Heinrich II. (Braunschweig-Grubenhagen)

Heinrich II. Von Braunschweig Grubenhagen (* around 1289 ; † 1351 ), called Heinrich von Greece (de Graecia), from the family of Welfen , was Prince of Braunschweig-Grubenhagen .

Life

Heinrich was a son of Heinrich the Whimsical and his wife Agnes , b. Margravine of Meissen. Heinrich der Wunderliche founded the Principality of Grubenhagen in 1291 after a Guelph inheritance. This principality was a rather small territory compared to the other Guelph sub-principalities. Due to the large number of children Heinrichs des Wunderlichen (eight sons and eight daughters), it was difficult for him to look after all his offspring appropriately. Henry II could therefore not take the undivided rule over the principality. In 1324 he concluded an extensive property agreement with his brothers Wilhelm and Ernst , according to which the territory should be governed jointly. Shortly afterwards, however, the government was divided. He was mainly left with Rüdigershagen , the Golden Mark around Duderstadt , Gieboldehausen , Bernshausen , half Herzberg , half Lauterberg and a share in Grubenhagen . The cities of Duderstadt, Osterode am Harz and Einbeck were ruled together.

In 1327 he accompanied Ludwig the Bavarian on his coronation procession to Rome. From there he went via southern Italy to Constantinople , where he worked at the court of his brother-in-law, the emperor Andronikos III. , stayed. With a letter of safe conduct from him , he went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land . After a stay in Cyprus , where he met his second wife Heilwig, he returned home in 1331.

Heinrich now began to pledge parts of his rule. He probably had money problems and therefore had to retire from the rule in 1342 against payment of an annuity when he transferred his third to Hameln , Einbeck, Osterode am Harz and other Grubenhagener rights to the Archbishop of Mainz . Heinrich died in Grubenhagen Castle in 1351.

family

He and his first wife Jutta, daughter of Margrave Heinrich von Brandenburg-Landsberg , had the following children:

• Riddag (son; † around 1366)
• Agnes (* 1318, † before 1371), ⚭ Barnim III. (Pomerania)
• Otto (1320–1399), condottiere in Italy, Prince of Taranto , ⚭ Queen Joan I of Naples
• Johann (* 1321; † 1371), canon in Halberstadt
• Louis (* around 1323, † before 1373), canon in Cammin

With his second wife, Heilwig, a daughter of Philipp von Ibelin from the house of Ibelin , he had the following children:

• Philip (around 1332; † between 1370 and 1380), constable of Jerusalem
• Balthasar (* 1336; † 1385), briefly despot of Romania in the Morea , ⚭ Giacobella Caetani di Fondi († after May 25, 1400)
• Thomas (c 1338 -. C 1384th), Augustiner - Monk in Nordhausen
• Melchior , Bishop of Osnabrück and Schwerin (* around 1341; † June 6, 1381)

None of the sons continued the male line of the sex, at least at home. His eldest son Otto made a career in Italy.

literature

• Georg Schnath:  Heinrich II. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 8, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1969, ISBN 3-428-00189-3 , p. 350 ( digitized version ).
• Ludwig Ferdinand Spehr :  Heinrich II., Duke of Braunschweig-Grubenhagen . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 11, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1880, p. 485 f.
• Paul Zimmermann : The Braunschweig-Grubenhagen house. Wolfenbüttel 1911.

predecessor	Office	successor
Heinrich I, the whimsical	Duke of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, Prince of Braunschweig-Grubenhagen 1322–1351	Ernst I.