 It was during this first period of his education that he acquired an excellent knowledge of German, French and Latin, also understood Italian, Spanish and Polish; he was also educated in theology, philosophy and rhetoric.When his father died in 1672, the then twelve-years-old George William succeeded him as Duke of Legnica and Brzeg; during his minority, the regency was exercised by his mother, Dowager Duchess Louise who held the towns of Wołów and Oława as her dower ("wittum").Fearing claims raised by the Habsburg Emperor Leopold I in his capacity as ruler over the Crown of Bohemia, Duke Christian had devised by will that his son was formally under the tutelage of his maternal uncle Prince John George II of Anhalt-Dessau and the mighty Hohenzollern elector Frederick William of Brandenburg.