The County of Brunswick was a county in the medieval

Duchy of Saxony The Duchy of Saxony ( nds, Hartogdom Sassen, german: Herzogtum Sachsen) was originally the area settled by the Saxons in the late Early Middle Ages, when they were subdued by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 772 and incorporated into the C ...

. It existed from about the 9th century until 1235, when it was raised to a duchy, the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg. The County developed out of the possessions of the

Brunonen The Brunonids (or Brunonians, german: Brunonen, la, Brunones, i.e. "Brunos") were a Saxon noble family in the 10th and 11th centuries, who owned property in Eastphalia (around Brunswick) and Frisia. The Brunonids are assumed to be descendants ...

dynasty centered on the town of Brunswick and was enlarged by the inheritances of Henry the Fat of Northeim around

Northeim Northeim (; nds, Nuurten) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, seat of the district of Northeim, with, in 2011, a population of 29,000. It lies on the German Half-Timbered House Road. History Northeim is first mentioned in 800 in a document ...

and

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...

and a part of the

Billung The House of Billung was a dynasty of Saxon noblemen in the 9th through 12th centuries. The first known member of the house was Count Wichmann, mentioned as a Billung in 811. Oda, the wife of Count Liudolf, oldest known member of the Liudol ...

inheritance around

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 called ...

, which fell to the House of Welf in 1106. When the Duchy of Saxony was reorganized in 1180, the County became de facto independent from the Duchy, since the new

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 ...

dukes could not establish control over it. In 1203, the three sons of Duke

Henry the Lion Henry the Lion (german: Heinrich der Löwe; 1129/1131 – 6 August 1195) was a member of the Welf dynasty who ruled as the duke of Saxony and Bavaria from 1142 and 1156, respectively, until 1180. Henry was one of the most powerful German p ...

divided the county among themselves;

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

received the western part including Hannover and Göttingen,

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

received the area around Lüneburg, and King Otto IV the area around Braunschweig. The independence of Brunswick was recognized when it was raised to the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg in 1235, which would exist until 1918.

Counts

''For later rulers, see Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg.'' ''The list may be incomplete.''

Brunonen dynasty

* Brun I (in office before 991, died 1015/16) * Liudolf (died 1038) *

Brun II :''Bruno II can also refer to Bruno II von Berg''. Bruno II (1024–1057) was a Frisian count or margrave ruling Middle-Friesland. He belonged to the Brunonen family. In 1038 he succeeded his father Liudolf, Margrave of Frisia. His mother wa ...

(died 1057) * Ekbert I (died 1068) * Ekbert II (died 1090)

Northeim dynasty

* Henry the Fat (died 1101)

Süpplingenburg dynasty

* Lothair (died 1137)

Welf dynasty

Henry the Proud Henry the Proud (german: Heinrich der Stolze) (20 October 1139), a member of the House of Welf, was Duke of Bavaria (as Henry X) from 1126 to 1138 and Duke of Saxony (as Henry II) as well as Margrave of Tuscany and Duke of Spoleto fro ...

(died 1139) *

(deposed 1180, died 1195) * Jointly: **

William of Winchester William of Winchester (11 April 1184 – 13 December 1213), also called in English William of Lunenburg (german: Wilhelm von Lüneburg) or William Longsword, a member of the House of Welf, was heir to his family's allodial lands in the Duchy of Sa ...

(died 1215) **

Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor 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 11 ...

(died 1218) **

Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine Henry V, the Elder of Brunswick (german: Heinrich der Ältere von Braunschweig; – 28 April 1227), a member of the House of Welf, was Count Palatine of the Rhine from 1195 until 1212. Life Henry was the eldest son of Henry the Lion, Duke of Sa ...

(died 1227) *

Otto the Child 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 f ...

(raised to duke in 1235)

References

* {{Authority control Brunswick Brunswick History of Brunswick Brunswick