Otto "The Quarrelsome"
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In the year 1285/1286 Albrecht "The Fat" became the first ruler in the land of Oberwald. In 1292 he took up the succession in Brunswick, which, beginning with the death of his son, Otto the Mild, was separated from Göttingen for a long time--with a few interruptions until 1584. Only a little is know about the time of these dukes. Apparently they fought in league with the cities--Göttingen above all--against the thieving kinght-nobility. With Otto "The Quarrelsome," the son of duke Ernst (1305-1367), this political phase ended. Otto joined with the knights against the cities, whose increasing power appeared ominous to him. In addition he pursued title to inheritance in Hesse, and after the death of his cousin Magnus (d. 1373), he interevened in the Lüneburg inheritance war as guardian of his Brunswick nephews. Otto fought for all of these objectives at the same time, and with often changing allies. That made his politics inscrutable, and often made it appear unreasonable and treacherous--above all in the view of his enemies, who attached the name "The Quade" to him ("The Quarrelsome"). In the latter days of chivalry, the kinghts formed alliances, of which the Hesschen Sternerbund and Sichelbund were of interest to Otto. In the Sternerbund (1368-1373), about 2000 knights and servants from 350 castles had joined together. Typical power politics continued to fail the alliance. Its own feuds always ended unhappily. In Hesse it was frustrated by the battlements of Kassel, which freed the Brunswick nephews from guardianship., as soon as they were of age, and in that way ended the the Lüneburg inheritance war. Further feuds were directed against the cities of Hildesheim, Brunswick, and Lüneburg. In 1387 it came into conflict with the city of Göttingen, which captured and destroyed its town castle. Otto suffered constantly from lack of money and sometimes had to be pleased when a city bought from him an end of the feud and a (dubious) letter of safe conduct. After (incomplete) calculation, he had received in this way 25,000 silver marks (the mark was a medieval unit of account--not coin--and corresponded to about 234 grams). Otto's principality existed in four parts, which were not united together: the Solling region, with Uslar in the northwest, Gandersheim and Seesen in the northeast, Northeim in the center, and Göttingen and Münden in the south. Otto bequeathed his only son, Otto Corcles ("The One-Eyed"), an indebted and disorganized state, which nontheless constituted a political unity.
--Adapted from the website, Die Welfen
Sources
- Edgar Kalthoff; Geschichte des südniedersächsischen Fürstentums Göttingen und des Landes Göttingen im Fürstentum Calenberg 1285-1584. Herzberg 1982