1740-1815







Minden-Ravensberg, 1666-1740



In 1609 the Duke of Kleve, Julich and Berg, in dynastic union also count of Mark and Ravensberg, died. His inheritance was claimed by his sons in law, the Count Palatine of Neuburg and the Duke-Elector of Brandenburg. In 1612 they agreed to rule jointly, then split; Kleve, Mark and Ravensberg were allocated to Brandenburg. Because of the THIRTY YEARS WAR the territories, for the most part of the war, were outside of reach of the Brandenburg administration.
The TREATY OF WESTPHALIA (1648) secularized the Princebishopric of MINDEN and allocated it to Brandenburg. The city was to become fortress and garrison. The privileges of the Estates were confirmed (1667). The tiny abbey of HERFORD, hitherto immediate, was occupied and annexed by Brandenburg (1648). During the war between France (with Muenster) and the Dutch Republic, Minden-Ravensberg was briefly occupied by French troops.
In BIELEFELD the textile industry flourished in the second half of the 17th century. The LEGGE was introduced in 1652 in order to maintain a high standard of quality of Bielefeld cloth.
In 1719, Minden and Ravensberg were joined to form one territory. In 1723 the CHAMBER OF WARS AND DOMAINS was established as the highest administrative body.



Counts of Ravensberg
Friedrich Wilhelm, the Great Elector (1666-1688)
Friedrich (1688-1713)
Friedrich Wilhelm (1713-1740)






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Geschichte von Bielefeld, from bielefeld.de, in German
Chronik der Stadt Herford, from herford.net, in German
DOCUMENTS Article Ravensberg, Minden, from Zedlers Universallexikon (1730es), posted by Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, in German, 18th century font
REFERENCE Territorien-Ploetz : Geschichte der Deutschen Länder, Vol.1, Würzburg 1964, pp.401-402
Coins of Minden 1601-1700, in Krause, Mishler, Standard Catalog of World Coins : Seventeenth Century 1601-1700, 2nd ed., 2000, pp.607-608; pp.662-664 on coins issued by Ravensberg, on p.496 of the abbey of Herford



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on January 3rd 2002, last revised on November 12th 2004

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