Magnus II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg

Magnus (c. 1324 – 25 July 1373), called Magnus with the Necklace (Latin: Magnus Torquatus) or Magnus II, was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, ruling the Brunswick-Lüneburg principalities of Wolfenbüttel (colloquially also called Brunswick) and, temporarily, Lüneburg.

Magnus II
Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Born1328
Died25 July 1373
Noble familyHouse of Guelph
Spouse(s)Catherine of Anhalt-Bernburg
IssueCatherine Elizabeth, Duchess of Schleswig
Frederick I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Bernard I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Otto
Henry, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Agnes I
Helen
Elizabeth
Agnes, Duchess of Pomerania
FatherMagnus I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
MotherSophie of Brandenburg-Stendal

Biography

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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 to assert himself against the incumbent diocesan administrator 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, who had also banned Magnus. Several cities, including Lüneburg (Lunenburg), Uelzen, and Hanover 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, on 25 July 1373.

Family

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On 6 October 1356 Magnus married Catherine, daughter of Bernhard III, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg. After Magnus' death, she remarried his enemy, Albert, Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg. Catherine and Magnus had the following children:

References

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Magnus II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Born: 1328 Died: 25 July 1373
German nobility
Preceded by Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Prince of Lüneburg

1369–1373
Succeeded by
Preceded by Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

1369–1373
Succeeded by