Otto IV, Count of Waldeck
| Otto IV, Count of Waldeck | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1440 |
| Died |
14 October 1494 Wetterburg Castle in Arolsen |
| Buried | Monastery at Volkhardinghausen (now part of Bad Arolsen) |
| Noble family | House of Waldeck |
| Spouse(s) | Matilda of Neuenahr Elisabeth of Tekclenburg |
| Father | Otto III, Count of Waldeck |
| Mother | Anna of Oldenburg |
Otto IV, Count of Waldeck at Landau (c. 1440 – 14 October 1494 at Wetterburg Castle in Arolsen) was the third and last ruling count of the elder Waldeck-Landau line. He was the grandson of Count Adolph III (d. 1431), who had founded the elder Waldeck-Landau line in 1387 and was the third and only surviving son of Count Otto III (d. 1458 or 1459) and his wife Anna of Oldenburg. His elder brothers John and Henry had died unmarried and childless in 1431 and 1438 respectively.
Otto resided at Landau Castle in the town of Landau, which is now part of Arolsen. During his reign, he fought a number of armend conflicts. He supported Landgrave Louis II of Hesse during his punitive campaigns against the Hanseatic city of Einbeck in 1461 and 1479 and against the city of Volkmarsen in 1476. From 1464 to 1461, Otto fought on the side of Hesse in the Hesse-Paderborn Feud against bishop Simon III of Paderborn. In 1469, the bishop's brother Bernard VII of Lippe invaded Waldeck.
In 1474, a new conflict with Simon III erupted. Troops from Padernborn had devastated Waldeck and in retaliation, Otto took the town of Lichtenau, looted it and took a number of prisoners. Simon III again called in the help of his brother Bernard VII, who marched into Waldeck and besieged the town of Mengeringhausen. Noblemen in Bernard's camp included Count John I of Rietberg and Counts of Hoya, Schaumburg and Diepholz. Otto marched his army to Mengeringhausen to relieve the town. However, his cousin Wolrad I visited Bernard VII in the enemy camp and negotiated a settlement. The siege was lifted and the feud ended.
...
Wikipedia