Henry V | |
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Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg | |
Duke Henry the Younger
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Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel | |
Reign | 1514–1568 |
Born |
Wolfenbüttel, Brunswick-Lüneburg |
10 November 1489
Died | 11 June 1568 Wolfenbüttel |
(aged 78)
Buried | St Mary's Church, Wolfenbüttel |
Noble family | House of Welf |
Spouse(s) | Maria of Württemberg Sophie Jagiellon |
Issue | |
Father | Henry IV, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg |
Mother | Catherine of Pomerania |
Henry V (Latin: Henricus; 10 November 1489 – 11 June 1568), called the Younger, (Heinrich der Jüngere), a member of the House of Welf, was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and ruling Prince of Wolfenbüttel from 1514 until his death. The last Catholic of the Welf princes, he was known for the large number of wars in which he was involved and for the long-standing affair with his mistress Eva von Trott.
He was born at Wolfenbüttel Castle, the son of Duke Henry IV of Brunswick-Lüneburg, known as Henry the Elder, and his consort Catherine, a daughter of the Griffin duke Eric II of Pomerania. His father had received the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in the course of a subdivision of the Brunswick lands in 1495.
Henry V succeeded as ruling Prince of Wolfenbüttel when his father was killed in a 1514 battle during the Saxon feud. He soon entered into the Great Diocesan Feud with the Prince-Bishopric of Hildesheim under John IV of Saxe-Lauenburg, against whom he lost the Battle of Soltau in 1519. However, the duke profited from his support of Charles V in the succession as Holy Roman Emperor, and in 1523 the Bishopric had to cede large territories to Wolfenbüttel. Henry remained loyal to the Imperial authority during the German Peasants' War, and in 1528 he assisted Emperor Charles V in the War of the League of Cognac against King Francis I of France in Italy.