Albert II, Duke of Mecklenburg
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Albert II, Duke of Mecklenburg | |
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Father | Henry II, Lord of Mecklenburg |
Mother | Anna of Saxe-Wittenberg |
Albert II, Duke of Mecklenburg (c. 1318 – 18 February 1379) was a feudal lord in Northern Germany on the shores of the Baltic Sea. He reigned as the head of the House of Mecklenburg. His princely seat was located in Schwerin beginning in the 1350s.[1]
Life
Albert was born in Schwerin as the second (but eldest surviving) son of Lord
Duke Albert succeeded his father as reigning Prince (or Lord) of
On 10 April 1336, Albert married a kinswoman, the Scandinavian heiress
Albert arranged for his eldest son, the future Henry III of Mecklenburg, to marry Ingeborg, the eldest daughter and potential heiress of King Valdemar IV of Denmark. Prince Henry married her some time around 1362, and their infant son was soon offered unsuccessfully as heir to the kingdom of Denmark in competition with Waldemar's youngest daughter, Queen Margaret of Norway, the future ruler of the Kalmar Union.
Albert's brother-in-law King Magnus IV of Sweden faced grave difficulties beginning in the 1350s. Influential nobles attempted to curb the concentration of royal power in Sweden and set up Magnus' own elder son Eric as a rival king. After young Eric's death, Albert's second son and namesake Albert became the next puppet claimant of the noble party in Sweden.
Duke Albert was deeply involved in trying to make his son king in Sweden, but with himself as the real power behind the throne. The younger Albert deposed his uncle Magnus IV from the Swedish throne and ascended as King Albert of Sweden.
Already in Albert and Euphemia's lifetime it was recognized that her genealogical position would become a pivotal point for any future claims to the Scandinavian thrones.
When his first wife died, Duke Albert married a second time to Countess Adelheid of Hohenstein, daughter of Count Ulrich of Hohenstein. That marriage apparently was childless.
Duke Albert had five surviving children born from his marriage with Euphemia: sons Henry, Albert and Magnus and daughters Ingeborg and Anna.
Ancestry
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References
- ^ Ludwig Fromm: "Albrecht II". In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Band 1, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1875, pp. 271–273 (online version)
Further reading
- Eberhard Holtz, Wolfgang Huschner (eds.): Deutsche Fürsten des Mittelalters. Fünfundzwanzig Lebensbilder. Edition Leipzig, Leipzig 1995, ISBN 3361004373
- Friedrich Lisch: "Ueber die Vormundschaft und den Regierungs-Antritt des Fürsten Albrecht II. (I.) des Großen von Meklenburg". In: Jahrbücher des Vereins für meklenburgische Geschichte und Alterthumskunde. Nr. 7, 1842, pp. 1–51
- Friedrich Wigger: "Stammtafeln des Großherzoglichen Hauses von Meklenburg" (sic). In: Jahrbücher des Vereins für Mecklenburgische Geschichte und Altertumskunde, Band 50 (1885), pp. 111–326 (online version)