Margaret of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1442–1512)

Margaret of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Spouse(s)	Henry, Duke of Mecklenburg-Stargard
Noble family	House of Guelph
Father	Frederick II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Mother	Magdalene of Brandenburg
Born	1442
Died	8 April 1512(1512-04-08) Wienhausen
Buried	Chapel of All Saints at Wienhausen Abbey

Margaret of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1442 – 8 April 1512 in Wienhausen) was a princess of Brunswick-Lüneburg by birth and by marriage a Duchess of Mecklenburg-Stargard.

Life

Margaret was a daughter of the Duke Frederick II of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1418–1478) from his marriage to Magdalene (1412–1454), the daughter of Elector Frederick I of Brandenburg.

In 1452, Margaret became the third wife of the Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Stargard (1412–1466). As a dowry she brought with her 8000guilders, which her husband doubled. After her husband's death, she lived on her jointure in Plau am See, which Henry had promised to her.

With the death of her stepson Ulrich II the Mecklenburg-Stargard line died out and the indebted country fell to Mecklenburg-Schwerin, which was not responsible for the maintenance of Stargard's widow. Margaret then lived in Celle for a while. The dispute between the houses of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Mecklenburg-Schwerin about her jointure at Plau am See dragged on until her death.

Margaret spent her 46-year-long widowhood in abject poverty. In letters to their relatives, they said that they would suffer even hunger and thirst. In 1499 she was, under pressure from the Dukes of Brunswick, admitted as a permanent resident to Wienhausen Abbey. She was financially supported by her sister Anna, the widow of her brother Otto V, who sent her only 12 guilders per year.

She died on 8 April 1512 in Wienhausen and was buried there in the Chapel of All Saints.

Issue

From her marriage Margaret had two daughters:

• Magdalene (1454–1532)

married firstly, in 1475, with Duke Wartislaw X of Pomerania (1435–1478)

married secondly, in 1482, with Count Burkhard of Barby-Mühlingen (d. 1505)

• Anna (1465–1498), a nun in Ribnitz Monastery

Ancestors

Family of Margaret of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1442–1512)

16. Magnus the Pious, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg               8. Magnus II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg                       17. Sophie of Brandenburg               4. Bernard I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg                             18. Bernhard III, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg               9. Catherine of Anhalt-Bernburg                       19. Agnes of Saxony               2. Frederick II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg                                   20. Rudolf I, Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg               10. Wenceslas I, Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg                       21. Agnes of Lindow-Ruppin               5. Margaret of Saxony                             22. Francesco I da Carrara               11. Cecilia of Carrara                       23. Fina di Buzzacarini               1. Margaret of Brunswick-Lüneburg                                         24. John II of Nuremberg               12. Frederick V, Burgrave of Nuremberg                       25. Elisabeth of Henneberg-Schleusingen               6. Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg                             26. Frederick II, Margrave of Meissen               13. Elisabeth of Meissen                       27. Matilda of Bavaria               3. Magdalene of Brandenburg                                   28. Stephen II, Duke of Bavaria               14. Frederick, Duke of Bavaria                       29. Elisabeth of Sicily               7. Elisabeth of Bavaria-Landshut                             30. Bernabò Visconti               15. Maddalena Visconti                       31. Beatrice Regina della Scala

References

• Verein für Mecklenburgische Geschichte und Alterthumskunde, Schwerin: Mecklenburgische Jahrbücher, vols. 24–25, 1859, p. 33 ff.
• Martina Schattkowsky: Witwenschaft in der frühen Neuzeit: fürstliche und adlige Witwen zwischen Fremd- und Selbstbestimmung, Leipziger Universitätsverlag, 2003, p. 106

External links

• http://www.guide2womenleaders.com/womeninpower/Womeninpower1450.htm
• http://www.emecklenburg.de/Niklot/i0392.htm