Eric II Duke of Brunswick (1528-1584)
Eric II Duke of Brunswick Lüneburg 1528-1584
Biography
He was the son of Eric I and Elisabeth of Brandenburg. On 17 May 1545 , Eric married Sidonie of Saxony, they did have children.
The Reformation had been introduced to his Duchy in 1542, however in 1547, when Duke Eric began his rule, he reconverted to the Catholic faith. Despite her husband's pleas, Sidonie held on to her Lutheran faith.
The marriage experienced financial problems. From 1563, Eric turned to a mistress with the name of Katharina von Weldam , the daughter of Princess Christina of Denmark and Francis I Duke of Lorraine. Eric and Katharina had 2 children: Wilhem, Baron of Lysfelt and Katharina, Baroness of Lysfelt .
The Duke who accused his wife of being a witch
After declining to convert to the Catholic faith, Sidonie became very suspicious about every move of her husband. She allegedly learned from her brother that her husband ordered some poison in order to kill her because she did not want to change her religion.
In 1564 Eric put his wife under house arrest because she was acting very suspicious and violent towards him. In the same year Eric I died by poisoning and his son Eric II burned 4 women under the suspicion of witchcraft. From that point and on he was obsessed with waging war against witchcraft.
He further began to think that his wife was perhaps responsible for his father death.
It all came to a head on 30 March 1572 when for the final time the couple summoned nobles and advisers to try to tried to solve their issues. However, things got even worse and Eric ended up accusing Katherine of witchcraft. He presented evidence against her from the interrogation of four women he excecuted for withchcraft. Katherine never went to trial for witchcraft because she went for help to Emperor Maximilian II and on 1 January 1574 he acquitted her of all charges.