Count Henry II of Holstein-Rendsburg (nickname ''Iron Henry''; – ) was count of Holstein-Rendsburg and pledge lord of Southern
Schleswig
The Duchy of Schleswig ( da, Hertugdømmet Slesvig; german: Herzogtum Schleswig; nds, Hartogdom Sleswig; frr, Härtochduum Slaswik) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km ...
. He ruled jointly with his younger brother, Count
Nicholas
Nicholas is a male given name and a surname.
The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the name and its ...
(d. 1397).
Life
Henry was the elder son of Count
Gerhard III
Gerhard III of Holstein-Rendsburg ( – 1 April 1340), sometimes called Gerhard the Great, and in Denmark also known as ''Count Gert'' or ''den kullede greve'' ("the bald count"), was a German prince from the Schauenburg family who ruled Hol ...
and Sophia of Werle. Henry was a major European player as a mercenary leader and a typical representative of the late medieval knighthood. He fought in Italy, Russia, Estonia and France. He served in the English and Swedish armies. In 1367, he was commander of a fleet of the
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label= Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...
and in 1368, he conquered Copenhagen. Count Henry II and his brother Nicholas vigorously defended their claims in Holstein and Schleswig, against Denmark and against the Frisians.
Marriage and issue
Henry was married twice:
# Matilda (d. 1365), the daughter of
Bernard V, Lord of Lippe. They had one daughter:
## Matilda (documented on March 12, 1365)
# 1366
Ingeborg
Ingeborg is a Germanic feminine given name, mostly used in Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, derived from Old Norse ''Ingiborg, Ingibjǫrg'', combining the theonym ''Ing'' with the element ''borg'' "stronghold, protection". Ingebjørg is the N ...
(d. 25 Jul 1395), daughter of
Albert II, Duke of Mecklenburg
Albert II, Duke of Mecklenburg (c. 1318 – 18 February 1379) was a feudal lord in Northern Germany on the shores of the Baltic Sea. He reigned as the head of the House of Mecklenburg. His princely seat was located in Schwerin beginning in th ...
-Schwerin. They had four children:
#*
Gerhard VI[Helge bei der Wieden calls him Gerhard V]
#*
Albert II
#*
Henry III (d. 1421),
Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück as Henry I
#* Sophia of Holstein (born: 1375 in
Lübeck
Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state ...
), married
Bogislaw VIII
Bogisław VIII ( – 11 February 1418),Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, p.149, a member of the House of Griffins, was Duke of Pomerania ruling in Pomerania-Stolp from 1395 until his death. He also served as administrator of the Prince ...
of
Pomerania
Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...
-Stargard
Seal
His seal had the inscription: S (IGILLUM) * HINRICI * D (E) I * GRA (TIA) * COMIT (IS) * HOLTZACIE * STORM ARIA
(Seal of Henry by the grace of God Duke of Holstein, (and) Stormarn)
References
*
* Helge Bei der Wieden: ''Schaumburgische Genealogie'', 2nd ed., Verlag Ernst Knoth, Melle, 1999;
* Verein für Lübecksche Geschichte und Alterthumskunde: ''Siegel des Mittelalters aus den Archiven der Stadt Lübeck'', Lübeck, 1862-1865
External links
Der Isern Hinrik - ''A professional soldier in the late Middle Ages'' at kriegsreisende.de
Footnotes
Henry 02
Henry 02
House of Schauenburg
1310s births
1380s deaths
14th-century German nobility
Year of birth uncertain
Year of death uncertain
{{Germany-count-stub