Henry the Younger, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
| Henry V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg | |
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Henry V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
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| Spouse(s) | Maria of Württemberg Sophie Jagiellon |
| Issue | |
| Noble family | House of Guelph |
| Father | Henry IV, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg |
| Mother | Catherine of Pomerania |
| Born |
10 November 1489 Wolfenbüttel |
| Died | 11 June 1568 (aged 78) Wolfenbüttel |
Henry (Latin: Henricus; 10 November 1489 – 11 June 1568), Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, called the Younger, (also called Heinrich der Jüngere) was Prince of Wolfenbüttel from 1514 until his death. The last Catholic of the Welf princes is known for the large number of wars in which he was involved.
He was born at Wolfenbüttel Castle, the son of Duke Henry IV of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Prince of Wolfenbüttel, known as Henry the Elder. Henry V became ruling duke when his father was killed in battle in 1514, and soon entered into the Great Diocesan Feud with the 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.
While Henry initially leaned towards Protestantism and supported parts of the Augsburg Confession in 1530, he remained Catholic. He was involved in an ongoing conflict with the Protestant Electorate of Saxony, and strongly protested when the Calenberg branch of Brunswick-Lüneburg switched to Protestantism. In 1541, under a pretext but actually to gain the fertile mines of Rammelsberg, Henry attacked the Protestant Imperial City of Goslar. When in 1542 Elector John Frederick I of Saxony and Landgrave Philip I of Hesse as members of the Protestant Schmalkaldic League came to the help of Goslar, they managed to occupy the complete Principality of Wolfenbüttel. Henry fled to the Duchy of Bavaria.
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