Henry, Duke of Brunswick-Dannenberg

Henry
Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Prince of Lüneburg
Reign1559–1569
Born4 June 1533
Died19 January 1598
Noble familyHouse of Welf
Spouse(s)Ursula of Saxe-Lauenburg
IssueJulius Ernst, Duke of Brunswick-Dannenberg
Augustus the Younger, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
FatherErnest I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
MotherSophia of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Henry III (1533 – 19 January 1598), a member of the House of Welf, was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and ruling Prince of Lüneburg from 1559 until 1569, jointly with his brother William the Younger. From 1569, he ruled over the Lordship of Dannenberg until his death.

He was the second surviving son of Duke Ernest I of Brunswick-Lüneburg and assumed the rule in the Principality of Lüneburg upon the early death of his elder brother Francis Otto in 1559. He and his younger brother William fell out with each other in 1569, when Henry married the Ascanian princess Ursula of Saxe-Lauenburg (1545–1620), daughter of Duke Francis I, and demanded the partition of the Lüneburg lands.

He eventually waived his claims to the Lüneburg principality and received Dannenberg as a paréage as well as an annual payment in compensation. He also ensured that his descendants were entitled to inherit the Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel estates upon the extinction of the line; therefore, his youngest son Augustus could assume the rule in Wolfenbüttel in 1635.

Henry died in Dannenberg.

Marriage and children who reached adulthood

In 1569 Henry married Ursula of Saxe-Lauenburg (*1545 – 22 October 1620*, Schernebeck), daughter of Francis I of Saxe-Lauenburg. They had the following children:

  • Julius Ernest (1571–1636)
  • Francis (1572–1601) Provost of Strasbourg
  • Anne Sophie (1573–1574)
  • Heinrich (1574–1575)
  • Sybil Elizabeth (1576–1630), married Anthony II, Count of Delmenhorst
  • Sidonia (1577–1645)
  • Augustus (1579–1666)

His agnatic progeny went extinct in 1884.

Henry, Duke of Brunswick-Dannenberg
Born: 4 June 1533 Died: 19 January 1598
German nobility
Preceded by Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Prince of Lüneburg

1559–1569
Succeeded by