Lower Saxon Circle
The Lower Saxon Circle (German: Niedersächsischer Reichskreis) was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire. It covered much of the territory of the medieval Duchy of Saxony (except for Westphalia), and was originally called the Saxon Circle (German: Sächsischer Kreis or Sächsischer Reichskreis) before later being better differentiated from the Upper Saxon Circle by the more specific name.
An unusual aspect of this circle was that, at various times, the kings of Denmark (in Holstein), Great Britain (in Hanover) and Sweden (in Bremen) were all Princes of a number of Imperial States.
Origin
The first plans for a Lower Saxon Circle originate from Albert II of Germany in 1438. An Imperial Saxon Circle was formally created in 1500, but in 1512 it was divided into an Upper Saxon and Lower Saxon Circle. The division was only codified in 1522, and it took a while before the separation was completely implemented by the Imperial Chamber Court. Furthermore, the first mention of an Upper Saxon Circle, a Lower Saxon Circle or the Netherlands occurred much later on. The term Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) was first used only in 1548.
Low Saxon
Low Saxon or Lower Saxon may refer to:
Geography
Linguistics
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West Low German, a group of Low German dialects spoken in the Netherlands, Lower Saxony and most of Schleswig-Holstein
- Northern Low Saxon, the dialect spoken in the Northern parts of the Low Saxon language area
- Dutch Low Saxon, a group of West Low German dialects recognized as a minority language by the European Union
- Northern Low Saxon, the dialect spoken in the Northern parts of the Low Saxon language area
- Dutch Low Saxon, a group of West Low German dialects recognized as a minority language by the European Union
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