Francis Otto,

Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

(20 June 1530 Lüneburg, Braunschweig-Lüneburg – 29 April 1559) was the

Prince of Lüneburg A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The fem ...

from 1555 to 1559. He was the son of

Ernest I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg Ernest of Brunswick-Lüneburg (; 27 June 1497 – 11 January 1546), also frequently called Ernest the Confessor, was duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and a champion of the Protestant cause during the early years of the Protestant Reformation. He was ...

Life

When Francis Otto took over the reins of power in 1555, he had to promise the interim government, that had ruled since the death of his father in 1546, that he would comply with a large number of constraints. His reign was dominated above all by the debts incurred by the principality. In 1559 he married Elizabeth Magdalene of Brandenburg, daughter of Joachim II Hector of Brandenburg and

Hedwig of Poland Jadwiga (; 1373 or 137417 July 1399), also known as Hedwig (from German) and in , was the first woman to be crowned as monarch of the Kingdom of Poland. She reigned from 16 October 1384 until her death. Born in Buda, she was the youngest daught ...

, but he died in the same year of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

. The marriage was childless.

References

Sources

* Geckler, Christa (1986). ''Die Celler Herzöge: Leben und Wirken 1371–1705''. Celle: Georg Ströher. . . * *

External links

The House of Welf
{{DEFAULTSORT:Francis Otto, Duke of Brunswick Luneburg Princes of Lüneburg 1530 births 1559 deaths Deaths from smallpox Middle House of Lüneburg