Duke Otto Henry of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Harburg (16 June 1555 in Harburg – 15 October 1591 in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

), was a member of

House of Guelph The House of Welf (also Guelf or Guelph) is a European dynasty that has included many German and British monarchs from the 11th to 20th century and Emperor Ivan VI of Russia in the 18th century. The originally Franconian family from the Meuse ...

and the heir apparent of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Harburg.

Life

Otto Henry was the eldest son of the Duke Otto II of Brunswick-Harburg (1528–1603) from his first marriage with Margaret (1530–1559), the daughter of the Count John Henry of Schwarzburg-Leutenberg. Otto Henry was educated under his father's strict supervision. He was taught science, but Otto II had strictly forbidden the instruction of fine arts. Otto Henry studied at the University of Strasbourg, and was a canon at

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

for a while, but then chose a military career. In 1590, he led the cavalry of the Duke Alessandro Farnese in the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Refo ...

and showed great courage in the battle of Ivry on 14 March 1590. He was seriously wounded in this battle. Otto Henry died a year later, in Brussels in 1591 at the age of 36. Since he died before his father, he never inherited Harburg.

Marriage and issue

Otto Henry married in 1588 with Marie d'Henin-Lietard (d. 1606), the daughter of Count Jean de Bossu, with whom he had a son. However, since this was a

morganatic marriage Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spous ...

, his son was not able to inherit Harburg. * Charles (d. 1620), Governor of Beaumont in Luxembourg; married in 1618 with Marie Wouters, heiress of Terdeck and Dyck (d. 1619)

References

* ''Vaterländisches Archiv für hannoverisch-braunschweigische Geschichte'', Herold & Wahlstab, 1835, p. 126 ff * Gustav Adelbert Seyler: ''Vierteljahrsschrift fur Heraldik, sphragistik und Genealogie'', 1873, p. 211 Middle House of Lüneburg 1555 births 1591 deaths 16th-century German people Sons of monarchs {{Germany-noble-stub