German], Carsten Porskrog Rasmussen (ed.) on behalf of the Gesellschaft für Schleswig-Holsteinische Geschichte, Neumünster: Wachholtz, 2008, pp. 373–389, here p. 377. ISBN978-3-529-02606-5