Margaret of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1442 – 8 April 1512 in

Wienhausen Wienhausen is a municipality in the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is known for Wienhausen Abbey Wienhausen Abbey or Convent (german: Kloster Wienhausen) near Celle in Lower Saxony, Germany, is a community of Evangelical Luth ...

) was a princess of Brunswick-Lüneburg by birth and by marriage a Duchess of

Mecklenburg-Stargard Mecklenburg-Stargard was one of the two semi-duchies formed from the partition of the Duchy of Mecklenburg from 1348 to 1471. The other semi-duchy was called Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The main part of the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Stargard comprised th ...

Life

Margaret was a daughter of the Duke Frederick II of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1418–1478) from his marriage to Magdalene (1412–1454), the daughter of Elector

Frederick I Frederick I may refer to: * Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht. * Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978) * Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105) * Frederick I, Count of Zoller ...

of Brandenburg. In 1452, Margaret became the third wife of the Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Stargard (1412–1466). As a dowry she brought with her , which her husband doubled. After her husband's death, she lived on her

jointure Jointure is, in law, a provision for a wife after the death of her husband. As defined by Sir Edward Coke, it is "a competent livelihood of freehold for the wife, of lands or tenements, to take effect presently in possession or profit after the dea ...

Plau am See Plau am See () is a town in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is situated 28 km east of Parchim, and 29 km west of Waren. Around 1235 the city was called Plawe, that being the Polabian fi ...

, which Henry had promised to her. With the death of her stepson

Ulrich II Ulrich II may refer to: * Ulrich II. (St. Gallen) († 1076) Abbot of St. Gall * Ulrich II, Duke of Carinthia (c. 1176 – 1202) * Ulrich II, Count of Württemberg (c. 1254 – 1279) * Ulrich II von Graben (before 1300 – about 1361) * Ulrich II, ...

the Mecklenburg-Stargard line died out and the indebted country fell to

Mecklenburg-Schwerin The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was a duchy in northern Germany created in 1701, when Frederick William and Adolphus Frederick II divided the Duchy of Mecklenburg between Schwerin and Strelitz. Ruled by the successors of the Nikloting Hous ...

, which was not responsible for the maintenance of Stargard's widow. Margaret then lived in Celle for a while. The dispute between the houses of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Mecklenburg-Schwerin about her jointure at Plau am See dragged on until her death. Margaret spent her 46-year-long widowhood in abject poverty. In letters to their relatives, they said that they would suffer even hunger and thirst. In 1499 she was, under pressure from the Dukes of Brunswick, admitted as a permanent resident to

Wienhausen Abbey Wienhausen Abbey or Convent (german: Kloster Wienhausen) near Celle in Lower Saxony, Germany, is a community of Evangelical Lutheran women, which until the Protestant Reformation, Reformation was a Cistercians, Cistercian Catholic nunnery. The ab ...

. She was financially supported by her sister-in-law

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

, the widow of her brother Otto V, who sent her only 12 guilders per year. She died on 8 April 1512 in Wienhausen and was buried there in the Chapel of All Saints.

Issue

From her marriage Margaret had two daughters: * Magdalene (1461–1532) : married firstly, in 1475, with Duke Wartislaw X of Pomerania (1435–1478) : married secondly, in 1482, with Count Burkhard of Barby-Mühlingen (d. 1505) * Anna (1465–1498), a nun in Ribnitz Monastery

Ancestors

References

* Verein für Mecklenburgische Geschichte und Alterthumskunde, Schwerin: ''Mecklenburgische Jahrbücher'', vols. 24–25, 1859, p. 33 ff. * Martina Schattkowsky: ''Witwenschaft in der frühen Neuzeit: fürstliche und adlige Witwen zwischen Fremd- und Selbstbestimmung'', Leipziger Universitätsverlag, 2003, p. 106

External links

* http://www.guide2womenleaders.com/womeninpower/Womeninpower1450.htm * http://www.emecklenburg.de/Niklot/i0392.htm 1442 births 1512 deaths

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...

Duchesses of Mecklenburg-Stargard 15th-century German people 15th-century German women

Daughters of monarchs {{Germany-duchess-stub