Bernard VII of Lippe (4 December 1428 – 2 April 1511) was the ruler of the Lordship of

Lippe Lippe () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Herford, Minden-Lübbecke, Höxter, Paderborn, Gütersloh, and district-free Bielefeld, which forms the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe. The ...

from 1429 until his death. Because of the many bloody

feud A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one part ...

s in which he was involved, he was nicknamed "the Bellicose". He is the longest-ever ruling European nobleman.

Life

He was the son of Lord Simon IV of Lippe and his wife, Margaret of

Brunswick-Grubenhagen The Principality of Grubenhagen was a subdivision of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, ruled by the Grubenhagen line of the House of Welf from 1291. It is also known as Brunswick-Grubenhagen. The principality fell to the Brunswick Principality of ...

. He inherited Lippe in 1429, before his first birthday. He stood under the regency and guardianship of his uncle Otto. After Otto died in 1446, his great-uncle Archbishop Dietrich II of Cologne was appointed

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state ''pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy, ...

. Dietrich was represented in Lippe by his ''

Amtmann __NOTOC__ The ''Amtmann'' or ''Ammann'' (in Switzerland) was an official in German-speaking countries of Europe and in some of the Nordic countries from the time of the Middle Ages whose office was akin to that of a bailiff. He was the most seni ...

'', Johann Möllenbeck. In 1444, Bernard VII concluded a treaty with Duke Adolph I of Cleves-Mark, in which he ceded to Adolph a 50% share in the city of

Lippstadt Lippstadt () is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest town within the district of Soest. Lippstadt is situated about 60 kilometres east of Dortmund, 40 kilometres south of Bielefeld and 30 kilometres west of Paderborn. G ...

, which had been mortgaged to Cleves. At the same time, he joined an alliance, which made him a party in the so-called Feud of Soest against Archbishop Dietrich II of Cologne. In 1447, Dietrich called in a Bohemian army, which devastated the countryside in Lippe and levelled the town of

Blomberg Blomberg may refer to: People * Blomberg (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name). * Freiherr von Blomberg family Places * Blomberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, a town in the district of Lippe, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany ...

to the ground. The Bohemians also besieged the cities of Lippstadt and Soest, but were unsuccessful. After the feud had been settled in 1449, Bernard took up residence at Blomberg Castle. In 1468, he moved to

Detmold Detmold () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of . It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947. Today it is the administrative center of ...

, which at the time was the smallest city in Lippe, with only 350 inhabitants. He expanded the Detmold Castle; an inscription in the old castle tower dated 1470 is a reminder of this. Bernard was involved in a large number of

s against various enemies, with shifting alliances. In 1469, he supported Landgrave

Louis II, Landgrave of Lower Hesse Louis II of Hesse (german: Ludwig) (7 September 1438 – 8 November 1471), called Louis the Frank, was the Landgrave of Lower Hesse from 1458 - 1471. He was the son of Louis I, Landgrave of Hesse and Anna of Saxony. He married Mechthild, da ...

against his brother

Henry III, Landgrave of Upper Hesse Henry III, Landgrave of Upper Hesse, called "the Rich" (15 October 1440Morby, John. ''Dynasties of the World: a chronological and genealogical handbook'' (Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1989), page 135. – 13 January 1483) was the se ...

. On the other hand, in 1464, he supported his own brother, Prince-Bishop Simon III of Paderborn against Louis II of Lower Hesse when they fought the Hesse-Paderborn Feud about

Calenberg Castle Calenberg Castle (german: Burg Calenberg, later called ''Schloss Calenberg'' and ''Feste Calenberg''; ruins known as ''Alt Calenberg'') was a medieval lowland castle in central Germany, near Schulenburg in the borough of Pattensen, 13 km wes ...

Marriage and issue

From his marriage to Anna, the daughter of Count Otto II of Holstein-Schauenburg, he had the following children: * Anna (b. ), married: *# Otto VI, Count of Hoya *# John II, Count of Nassau-Beilstein (d. 1513) * Margaret (b. ), married to John I, Count of Rietberg * Elisabeth (b. ), married: *# John II, Count of Spiegelberg *# Rudolf VII, Count of

Diepholz Diepholz (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Deefholt'') is a town and capital of the Diepholz (district), district of Diepholz in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the rivers Hunte and Lohne (river), Lohne, approximately 45 km northeast of Osnab ...

* Ermengarda ( – 24 August 1524), married Jobst I, Count of Hoya (1466–1507) * Simon V of Lippe (1471–1536), married: *# Walburga of Bronkhorst *# Magdalene of

Mansfeld Mansfeld, sometimes also unofficially Mansfeld-Lutherstadt, is a town in the district of Mansfeld-Südharz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Protestant reformator Martin Luther grew up in Mansfeld, and in 1993 the town became one of sixteen places in ...

-Mittelort * Bernard * Agnes

References

* Philippine Charlotte Auguste Piderit: ''Die lippischen Edelherrn im Mittelalter'', Detmold, 1876, p. 100 ff
Online
* *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernard 07 Lippe Lords of Lippe House of Lippe 1428 births 1511 deaths 15th-century German people 15th-century rulers in Europe

Life

Marriage and issue

See also

References

External links