Albert of Saxe-Wittenberg (german: Albrecht von Sachsen-Wittenberg; died 28 June 1385 in

Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon language, Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the Ri ...

) was born as the son of

Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', ''Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fro ...

(d. 30 March 1350), a younger son of the prince-elector

Rudolf I Rudolf I (1 May 1218 – 15 July 1291) was the first King of Germany from the House of Habsburg. The first of the count-kings of Germany, he reigned from 1273 until his death. Rudolf's election marked the end of the Great Interregnum which h ...

of Saxe-Wittenberg, and his (Otto's) wife Elisabeth, daughter of Duke William II of Brunswick-Lüneburg. In 1370 he succeeded his (maternal) grandfather as the Duke or Prince of Lüneburg. William II of Brunswick-Lüneburg named his grandson Albert as his heir in

Lüneburg Lüneburg (officially the ''Hanseatic City of Lüneburg'', German: ''Hansestadt Lüneburg'', , Low German ''Lümborg'', Latin ''Luneburgum'' or ''Lunaburgum'', Old High German ''Luneburc'', Old Saxon ''Hliuni'', Polabian ''Glain''), also calle ...

because neither he or his brother had male heirs. In fact William II had previously asked

Emperor Charles IV Charles IV ( cs, Karel IV.; german: Karl IV.; la, Carolus IV; 14 May 1316 – 29 November 1378''Karl IV''. In: (1960): ''Geschichte in Gestalten'' (''History in figures''), vol. 2: ''F–K''. 38, Frankfurt 1963, p. 294), also known as Charle ...

for the eventual enfeoffment of the state to his grandson, but backed away again in the years that followed, because he feared the influence of Albert's uncles, Wenceslas I and

Rudolf II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg), Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–160 ...

. A further reason may be found in the terms of the Brunswick-Lüneburg investiture agreement of 1235 as well as the succession treaties agreed by William's father

Otto the Strict Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', '' Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded ...

with Brunswick-Lüneburg's Wolfenbüttel line 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 Franconia, Franconian family from ...

, according to which the principality had to be passed to any male heir within the entire Welf house if there were one. After the death of William II and the succession of the Wolfenbüttel Magnus II, the

Lüneburg War of Succession Lüneburg (officially the ''Hanseatic City of Lüneburg'', German: ''Hansestadt Lüneburg'', , Low German ''Lümborg'', Latin ''Luneburgum'' or ''Lunaburgum'', Old High German ''Luneburc'', Old Saxon ''Hliuni'', Polabian ''Glain''), also called ...

broke out between Saxe-Wittenberg and Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Albert was backed by his uncle the Prince-Elector Wenceslas of Saxony (Saxe-Wittenberg). On 25 July 1373, Duke Magnus was killed in a battle near Leveste on the

Deister The Deister is a chain of hills in the German state of Lower Saxony, about 15 mi (25 km) southwest of the city of Hanover. It runs in a north-westerly direction from Springe in the south to Rodenberg in the north. The next in the chain ...

(part of modern-day

Gehrden Gehrden is a town in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately southwest of Hanover. Notable people * Werner von Siemens (1816-1892), inventor, founder of electrical engineering and industrialist * Car ...

). After this an arrangement was agreed between Prince-Elector Wenceslas and Albert, on the one hand and the widow of Magnus II and her sons on the other. It was agreed that the land would belong, undivided, to the two

Ascanian The House of Ascania (german: Askanier) was a dynasty of German rulers. It is also known as the House of Anhalt, which refers to its longest-held possession, Anhalt. The Ascanians are named after Ascania (or Ascaria) Castle, known as ''Schloss ...

s from Saxe-Wittenberg and, after their deaths, would be transferred to the sons of the fallen duke, Magnus II. And that it should continue to alternate after the deaths of the

Welf Welf is a Germanic first name that may refer to: *Welf (father of Judith), 9th century Frankish count, father-in-law of Louis the Pious *Welf I, d. bef. 876, count of Alpgau and Linzgau *Welf II, Count of Swabia, died 1030, supposed descendant of W ...

s, i.e. the succession would pass to the Ascanians again. In order that this plan could also be reinforced by family ties, in 1374 Albert of Saxe-Lüneburg married the widow of Magnus II, Catharina and chose

Celle Celle () is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about 71,000. Celle is the southern gateway to the Lü ...

as his home, which he made a residence in 1378. The two still underage sons of Magnus also married into the House of Ascania in 1386. He would rule the Principality of Lüneburg jointly with his uncle Wenceslas until his death on 28 June 1385.

Family

Albert married Catherina, daughter of

Bernhard III, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg Bernhard III, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg (died 20 August 1348) was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Bernburg. He was the eldest son of Bernhard II, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg, by his wife Helene, daug ...

, widow of Magnus II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. The marriage was on 10 November 1373 in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

and 11 May 1374 in Celle. They had one daughter: * Helene of Saxe-Wittenberg (1385–?)

Ancestry

Sources

* Lorenz Friedrich Beck: ''Herrschaft und Territorium der Herzöge von Sachsen-Wittenberg (1212-1422).'' Potsdam 2000. * Heinrich Kühne: ''Die Ascanier.'' Drei Kastanien Verlag 1999, * Georg Hirschfeld: ''Geschichte der Sächsisch-Askanischen Kurfürsten.'' Julius Sittenfeld, Berlin 1884 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Albert Of Saxe-Wittenberg, Duke Of Lueneberg Princes of Lüneburg Dukes of Saxe-Wittenberg House of Ascania 14th-century births 1385 deaths