Magnus (c. 1324 – 25 July 1373), called Magnus with the Necklace () or Magnus II, was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, ruling the Brunswick-Lüneburg principalities of

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 ...

(colloquially also called Brunswick) and, temporarily,

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 ...

Biography

Magnus was the son of Magnus the Pious, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Wolfenbüttel). In 1362 Magnus and his brother Louis I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg helped their brother Prince-Archbishop Albert II of

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

to assert himself against the incumbent

diocesan administrator A diocesan administrator (also known as archdiocesan administrator, archiepiscopal administrator and eparchial administrator for the case, respectively, of an archdiocese, archeparchy, and eparchy) is a provisional ordinary of a Catholic partic ...

Morris of Oldenburg, who claimed the see for himself. Magnus, Louis and the latter's father-in-law William II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Celle), and their troops beleaguered Morris in the prince-archiepiscopal castle in Vörde and forced him to sign his resignation. After the death of his brother Louis in 1367, Magnus became the designated heir of both ducal principalities, Wolfenbüttel and Celle (colloquially also Lüneburg). When both his father and William II, who ruled over Celle, died in 1369, Magnus gained both ducal principalities. But already in 1370, he lost Celle to the Ascanian dukes of Saxe-Wittenberg ( Albert and his uncle Wenceslas, Elector of Saxe-Wittemberg), who had been given the principality by

Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor Charles 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 Charles of Luxembourg, born Wenceslaus (, ), was H ...

, who had also banned Magnus. Several cities, including Lüneburg (Lunenburg), Uelzen, and

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 ...

switched allegiance to the Ascanians; Magnus managed to keep the City of Braunschweig (Brunswick) among his allies only with difficulties. The Lüneburg War of Succession continued for several years after Magnus died in the Battle of Leveste (a part of today's Gehrden), near the

Deister The Deister () is a chain of hills in the Germany, 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 i ...

, on 25 July 1373.

Family

On 6 October 1356 Magnus married Catherine, 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 ...

. After Magnus' death, she remarried his enemy, Albert, Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg. Catherine and Magnus had the following children: * Catherine Elizabeth married Gerhard II/VI, Duke of Schleswig/Count of Holstein-Rendsburg (ca. 1367 – 4 August 1404) * Frederick I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1357–1400), married Anna of Saxe-Wittenberg (died 1440) * Bernard I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (died 1434), married Margaret of Saxony (before 1370 – 1418) *Otto, Archbishop of

(ca. 1364–1406) * Henry the Mild, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (died 1416) *Agnes I (died 1410), married Albert I, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen (1339–1383) *Helen, married Eric I, Count of Hoya *Elizabeth (died 1420), married Maurice IV, Count of Oldenburg (1380–1420) * Agnes II (before 1356 – ca. 1416), married first Busso IV, Count of Mansfeld, then Bogislaw VI, Duke of Pomerania, and finally King Albert of Sweden *Sophie (1358–by 28 May 1416), married Duke Eric IV of

Saxe-Lauenburg The Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg (, ), was a ''reichsfrei'' duchy that existed from 1296 to 1803 and again from 1814 to 1876 in the extreme southeast region of what is now Schleswig-Holstein. Its territorial centre was in the modern district of Herz ...

on 8 April 1373. *Maud (1370–??), married Otto III, Count of Hoya (died 1428)

References

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, vol. 20, pp. 64–66
{{DEFAULTSORT:Magnus 02, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg 1320s births 1373 deaths Military personnel killed in action Princes of Lüneburg Princes of Wolfenbüttel Old House of Brunswick Burials at Brunswick Cathedral