Frederick I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg

Who was Frederick I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg?

Frederick, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, was ruler of the Principality of Brunswick from 1373, and, according to some sources, briefly German king-elect in opposition to Wenceslaus in 1400.

Frederick was the eldest son of Magnus II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Catherine of Anhalt-Bernburg.

Frederick was underage until 1381, until which time Otto of Brunswick-Göttingen was his guardian. Like his father, he was thrust into the Lüneburg Succession War, which he and his brothers attempted to end in 1373 by a treaty with the Ascanian dukes of Saxony-Wittenberg. According to this treaty, the rule over the Principality of Lüneburg would alternate between the two families. But the dispute continued; together with his brothers, Frederick eventually won the war by conquering Lüneburg itself in 1388.

In May 1400, Frederick took part in an assembly of the princes of the Holy Roman Empire in Frankfurt; the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the deposition of Wenceslaus, King of the Romans. According to legend, Frederick was elected as an anti-king by a subset of the princes; because no agreement over his election could be reached, he left the assembly.