Albert the Tall (, ; 1236 – 15 August 1279), a member of the
House of Welf
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-Mo ...
, was
Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg from 1252 and the first ruler of the newly created
Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel from 1269 until his death.
Life
Albert was the oldest surviving son of the first Brunswick duke
Otto the Child and his wife,
Matilda of Brandenburg. When his father died in 1252, he took over the rule of the duchy. In 1267 the duchy was divided between Albert and his younger brother
John.
Albert's rule was initially troubled by several armed conflicts as the Welf dukes still had to cope with the followers of the extinct
Hohenstaufen dynasty within their dominions. In 1260/61 Albert's troops fought against the Danish duke
Eric I of Schleswig on behalf of Queen
Margaret Sambiria and her minor son King
Eric V of Denmark. In 1263 the duke quite luckless interfered in the
War of the Thuringian Succession to support the claims raised by his mother-in-law
Sophie of Brabant.
On 31 May 1267, the brothers agreed to divide the Welf lands, which happened in 1269. Albert partitioned the territory while John obtained the right to choose his part. He took the northern half including the region of
Lüneburg
Lüneburg, officially the Hanseatic City of Lüneburg and also known in English as Lunenburg, is a town in the German Bundesland (Germany), state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of another Hanseatic League, Hanseatic city, Hambur ...
,
Celle and the city of
Hanover
Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...
, while Albert received the southern part around the cities of
Brunswick and
Wolfenbüttel
Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District
Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel (district), Wolfenbüttel Distri ...
, stretching from the area around the
Calenberg hill to the town of
Helmstedt, the
Harz
The Harz (), also called the Harz Mountains, is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' der ...
mountain range, and
Göttingen
Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...
. The Brunswick residence itself was to remain common property of the brothers.
Albert then concentrated on the development of his hereditary lands. During the Imperial ''
interregnum
An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of revolutionary breach of legal continuity, discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one m ...
'', he sided with the rising Bohemian king
Ottokar II until his final defeat in the 1278
Battle on the Marchfeld
The Battle on the Marchfeld (''i.e. Morava (river), Morava Field''; ; ; ); at Dürnkrut, Austria, Dürnkrut and Jedenspeigen took place on 26 August 1278 and was a decisive event for the history of Central Europe for the following centuries. T ...
. When his brother John died in 1277, he took over the guardianship for his minor nephew
Otto II of Brunswick-Lüneburg.
Albert died on 15 August 1279 and is buried at
Brunswick Cathedral. He was succeeded by his elder three sons, the younger three joined the Church.
Marriage and children
In 1254, Albert married Elizabeth of Brabant (1243 – October 9, 1261), daughter of Duke
Henry II of Brabant and
Sophie of Thuringia. They had no children.
[Chronica Principum Brunsvicensium, MGH SS XXX.1, p. 26.]
After Elizabeth's death in 1261, Albert married Adelheid (Alessia) (1242 – February 6, 1284/85), daughter of Margrave
Boniface II of Montferrat around 1263. Once widowed she married
Gerhard I, Count of Holstein-Itzehoe. Albert and Adelheid had the following children:
*
Henry I, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen (1267–1322)
*
Albert II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1268–1318)
*
William I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1270–1292)
* Otto (died ca. 1346)
*
Luther von Braunschweig (1275- 1335), Grand Master of the
Teutonic Knights
The Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to t ...
from 1331.
*
Matilda of Brunswick-Lüneburg, (1276-11 Dec 1310) married the
Piast duke
Henry III of Głogów.
* Conrad (died ca. 1303)
References
Sources
*
*
*
Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, vol. 1, p. 257-261
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albert 01, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg
Princes of Wolfenbüttel
1236 births
1279 deaths
People from the Harz
Christians of the Prussian Crusade
Old House of Brunswick
Burials at Brunswick Cathedral