Otto V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg

Otto V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Otto V the Victorious, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1439–71)
Spouse(s)	Anna of Nassau-Dillenburg
Noble family	House of Guelph
Father	Frederick II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Mother	Magdalena of Brandenburg
Born	1439
Died	9 January 1471

Otto, called the Victorious or the Magnanimous (1439 – 9 January 1471, German: Otto der Siegreiche, der Großmütige), was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Prince of Lüneburg from 1457 to his death. He shared the principality with his brother, Bernard, until Bernard's death in 1464.

Otto and Bernard were the sons of Frederick II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and succeeded him as ruling princes when Frederick retired. After Otto's death, his father returned to rule.

Life

Otto was the son of Frederick II of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Magdalena of Brandenburg. After his brother died without issue, Otto took over the Principality of Lüneburg in 1464. Otto's reign was marked by the monastic reform movements of his time which he tried to implement in the Lüneburg monasteries. He entered Wienhausen Abbey, removed a number of art treasures which, in Otto's opinion were contrary to the ideal of monastic simplicity, and sent the abbess to be "re-educated in a monastery that was already reformed."^[1] According to a legend, Otto was killed at a tournament on the Celle jousting field. Today, a horseshoe in plaster marks the spot where Duke Otto the Magnanimous is supposed to have had the accident in 1471.

Family

Otto married Anna of Nassau-Dillenburg in 1467. They had the following children:

• William (died 1480)
• Henry (c. 1467–1532)

Ancestors

Ancestors of Otto V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg

16. Magnus the Pious, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg               8. Magnus II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg                       17. Sophia of Brandenburg-Stendal               4. Bernard I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg                             18. Bernhard III, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg               9. Catherine of Anhalt-Bernburg                       19. Agnes of Saxony               2. Frederick II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg                                   20. Rudolf I, Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg               10. Wenceslas I, Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg                       21. Agnes of Lindow-Ruppin               5. Margaret of Saxony                             22. Francesco I da Carrara               11. Cecilia of Carrara                       23. Fina di Buzzacarini               1. Otto V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg                                         24. John II of Nuremberg               12. Frederick V, Burgrave of Nuremberg                       25. Elisabeth of Henneberg-Schleusingen               6. Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg                             26. Frederick II, Margrave of Meissen               13. Elisabeth of Meissen                       27. Matilda of Bavaria               3. Magdalene of Brandenburg                                   28. Stephen II, Duke of Bavaria               14. Frederick, Duke of Bavaria                       29. Elisabeth of Sicily               7. Elisabeth of Bavaria-Landshut                             30. Bernabò Visconti               15. Maddalena Visconti                       31. Beatrice Regina della Scala

References

1. Geckler, Christa (1986). Die Celler Herzöge – Leben und Wirken 1371–1705, p. 73

Sources

• Geckler, Christa (1986). Die Celler Herzöge: Leben und Wirken 1371–1705. Celle: Georg Ströher. ISBN 3-921744-05-8. OCLC 255990175.

External links

• Die Welfen