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64-561: The (Younger) House of Welf is the older branch of the House of Este , a dynasty whose earliest known members lived in Veneto and Lombardy in the late 9th/early 10th century, sometimes called Welf-Este. The first member was Welf I, Duke of Bavaria , also known as Welf IV. He inherited the property of the Elder House of Welf when his maternal uncle Welf III , Duke of Carinthia and Verona,

128-523: A cadet branch born out of wedlock, who continued to rule in the imperial duchies and carried on the family name. Ferrara, on the other hand, was annexed by force of arms in 1598 by Pope Clement VIII on grounds of the heir's illegitimacy and incorporated into the Papal States . During the 18th century, the unhappy marriage between the last male heir of the Este family, the future Duke Ercole III , and

192-470: A branch of the Obertenghi . The first known member of the house was Margrave Adalbert of Mainz , known only as the father of Oberto I , Count palatine of Italy , who died around 975. Oberto's grandson, Albert Azzo II, Margrave of Milan (996–1097) built a castle at Este , near Padua , and named himself after the location. He had three sons from two marriages, two of whom became the ancestors of

256-647: A huge ransom in 1193. Henry died at Brunswick in 1195. Henry the Lion's son, Otto of Brunswick, was elected King of the Romans and crowned Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV after years of further conflicts with the Hohenstaufen emperors. He incurred the wrath of Pope Innocent III and was excommunicated in 1215. Otto was forced to abdicate the imperial throne by the Hohenstaufen Frederick II . He

320-709: A noble house in Germany. Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria , from 1120 to 1126, was the first of the three dukes of the Welf dynasty called Henry. His wife Wulfhild was the heiress of the house of Billung , possessing the territory around Lüneburg in Lower Saxony. Their son, Henry the Proud , was the son-in-law and heir of Lothair II, Holy Roman Emperor and became also Duke of Saxony on Lothair's death. Lothair left his territory around Brunswick , inherited from his mother of

384-598: A result of increasing tensions with the townsfolk of Brunswick , the Brunswick Line moved their residence to Wolfenbüttel Castle , thus the name Wolfenbüttel became the unofficial name of this principality. With Ivan VI of Russia the Brunswick line even had a short intermezzo on the Russian imperial throne in 1740. Not until 1754 was the residence moved back to Brunswick, into the new Brunswick Palace . In 1814

448-765: A role in the Investiture Controversy . Since the Welf dynasty sided with the Pope in this controversy, partisans of the Pope came to be known in Italy as Guelphs ( Guelfi ). The first genealogy of the Welfs is the Genealogia Welforum , composed shortly before 1126. A much more detailed history of the dynasty, the Historia Welforum , was composed around 1170. It is the earliest history of

512-580: A special law. § 2 For the rendering of the coat-of-arms the patterns, which are attached to this law as appendix, are authoritative. The coloured patterns are deposited in the Main Public Record Office of Saxony. § 3 The regulations necessary for the implementation of this law are issued by the State Government. It can pass on this authority. § 4 This law comes into force the day after its proclamation. The preceding law

576-513: A time when anti-Catholic sentiment ran high in much of Northern Europe and Great Britain. Sophia died shortly before her first cousin once removed, Anne, Queen of Great Britain , the last sovereign of the House of Stuart . Sophia's son George I succeeded Queen Anne and formed a personal union from 1714 between the British crown and the Electorate of Hanover, which lasted until well after

640-403: Is Queen Frederica's nephew Ernst August , the third and present husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco . In 1129, after Henry the Proud's defeat against Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor , his sister Sophia was given a seat at Regensburg . From c.  1150 until his death in 1167, Welf VI's son, Welf VII, was associated to his father, but predeceased him. After Welf VI's death, Altdorf

704-501: Is known as the House of Welf , included dukes of Bavaria and of Brunswick . This branch produced Britain's Hanoverian monarchs , as well as one Emperor of Russia ( Ivan VI ) and one Holy Roman Emperor ( Otto IV ). The original House of Este's younger branch, which is simply called the House of Este, included rulers of Ferrara (1240–1597), and of Modena (–1859) and Reggio (1288–1796). This branch's male line became extinct with

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768-622: The Bishop of Minden and Count of Schaumburg and set up his own army. On 28 May 1388, battle was joined at Winsen an der Aller; it ended in victory for Henry . According to the provisions of the Treaty of Hanover from the year 1373, after the death of Wensceslas, the Principality passed to the House of Welf. In 1389, an inheritance agreement between the Welfs and the Ascanians was concluded,

832-536: The Brunonids , to his daughter Gertrud. Her husband Henry the Proud became then the favoured candidate in the imperial election against Conrad III of the Hohenstaufen . Henry lost the election, as the other princes feared his power and temperament, and was dispossessed of his duchies by Conrad III. Henry's brother Welf VI (1115–1191), Margrave of Tuscany, later left his Swabian territories around Ravensburg,

896-623: The House of Luneburg residing at Celle Castle . In 1635 it was given to George , younger brother of Prince Ernest II of Lüneburg , who chose Hanover as his residence. New territory was added in 1665, and in 1705 the Principality of Luneburg was taken over by the Hanoverians. In 1692 Duke Ernest Augustus from the Calenberg-Hanover Line acquired the right to be a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire as

960-544: The Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1157 from its last Wendish ruler, Pribislav , and he became the first Ascanian margrave. Albert, and his descendants of the House of Ascania, then made considerable progress in Christianizing and Germanizing the lands. As a borderland between German and Slavic cultures, the country was known as a march . In 1237 and 1244, two towns, Cölln and Berlin, were founded during

1024-697: The Prince-Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg . Colloquially the Electorate was known as the Electorate of Hanover . In 1814 it was succeeded by the Kingdom of Hanover . Religion-driven politics placed Ernest Augustus's wife Sophia of the Palatinate in the line of succession to the British crown by the Act of Settlement 1701 , written to ensure a Protestant succession to the thrones of Scotland and England at

1088-569: The Welf 's Henry the Lion , who was deposed by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa . In 1180, Albert's son Bernhard, Count of Anhalt received the remaining Saxon territories around Wittenberg and Lauenburg , and the ducal title. Legend, so unlikely to be true, goes that when he rode in front of the emperor, at the occasion of his investiture, he carried a shield with his escutcheon of the Ballenstedt coat of arms ( barry sable and or ). Barbarossa took

1152-531: The dowry of his niece the Marchesella , Ferrara passed to Azzo VI d'Este In 1146, with the last of the Adelardi. In 1242 Azzo VII Novello was nominated podestà for his lifetime. The lordship of Ferrara was made hereditary by Obizzo II (d. 1293), who was proclaimed Lord of Ferrara in 1264, Lord of Modena in 1288, and Lord of Reggio in 1289. Ferrara was a papal fief and the Este family were given

1216-622: The rue wreath he wore against the heat of the sun from his head, hanging it over Bernhard's shield and thus creating the Saxonian crancelin vert (" Barry of ten sable and or, a crancelin vert "). A more likely explanation is that it probably symbolized the waiver of the Lauenburg lands. From about 1260, the Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg emerged under the Ascanian duke Albert II , who adopted

1280-549: The "Electors of Hanover" in 1705, and princes of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1269-1807). The House of Welf gave Great Britain and the United Kingdom the " Hanoverian monarchs " (1714–1901) as well as gave Russia an emperor Ivan VI . After the peace ending the Napoleonic Wars reshaped Europe, ushering in the modern era , the Electorate of Hanover ( duchy of Brunswick and Lüneburg , held in personal union by

1344-552: The Bear , was the first Margrave of Brandenburg from the House of Ascania. The origin of his nickname "the Bear" is unknown. The Landtag of Saxony state parliament has passed on 25 October 1991 the following law: § 1 (1) The lesser coat-of-arms of the Free State of Saxony shows an escutcheon bendy of nine pieces black and gold, a green rue-crown bendwise. (2) A greater coat-of-arms of the Free State of Saxony can be determined by

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1408-483: The British throne was inherited by an elder brother's only daughter, Queen Victoria . Her offspring belong to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha : in 1917 the name was changed to the House of Windsor . The Kingdom of Hanover was lost in 1866 by Ernest Augustus's son George V of Hanover , Austria's ally during the Austro-Prussian War , when it was annexed by Prussia after Austria's defeat and became

1472-666: The Emperor. However, even in eastern Saxony, the Ascanians could establish control only in limited areas, mostly near the River Elbe. In the 13th century, the Principality of Anhalt was split off from the Duchy of Saxony. Later, the remaining state was split into Saxe-Lauenburg and Saxe-Wittenberg . The Ascanian dynasties in the two Saxon states became extinct in 1689 and in 1422, respectively, but Ascanians continued to rule in

1536-565: The French invasion in 1796. House of Ascania (804–1036) [REDACTED] Duchy of Saxony The House of Ascania ( German : Askanier ) was a dynasty of German rulers. It is also known as the House of Anhalt , which refers to its longest-held possession, Anhalt . The Ascanians are named after Ascania (or Ascaria) Castle, known as Schloss Askanien in German, which was located near and named after Aschersleben . The castle

1600-781: The German House. At his death, his grandson continued internationally recognized appeals. Hanover formed the Guelph Party (or German Party) to continue political appeals against the Prussian and German annexations of the crown. All later generations of the Italian branch are descendants of Fulco d'Este. From 1171 on, his descendants were titled Margraves of Este. Obizzo I (d. 1193), the first margrave, battled against Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa . His nephew Azzo d'Este VI (1170–1212) became podestà of Mantua and Verona . As

1664-599: The Hohenstaufen Emperor in 1185 and returned to his much diminished lands around Brunswick without recovering his two duchies. Bavaria had been given to Otto I, Duke of Bavaria , and the Duchy of Saxony was divided between the Archbishop of Cologne, the House of Ascania and others. Diminished lands did not prevent him from imprisoning Richard I on his return from the Third Crusade , and demanding

1728-656: The Hohenstaufen dynasty, tried to get along with him, but when Henry refused to assist him once more in an Italian war campaign, conflict became inevitable. Dispossessed of his duchies after the Battle of Legnano in 1176 by Emperor Frederick I and the other princes of the German Empire eager to claim parts of his vast territories, he was exiled to the court of his father-in-law Henry II in Normandy in 1180. He returned to Germany three years later. Henry made his peace with

1792-464: The House of Welf continued to be ruled by the princes of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, as undisputed until the death of the ruling duke of Brunswick Prince William VIII , in 1884. Prior to his death, his brother Charles II from Geneva, as exiled de jure ruler of the house, had declared the Prussian annexation of the crown and the earlier Hanoverian usurpation absolutely illegal acts of usurpation inside of

1856-507: The Prussian province of Hanover. The Welfs went into exile at Gmunden , Austria, where they built Cumberland Castle . The senior line of the dynasty had ruled the much smaller principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel , created the sovereign Duchy of Brunswick in 1814. This line became extinct in 1884. Although the Duchy should have been inherited by the Duke of Cumberland , son of the last king of Hanover, Prussian suspicions of his loyalty led

1920-530: The death of Ercole III in 1803. According to Edward Gibbon , the family originated from the Roman Attii family, which migrated from Rome to Este to defend Italy against the Ostrogoths . However, there is little evidence to support this hypothesis. The names of the early members of the family indicate that a Frankish origin is much more likely. The Encyclopædia Britannica regards this family as

1984-704: The duchy of Ferrara as papal fief from Pope Paul II , for which occasion splendid frescoes were executed at Palazzo Schifanoia . Borso was succeeded by a half-brother, Ercole (1431–1505), who was one of the most significant patrons of the arts in late 15th and early 16th century Italy. Ferrara grew into a cultural center renowned especially for music; Josquin des Prez worked for Duke Ercole, Jacob Obrecht came to Ferrara twice, and Antoine Brumel served as principal musician from 1505. Ercole's daughter Beatrice (1475–1497) married Ludovico Sforza , Duke of Milan ; another daughter, Isabella (1474–1539), married Francesco Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua . Ercole I's successor

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2048-768: The duchy's throne to remain vacant until 1913, when the Duke of Cumberland's son, Ernst August , married the daughter of Kaiser Wilhelm II and was allowed to inherit it. His rule there was short-lived, as the monarchy came to an end following the First World War in 1918. The Welf dynasty continues to exist. The last member sitting on a European throne was Frederica of Hanover , Queen of Greece († 1981), mother of Queen Sofia of Spain and King Constantine II of Greece . Frederica's brother Prince George William of Hanover married Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark , sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh . The House's head

2112-460: The end of the Napoleonic Wars more than a century later, through the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and the rise of a new successor kingdom. The British royal family became known as the House of Hanover . The "Electorate of Hanover" (the core duchy) was enlarged with the addition of other lands and became the Kingdom of Hanover in 1814 at the Congress of Vienna . During the first half of

2176-525: The enlarged and elevated Grand Duchy of Baden during the Napoleonic reorganization of the western territories of the defunct Holy Roman Empire . In December of that same year, Ferdinand died without ever having had the opportunity to exercise his prerogatives as heir to the Este States. Maria Beatrice had succeeded her mother as Duchess of Massa and Carrara in 1790, but she too had been deposed by

2240-421: The estates, which was to supervise the treaty. However, 1373–1388 would be the only period in which a Brunswick-Luneburg land was not ruled by a Welf: In the wake of his death, Elector Wenceslas appointed Bernard, his brother-in-law, as co-regent involved him in the government. But his younger brother Henry did not agree with this ruling, and after vain attempts to reach an agreement, the fight flared up again in

2304-484: The former was designated by Francesco III as heir for the imperial investiture as Duke of Modena and Reggio in the event of extinction of the Este male line. In the meantime, Francesco would cover the office of governor of Milan ad interim, which was destined for the archduke. In 1761, however, following the death of an older brother , Leopold became heir to the throne of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany as provided for

2368-487: The king of Great Britain, George III ) was dissolved by treaty. Its lands were enlarged and the state was promoted to a kingdom . The new kingdom existed from 1815 to 1866, but upon the accession of Queen Victoria (who could not inherit Hanover under Salic law ) in 1837, it passed to her uncle, Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover , and thus ceased to be in personal union with the British Crown. The senior branch of

2432-470: The last male Welf of the Elder House, died in 1055. Welf IV was the son of Welf III's sister Kunigunde of Altdorf and her husband Albert Azzo II, Margrave of Milan . In 1070, Welf IV became Duke of Bavaria . Welf II, Duke of Bavaria married Countess Matilda of Tuscany , who died childless and left him her possessions, including Tuscany , Ferrara , Modena , Mantua , and Reggio , which played

2496-695: The new House of Austria-Este . Ercole III finally ascended the throne in 1780 upon the death of Francesco III, but was deposed in 1796 by the French. His States were transformed into the Cispadane Republic , which one year later was merged into the Cisalpine Republic and then into the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy . Ercole was compensated with the small principality of Breisgau in southwestern Germany, and when he died in 1803, it passed to his son-in-law, who in 1806 lost it to

2560-640: The nineteenth century, the Kingdom was ruled as personal union by the British crown from its creation under George III of the United Kingdom, the last elector of Hanover until the death of William IV in 1837. At that point, the crown of Hanover went to William's younger brother, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale under the Salic law requiring the next male heir to inherit, whereas

2624-465: The original House of Este, known as the House of Welf (were also called Guelfs "Guelf" or "Guelph" which derives from the Italianized name for original “Welf”), produced dukes of Bavaria (1070–1139, 1156–1180), dukes of Saxony (1138–1139, 1142–1180), a Holy Roman Emperor, Otto IV (1198–1218), dukes of Brunswick and Lüneburg (1208–1806), later also dukes of Saxe-Lauenburg (1689-1803), styled

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2688-537: The original possessions of the Elder House of Welf , to his nephew Emperor Frederick I , and thus to the House of Hohenstaufen. The next duke of the Welf dynasty Henry the Lion (1129/1131–1195) recovered his father's two duchies, Saxony in 1142, Bavaria in 1156 and thus ruled vast parts of Germany. In 1168 he married Matilda (1156–1189), the daughter of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine , and sister of Richard I of England , gaining ever more influence. His first cousin, Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor of

2752-644: The position of hereditary papal vicars in 1332. Ferrara became a significant center of culture under Niccolò d'Este III (1384–1441), who received several popes with great magnificence, especially Eugene IV. He held a Council in Ferrara in 1438, later known as the Council of Florence . His successors were his illegitimate sons Leonello (1407–1450) and Borso (1413–1471), who was elevated to Duke of Modena and Reggio by Emperor Frederick III in 1452, receiving these duchies as imperial fiefs. In 1471, he received

2816-521: The princely couple would not produce a large offspring, the reigning Duke, Francesco III , set out to prevent Modena from suffering the same fate as Ferrara almost two centuries earlier. Thus, in 1753, two simultaneous treaties (one public and one secret) were concluded between the House of Este and the House of Austria , by which the Archduke Leopold , Empress Maria Theresa 's ninth-born child and third son, and Maria Beatrice were engaged, and

2880-531: The principality became the Duchy of Brunswick , ruled by the senior branch of the House of Welf. In 1432 the estates gained by the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel between the Deister and Leine split away as the Principality of Calenberg . In 1495 it was expanded around Göttingen and in 1584 went back to the Wolfenbüttel Line. In 1634, as a result of inheritance distributions, it went to

2944-637: The respective marriages. For Sophia, she inherited the Margraviate of Landsberg, which was inherited by her sons. (genealogical list of the dynasty in German) The original arms of the house of Ascania, from their ancestors the Saxon counts of Ballenstedt , were " Barry of ten sable and or ". The Ascanian margrave Albert the Bear was invested with the Saxon ducal title in 1138; when he succeeded

3008-431: The rule of Otto and Johann, grandsons of Margrave Albert the Bear. Later, they were united into one city, Berlin . The emblem of the House of Ascania, a red eagle and bear, became the heraldic emblems of Berlin. In 1320, the Brandenburg Ascanian line came to an end. After the Emperor had deposed the Guelph rulers of Saxony in 1180, Ascanians returned to rule the Duchy of Saxony, which had been reduced to its eastern half by

3072-524: The second male heir of the imperial couple, and the treaties had to be revised. In 1763, in spite of the harsh opposition of Maria Beatrice's father, the two families agreed to simply replace the name of Leopold with that of Maria Theresa's fourteenth child, Archduke Ferdinand Karl of Austria , who was four years younger than his betrothed. In January 1771 the Perpetual Diet of Regensburg ratified Ferdinand's future investiture and, in October, Maria Beatrice and he finally got married in Milan, thus giving rise to

3136-512: The sister of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor (1527–1576). His third wife, Margherita Gonzaga , was daughter of the duke of Mantua . Alfonso II raised the glory of Ferrara to its highest point, continuing the patron of Torquato Tasso and Giovanni Battista Guarini and in general favoring the arts and sciences, as the princes of his house had always done. The legitimate line ended in 1597 with him; as his heir, Emperor Rudolph II recognized his first cousin Cesare d'Este (1533–1628), member of

3200-447: The smaller state of Anhalt and its various subdivisions until the monarchy was abolished in 1918. Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796, was a member of the House of Ascania, herself the daughter of Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst . John's and Agnes' childless deaths left the main core of Salzwedel and the important seat of the Altmark to be reunited in Brandenburg. The remaining possessions were annexed by

3264-413: The sovereign Duchess of Massa and Carrara , Maria Teresa Cybo-Malaspina , produced only one surviving child, Maria Beatrice . However, the Salic law excluded her, as a woman, from the succession to her father, while she was entitled to succeed her mother since the Salic law was derogated in the Duchy of Massa and Carrara by virtue of a 1529 decree of the Emperor Charles V . When it became obvious that

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3328-415: The spring of 1388. Elector Wenceslas had to assemble an army without the help of Bernard, supported by the town of Lüneburg. From Winsen an der Aller , he wanted to attack Celle , which was held by Henry and his mother. During the preparations Elector Wenceslas fell seriously ill and died shortly thereafter. According to legend, he was poisoned. Lüneburg continued the preparations, formed an alliance with

3392-437: The style of the subordinate principality. By 1705, the subordinate principalities had taken their final form as the Electorate of Hanover and the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel , and these would become the Kingdom of Hanover and the Duchy of Brunswick after the Congress of Vienna in 1815. In 1269 the Principality of Brunswick was formed following the first division of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg. In 1432, as

3456-411: The trademark of the Meissen china factory) to their coat of arms. When the line became extinct in 1422, the arms and electoral dignity were adopted by the Wettin by margrave Frederick IV of Meissen as it had become synonymous with the Saxon ducal title. When upon German reunification the Free State of Saxony was re-established, the coat of arms was formally confirmed in 1991. The chivalric order

3520-426: The tradition of the Saxon stem duchy and was granted the Saxon electoral dignity , against the fierce protest of his Ascanian Saxe-Lauenburg cousins. This was confirmed by the Golden Bull of 1356 . As the Ascanian Electors of Saxony also held the High office of an Arch-Marshal of the Holy Roman Empire , they added the ensign Per fess sable and argent two swords in saltire gules (the swords later featuring as

3584-521: The treaty of 1374 was abolished, and the Principality was secured for the Welfs. [REDACTED] Some direct ancestors (fathers and sons) of the present generation are: House of Este The House of Este ( UK : / ˈ ɛ s t i / EST -ee , US : / ˈ ɛ s t eɪ / EST -ay , Italian: [ˈɛste] ) is a European dynasty of North Italian origin whose members ruled parts of Italy and Germany for many centuries. The original House of Este's elder branch, which

3648-440: The two branches of the family: The two surviving branches, with Duke Henry the Lion of Saxony and Bavaria on the German (Welf dynasty) side, concluded an agreement in 1154 which allocated the family's Italian possessions to the younger line, the Fulc-Este, who in the course of time acquired Ferrara, Modena and Reggio. Este itself was taken over in 1275 by Padua , and in 1405 (together with Padua) by Venice . The elder branch of

3712-443: Was Otto, Count of Ballenstedt , who died in 1123. By Otto's marriage to Eilika , daughter of Magnus, Duke of Saxony , the Ascanians became heirs to half of the property of the House of Billung , former dukes of Saxony . Otto's son, Albert the Bear , became, with the help of his mother's inheritance, the first Ascanian duke of Saxony in 1139. However, he soon lost control of Saxony to the rival House of Guelph . Albert inherited

3776-409: Was annexed to the Holy Roman Empire . Beatrice of Swabia 1212 no children Maria of Brabant 19 May 1214 Maastricht no children After their death, rule of the Principality was to revert to the Ascanians. In order to underpin the agreement, in 1374 Albert of Saxe-Lüneburg married Catharina, the widow of Magnus II. The treaty also envisaged the creation of a statutory body representing

3840-437: Was generally named after the ruler's residence, e.g., the rulers of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel originally lived in Wolfenbüttel. Whenever a branch of the family died out in the male line, the territory was given to another line, as the duchy remained enfeoffed to the family as a whole rather than its individual members. All members of the House of Welf, male or female, bore the title Duke/Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg in addition to

3904-434: Was his son Alfonso I (1476–1534), third husband of Lucrezia Borgia , daughter of Pope Alexander VI , sister to Cesare Borgia . Alfonso I was a patron of Ariosto . The son of Alfonso and Lucrezia Borgia , Ercole d'Este II (1508–1559), married Renée of France , daughter of Louis XII of France . His son Alfonso II first married Lucrezia, daughter of grand-duke Cosimo I of Tuscany . After she died, he married Barbara,

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3968-415: Was the House Order of Albert the Bear (German: Hausorden Albrechts des Bären or Der Herzoglich Anhaltische Hausorden Albrechts des Bären ) which was founded in 1836 as a joint House Order by three dukes of Anhalt from separate branches of the family: Henry, Duke of Anhalt-Köthen , Leopold IV, Duke of Anhalt-Dessau , and Alexander Karl, Duke of Anhalt-Bernburg . The namesake of the order, Albert

4032-443: Was the only Welf to become Holy Roman Emperor. Henry the Lion's grandson Otto the Child became duke of a part of Saxony in 1235, the new Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg , and died there in 1252. The duchy was divided several times during the High Middle Ages amongst various lines of the House of Welf. The subordinate states had the legal status of principalities within the duchy, which remained as an undivided imperial fief . Each state

4096-424: Was the seat of the County of Ascania, a title that was later subsumed into the titles of the princes of Anhalt. The earliest known member of the house, Esiko, Count of Ballenstedt , first appears in a document of 1036. He is assumed to have been a grandson (through his mother) of Odo I, Margrave of the Saxon Ostmark . From Odo, the Ascanians inherited large properties in the Saxon Eastern March . Esiko's grandson

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