Bernhard I. (Braunschweig-Lüneburg)

Bernhard I, water colors on vellum , 1720

Bernhard I , Duke of Braunschweig-Lüneburg (* between 1358 and 1364; † June 11, 1434 in Celle ) from the Welf dynasty was Prince of Lüneburg from 1388 to 1409 and from 1428 to 1434 and Prince of Braunschweig from 1400 to 1428 - Wolfenbüttel . He was the founder of the Middle House of Lüneburg.

Life

Bernhard I was born between 1358 and 1364 as the second son of Magnus II. Torquatus and his wife Katharina von Anhalt-Bernburg. After the death of his father in 1373 he was declared of age prematurely and tried, together with his older brother Friedrich, to settle the conflict with the dukes of Saxony-Wittenberg over the state of Lüneburg, known as the War of the Lüneburg Succession . In autumn 1373 an agreement was reached in Hanover that provided for the alternating rule of both houses and was to be secured through the marriage of Bernhard, his brother Friedrich and his mother to members of the Saxon house. In 1385 Bernhard I was captured by the von Schwichelde and von Steinberg lords, with whom he was in feud . It was not until three years later that he was released after paying a large ransom. In the meantime, the conflict over the Lüneburg region had broken out again, as Bernhard's youngest brother, Heinrich the Mild , did not agree to the Hanover agreements. In the battles that followed, Duke Wenzel von Sachsen-Wittenberg died and the principality was finally secured to the Guelphs. While Bernhard I and his brother Heinrich I took over Lüneburg, the eldest brother Friedrich kept the Principality of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel . After his death in 1400, Bernhard I and Heinrich I ruled the states of Braunschweig and Lüneburg together before they were divided in 1409, in which Bernhard I received Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel. In 1428, on the initiative of Heinrich's sons, who had now succeeded their father, who had died in 1416, another division took place, in which Bernhard I took over the Principality of Lüneburg, which he ruled until his death in 1434.

progeny

In 1386 Bernhard married Margarete von Sachsen († 1429), daughter of Wenzel I, Duke of Sachsen-Wittenberg and had three children with her:

• Otto IV. († 1446), ∞ Elisabeth von Everstein (around 1404–1468), daughter of the last Count of Everstein , Hermann VII.
• Friedrich II. The Pious (1418–1478) ∞ Magdalene von Brandenburg (1412–1454)
• Katharina, ∞ Duke Casimir V of Pomerania

literature

• Christa Geckler: The Celle dukes - life and work 1371–1705. Ströher, Celle 1986, ISBN 3-921744-05-8 .
• Horst-Rüdiger Jarck , Dieter Lent et al. (Ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon - 8th to 18th century . Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2006, ISBN 3-937664-46-7 , p. 80 .
• Herbert Mundhenke :  Bernhard I .. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 2, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1955, ISBN 3-428-00183-4 , p. 109 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Ferdinand Spehr :  Bernhard I. (Duke of Braunschweig-Lüneburg) . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 2, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1875, pp. 416-418.

predecessor	Office	successor
Wenceslas of Saxony-Wittenberg	Duke of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, Prince of Lüneburg 1388–1409	Henry I the Meek
Wilhelm and Heinrich II.	Duke of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, Prince of Lüneburg 1428–1434	Otto IV.
Friedrich I.	Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel 1400–1428	Heinrich II. And Wilhelm the Victorious