Bernard II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg

Bernard II, 41th bishop of Hildesheim

Bernard II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, (about 1437 – 1464) was the Bishop of Hildesheim (as Bernard III) from 1452 to 1457, as well as Prince of Lüneburg from 1457 to 1464.

Life

Bernard was the son of Frederick the Pious and his wife Magdalene of Brandenburg. In 1452, Bernard was elected at the request of the Bishop of Hildesheim to be his coadjutor and later became his successor when the bishop died. However, the bishop's aspiration that in selecting a Welf the bishopric would strengthen its position vis-a-vis the Welf Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel proved elusive because Bernard felt obliged to support the interests of his family first. At the request of his father, he left the bishopric in 1457 to take over the Principality of Lüneburg, which he ruled jointly with his brother, Otto the Victorious, until his death on 9 Feb 1464. He married Matilda of Holstein-Schauenburg, daughter of Otto II, Count of Schauenburg-Pinneberg, in 1463, but the marriage was childless. Matilda went on to be the second wife of William the Victorious, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

Ancestors

Family of Bernard II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg

16. Magnus the Pious, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg 8. Magnus II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg 17. Sophie 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. Bernard II, 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

See also

• Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg
• Principality of Lüneburg
• Prince-Bishopric of Hildesheim

Sources

• Die Diözese Hildesheim. In Vergangenheit und Gegenwart von Thomas Scharf-Wrede ISBN 3-7954-1721-X
• Geckler, Christa (1986). Die Celler Herzöge: Leben und Wirken 1371–1705. Celle: Georg Ströher. ISBN 3-921744-05-8. OCLC 255990175.
• Ferdinand Spehr (1875), "Bernhard von Braunschweig-Lüneburg", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 2, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, p. 418

External links

• The House of Welf
• Bishopric of Hildesheim