Ernest I, Duke of Brunswick

Ernest I
Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Painting of Ernest the Confessor by Lucas Cranach the Elder
Born(1497-06-27)27 June 1497
Uelzen
Died11 January 1546(1546-01-11) (aged 48)
Celle
Spouse
Sophia of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
(m. 1528; died 1541)
Issue
Detail
HouseWelf
FatherHenry I of Lüneburg
MotherMargarete of Saxony
ReligionLutheran

Ernest of Brunswick-Lüneburg (German: Ernst der Bekenner; 27 June 1497 – 11 January 1546), also frequently called Ernest the Confessor, was duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and a champion of the Protestant cause during the early years of the Protestant Reformation. He was the Prince of Lüneburg and ruled the Lüneburg-Celle subdivision of the Welf family's Brunswick-Lüneburg duchy from 1520 until his death.

He was the son of Henry I, Duke of Lüneburg, and Margarete of Saxony, the daughter of Ernest, Elector of Saxony.