Albert V, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg

Albert V
Duke of Saxe-Bergedorf-Mölln
Reign	1356 – 1370
Predecessor	John III of Saxe-Lauenburg
Successor	Eric III of Saxe-Lauenburg
Born	mid-1330s
Died	1370
Consort	Catherine of Werle-Güstrow
House	House of Ascania
Father	Albert IV
Mother	Beata of Schwerin
Religion	Roman Catholic

Albert V of Saxe-Lauenburg (mid 1330s – 1370) was the second son of Duke Albert IV of Saxe-Lauenburg and Beata of Schwerin (*?–before 1341*), daughter of Gunzelin VI, Count of Schwerin. Albert succeeded his elder brother John III in 1356 as Duke of Saxe-Bergedorf-Mölln, a branch duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg. He died without an heir and was succeeded by his younger brother Eric III.

Albert V, short in money, sold - after consenting with his brother Eric III - the Herrschaft of Mölln to the city of Lübeck in return for 9737.50 Lübeck marks. The parties agreed upon a repurchase, however, only by the duke or his heirs for themselves, but not as a middleperson for someone else.^[1] Lübeck considered this acquisition crucial, since Mölln was an important stage for trade between Brunswick and Lunenburg - here especially salt - via Lübeck to Scandinavia and back. Therefore Lübeck manned Mölln with armed guards maintaining law and order on the roads.

However, thrifty Albert V, plotted for new sources of revenues. So Albert and his cousin Eric II of Saxe-Lauenburg–Ratzeburg-Lauenburg agreed on ravaging merchants and other travellers passing their duchies near Hamburg. So in 1363 the city of Hamburg and Adolphus VII, Count of Schauenburg and Holstein-Kiel, supported by his relative Prince-Archbishop Albert II of Bremen, freed the streets northeast of the city from the brigandage by Eric II and Albert V, conquering the latter's castle in Bergedorf.

By 25 January 1366 Albert married Catherine of Werle-Güstrow (*?–after 17 December 1402*), daughter of Lord Nicholas III of Werle-Güstrow. Catherine and Albert had no children.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Albert V, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg

16. Albert I, Duke of Saxony               8. John I, Duke of Saxony                       17. Helen of Brunswick and Lunenburg               4. John II, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg                             18. Birger Jarl               9. Ingeborg Birgersdotter of Småland                       19. Ingeborg Eriksdotter of Sweden               2. Albert IV, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg                                   20. Gerard I, Count of Schauenburg and Holstein-Itzehoe               10. Henry I, Count of Schauenburg and Holstein-Rendsburg                       21. Elisabeth of Mecklenburg               5. Elisabeth of Schauenburg and Holstein-Rendsburg                             22. Florence of Bronckhorst               11. Heilwig of Bronckhorst                       23. Ermengarde of Anholt               1. Albert V, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg                                         24. Gunzelin III, Count of Schwerin               12. Niklot I, Count of Schwerin-Wittenburg                       25. Margaret of Mecklenburg               6. Gunzelin VI, Count of Schwerin                             26. John I, Count of Schauenburg and Holstein-Kiel               13. Elisabeth of Schauenburg and Holstein-Kiel                       27. Elisabeth of Saxony               3. Beata of Schwerin                                   28. Otto III, Count of Tecklenburg               14. Otto IV, Count of Tecklenburg                       29. Richarda of Mark               7. Richardis (Rixa) of Tecklenburg                             30. Frederick I, Count of Rietberg               15. Beatrix of Rietberg                       31. Beatrix of Horstmar

Notes

1. Elisabeth Raiser, Städtische Territorialpolitik im Mittelalter: eine vergleichende Untersuchung ihrer verschiedenen Formen am Beispiel Lübecks und Zürichs, Lübeck and Hamburg: Matthiesen, 1969, (Historische Studien; 406), p. 88, simultaneously: Hamburg, Univ., Diss., 1969.