Albert (Latin ''Albertus''; – 22 September 1318), called the Fat (''pinguis''), was duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. The second son of

Albert the Tall, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg Albert the Tall ( lat, Albertus Longus, german: Albrecht der Große; 1236 – 15 August 1279), a member of the House of Welf, was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg from 1252 and the first ruler of the newly created Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbü ...

, Albert was a boy when his father died in 1279. He was first under guardianship of his uncle, Conrad,

Prince-Bishop of Verden This is a list of bishops, prince-bishops, and administrators of Verden. The Catholic Diocese of Verden (german: link=no, Bistum Verden), was a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Mainz. From the 12th century, the Bishop of Verden was also, ''ex offi ...

, and then of his elder brother,

Henry I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg Henry I (August 1267 – 7 September 1322), Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, called the Admirable (german: Heinrich der Wunderliche, la, Henricus Mirabilis), a member of the House of Welf, was the first ruler of the Principality of Grubenhagen fr ...

. In 1286 the three brothers divided their father's

Principality of Wolfenbüttel A principality (or sometimes princedom) can either be a monarchical feudatory or a sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a regnant-monarch with the title of prince and/or princess, or by a monarch with another title considered to fall under ...

; Albert received the areas around

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the greatest town between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district (''Kreis'') of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of Detm ...

Northeim Northeim (; nds, Nuurten) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, seat of the district of Northeim, with, in 2011, a population of 29,000. It lies on the German Half-Timbered House Road. History Northeim is first mentioned in 800 in a document r ...

Calenberg The Calenberg is a hill in central Germany in the Leine depression near Pattensen in the municipality of Schulenburg. It lies 13 km west of the city of Hildesheim in south Lower Saxony on the edge of the Central Uplands. It is made from a ...

, and

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

. He made Göttingen his residence, thus

Principality of Göttingen The Principality of Göttingen (german: Fürstentum Göttingen) was a subdivision of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire, with Göttingen as its capital. It was split off from the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in ...

. In 1292, the third brother,

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, died childless, and Albert and Henry, who had received the Principality of Grubenhagen, quarrelled about William's share, the remaining belittled areas around Brunswick and

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; nds, Wulfenbüddel) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the largest c ...

; Albert finally prevailed.

Family

Albert married Rixa, daughter of Henry I, Prince of Werle and Mecklenburg-Güstrow, and

Rikissa Birgersdotter Rikissa Birgersdotter, also known as ''Rixa'', ''Richeza'', ''Richilda'' and ''Regitze'', ( 1237 – after 1288) was Queen of Norway as the wife of the co-king Haakon Haakonson, and later Princess of Werle as wife of Henry I, Prince of Mecklenbur ...

from Sweden, in 1284. They had the following children who reached adulthood: * Adelaide (1290–1311), married

John, Landgrave of Lower Hesse Landgrave John of Lower Hesse (c. 1278 – 14 February 1311) was a son of Landgrave Henry I of Hesse, from his second marriage with Mechthild of Cleves. John reigned from 1308 to 1311 as Landgrave in Lower Hesse. Inheritance dispute From 1292, ...

* Richenza, Abbess of Gandersheim(1298-26 April 1317) * Mechtild (1293–1 June 1356) * Jutta (1309–1332) *

Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', ''Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fro ...

prince of Wolfenbüttel (24 June 1292 – 30 August 1344) * Luder, joined the

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

Albert Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Alber ...

, Bishop of Halberstadt (died 1358) *

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

, Bishop of Hildesheim (died 1362) * Magnus I prince of Wolfenbüttel (died 1369) * Ernest I prince of Gettingen (died 1367)

References

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, vol. 1, p. 261-263
*Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon, Appelhans 2006, , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Albert Ii, Duke Of Brunswick-Luneburg Princes of Göttingen Princes of Wolfenbüttel Medieval child rulers 1260s births 1318 deaths Old House of Brunswick