Margrave Otto V of Brandenburg-Salzwedel ( 1246 – 1298), nicknamed ''Otto the Tall'', was a son of Margrave

Otto III Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was Holy Roman Emperor from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of the Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was crowned as King of ...

and co-ruler of

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 squ ...

with his cousin, Margrave

Otto IV Otto IV (1175 – 19 May 1218) was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1209 until his death in 1218. Otto spent most of his early life in England and France. He was a follower of his uncle Richard the Lionheart, who made him Count of Poitou in 119 ...

. Otto V spent many years in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, at the court of his maternal uncle King

Ottokar II of Bohemia Ottokar II ( cs, Přemysl Otakar II.; , in Městec Králové, Bohemia – 26 August 1278, in Dürnkrut, Lower Austria), the Iron and Golden King, was a member of the Přemyslid dynasty who reigned as King of Bohemia from 1253 until his dea ...

. When Ottokar died in battle in 1278, Otto V became the

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 ...

for Ottokar's son and heir Wenceslaus II, who was only seven years old when his father died. As regent, Otto V had to deal with the machinations of Ottokar's widow

Kunigunda of Slavonia Kunigunda Rostislavna (1245 – 9 September 1285; Czech: ''Kunhuta Uherská'' or ''Kunhuta Haličská'') was Queen consort of Bohemia and its regent from 1278 until her death. She was a member of the House of Chernigov, and a daughter of Rostis ...

and with factions of powerful noblemen. Bohemian

chronicle A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and ...

rs describe Otto's persistent rigour and that Wenceslaus was forced to give up his claims on

Upper Lusatia Upper Lusatia (german: Oberlausitz ; hsb, Hornja Łužica ; dsb, Górna Łužyca; szl, Gōrnŏ Łużyca; pl, Łużyce Górne or ''Milsko''; cz, Horní Lužice) is a historical region in Germany and Poland. Along with Lower Lusatia to t ...

before he could start reigning himself. When Wenceslaus had taken over, he and Otto V were still on good terms, and Wenceslaus took measures against the strong influence of the group around his mother. Otto V also persistently defended his claims on

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 ...

against Polish counter-claims.

Marriage and issue

He married with Judith of Henneberg-Coburg, a daughter of Count Herman I of Henneberg. They had the following children: *

Matilda Matilda or Mathilda may refer to: Animals * Matilda (chicken) (1990–2006), World's Oldest Living Chicken record holder * Matilda (horse) (1824–1846), British Thoroughbred racehorse * Matilda, a dog of the professional wrestling tag-team The ...

(c. 1270 – before 1 June 1298), the second wife of

Henry IV Probus Henryk IV Probus (Latin for ''the Righteous'') ( pl, Henryk IV Probus or ''Prawy''; german: Heinrich IV. der Gerechte) ( – 23 June 1290) was a member of the Silesian branch of the royal Polish Piast dynasty. He was Duke of Silesia at Wro ...

, Duke of

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, r ...

and

High Duke of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electable position in Europe (16th ...

* Herman (c. 1275 – 1 February 1308), his successor * Otto (died 1307) * Kunigunde (died 1317), never married *

Beatrix Beatrix is a Latin feminine given name, most likely derived from ''Viatrix'', a feminine form of the Late Latin name ''Viator'' which meant "voyager, traveller" and later influenced in spelling by association with the Latin word ''beatus'' or "bles ...

(d. c. 1316), married

Bolko I the Strict Bolko (Bolesław) I the Strict also known as the Raw or of Jawor ( pl, Bolko I Surowy or ''Srogi'' or ''Jaworski''; german: Bolko I. von Schweidnitz; 1252/56 – 9 November 1301), was a Duke of Lwówek (Löwenberg) 1278–81 (with his brother as c ...

, Duke of Świdnica in 1284 * Judith (also known as ''Jutta''; died: 9 May 1328), married Rudolph I, Duke of

Saxe-Wittenberg The Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg () was a medieval duchy of the Holy Roman Empire centered at Wittenberg, which emerged after the dissolution of the stem duchy of Saxony. The Ascanian dukes prevailed in obtaining the Saxon electoral dignity unt ...

in 1303 * Albert (before 1283 – c. 1296)

References

External links

Otto the Tall as Regent of Bohemia
Margraves of Brandenburg House of Ascania 1240s births Year of birth uncertain 1298 deaths 13th-century German nobility {{Germany-margrave-stub