Otto V, Duke of Brunswick

Otto V
Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Otto V the Victorious, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1439–71)
Born	1439
Died	(1471-01-09)9 January 1471
Noble family	House of Guelph
Spouse(s)	Anne of Nassau-Siegen
Issue	Henry the Middle, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Father	Frederick II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Mother	Magdalena of Brandenburg

Otto V, known as the Victorious or the Magnanimous (1439 – January 9, 1471; in German: Otto der Siegreiche, der Großmütige), served as the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and the Prince of Lüneburg from 1457 until his death. He ruled alongside his brother, Bernard, until Bernard passed away 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." 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 Anne of Nassau-Siegen in 1467. They had the following children:

• William (died 1470)
• Henry (c. 1467–1532)

Ancestors

Ancestors of Otto V, Duke of Brunswick

8. Magnus II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg 4. Bernard I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg 9. Catherine of Anhalt-Bernburg 2. Frederick II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg 10. Wenceslas I, Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg 5. Margaret of Saxony 11. Cecilia of Carrara 1. Otto V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg 12. Frederick V, Burgrave of Nuremberg 6. Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg 13. Elisabeth of Meissen 3. Magdalene of Brandenburg 14. Frederick, Duke of Bavaria 7. Elisabeth of Bavaria-Landshut 15. Maddalena Visconti

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