Otto I. (Braunschweig)

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Friedrich II enfeoffed Otto the child in 1235 at the Mainzer Hoftag with the Duchy of Braunschweig-Lüneburg. Book illumination by Hans Bornemann in the Lüneburg Sachsenspiegel manuscript from 1448.

Otto I ( Otto the Child ) (* 1204 ; † June 9, 1252 in Lüneburg ) from the Welfen family was the first Duke of Braunschweig and Lüneburg since 1235 .

Life

Otto was the son of Duke Wilhelm of Lüneburg and the Danish king's daughter Helena († 1233), the daughter of Waldemar I of Denmark . Otto was still under the age of majority when his father died in 1213, so that his mother was in charge of government until 1218, from which his nickname is derived.

In 1223 Otto was appointed by his uncle, Count Palatine Heinrich the Elder († 1227), to inherit the Guelph allodial goods . When the Braunschweig inheritance became due at the end of April 1227 with the death of the Count Palatine, the Emperor, who was staying in Italy, asserted inheritance claims through his son and co-regent. In May, street fights broke out in Braunschweig with imperial ministerials. Duke Otto was actively supported by his Brandenburg brothers-in-law Johann I and Otto III. militarily supported so that he could assert himself. At the Battle of Bornhöved on July 22nd, 1227 he took part on the side of his royal uncle Waldemar II of Denmark. In the course of the heavy Danish defeat, he was captured by the Count of Schwerin and was only released in January 1229 through the intercession of the English king and the Pope , but had to enter into contractually regulated ransom obligations. In August of the same year, the Roman-German co-regent Heinrich VII tried again to enforce the Hohenstaufen hereditary claims on Braunschweig with a contingent. Again the Brandenburg margraves, both still teenagers at the time, faced him with an army so that the king did not advance beyond the Goslar line and the project finally broke off. During and immediately after his captivity, the situation of the Guelph house seemed precarious as various political rivals tried to take advantage of the situation. In the period that followed, he succeeded in pursuing a very clever policy and both consolidating his inherited possessions and acquiring further possessions. In this context, a settlement was reached with the Archbishopric of Bremen and Magdeburg, with whom he had come into conflict and where the brothers-in-law participated for the third time with regard to the Magdeburg feud, this time also out of particular interests, but severely defeated in the Battle of the Plane were.

In 1235, at the Mainzer Hoftag, the Guelph-Staufer dispute was settled through English mediation. Otto received his possessions around Braunschweig and Lüneburg from Emperor Friedrich II as a newly created hereditary duchy. Otto promoted his residence in Braunschweig by confirming the city ​​rights for the citizens of the old town in 1227 (“Ottonianum”). In 1239/40 Otto took part in a so-called Prussian trip with 700 tank riders.

In 1241 Otto confirmed the already existing rights of the city of Hanover , whereby the privilege should be considered in the context of his policy of securing rule. He also privileged the cities of Braunschweig, Göttingen, Osterode, Lüneburg and Münden.

After Duke Otto's death, his eldest son Albrecht received the territory. But Duke Albrecht I was unable to assert himself against his brother Johann , so that in 1267 this territory was divided into an inheritance. In more recent research Otto's policy is rated positively overall; from a problematic starting point he succeeded in consolidating the position of his house.

The surgeon from the Weser dedicated his manuscript Cyrurgia domini et magistri Willehelmi de Congenis to him with the words "domino meo O. duci".

progeny

Otto married Mathilde in 1228 , daughter of Margrave Albrechts II of Brandenburg, whose marriage resulted in 10 children:

  • Mechtild († 1295/96) ⚭ 1245 Count Heinrich II the Fette of Anhalt (1215 – after 1266); later abbess of Gernrode
  • Helene (approx. 1231–1273)
  1. ⚭ 1239/40 Landgrave Hermann II of Thuringia (1224–1241)
  2. ⚭ 1247/48 Duke Albrecht I of Saxony-Wittenberg (1212–1261)
  1. ⚭ 1252 Elisabeth of Brabant (1243–1261), daughter of Duke Heinrich II of Brabant
  2. ⚭ 1266 Adelasia of Montferrat (1253–1285)

literature

Web links

Commons : Otto I. (Braunschweig)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ Ernst Schubert (Ed.): Politics, Constitution, Economy from the 9th to the end of the 15th century (History of Lower Saxony. Vol. 2, Part 1). Hanover 1997, p. 518.
  2. ↑ See Ernst Schubert (Ed.): Politics, Constitution, Economy from the 9th to the end of the 15th century (History of Lower Saxony. Vol. 2, Part 1). Hanover 1997, p. 519f.
  3. ↑ See Ernst Schubert (Ed.): Politics, Constitution, Economy from the 9th to the end of the 15th century (History of Lower Saxony. Vol. 2, Part 1). Hanover 1997, p. 522.
  4. ↑ Ernst Schubert (Ed.): Politics, Constitution, Economy from the 9th to the end of the 15th century (History of Lower Saxony. Vol. 2, Part 1). Hanover 1997, p. 524.
  5. ↑ Barbara Kössel-Luckhardt: Surgeon from the Weser. In: 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. 142 .
predecessor Office successor
--- Duke of Braunschweig and Lüneburg
1235–1252 		Albrecht I. and Johann
personal data
SURNAME Otto I.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Otto the child
BRIEF DESCRIPTION first Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg
DATE OF BIRTH 1204
DATE OF DEATH June 9, 1252
Place of death Luneburg