Albert II, Duke of Brunswick
Albert, called the Fat, was a member of the House of Welf, one of the oldest European noble families. He was born around 1268 and died on September 22, 1318. Albert II was the son of Albert I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and Adelheid of Montferrat.
The second son of Albert the Tall, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Albert was a boy when his father died in 1279. He was first under guardianship of his uncle, Conrad, Prince-Bishop of Verden, and then of his elder brother, Henry I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. In 1286 the three brothers divided their father's Principality of Wolfenbüttel; Albert received the areas around Göttingen, Minden, Northeim, Calenberg, and Hanover. He made Göttingen his residence, thus Principality of Göttingen. In 1292, the third brother, William, died childless, and Albert and Henry, who had received the Principality of Grubenhagen, quarrelled about William's share, the remaining belittled areas around Brunswick and Wolfenbüttel; Albert finally prevailed.
Family
On 10 January 1284 Albert married Rixa, daughter of Henry I, Prince of Werle and Mecklenburg-Güstrow, and Rikissa Birgersdotter. They had four daughters and nine sons. Three of the sons, Bruno, Wilhelm and Johann, died young.The children who reached adulthood were:
- Adelaide, married John, Landgrave of Lower Hesse
- Richenza, Abbess of Gandersheim
- Mechtild
- Jutta
- Otto the Mild, Prince of Wolfenbüttel
- Luder or Lothar, joined the Teutonic Order
- Albert, Bishop of Halberstadt
- Henry, Bishop of Hildesheim
- Magnus I, Prince of Wolfenbüttel
- Ernest I, Prince of Gettingen