Bernard II of Saxe-Lauenburg (German: Bernhard II.; c. 1385/1392 – 16 July 1463) was a member of the House of Ascania and Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg from 1426 to 1463. His full title was Duke of Saxony, Angria and Westphalia, however only ruling the branch duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg between 1426 and 1463.
Contents
Life
He was a son of Eric IV, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg and Sophia of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Bernard urged his ruling brother Eric V to share his reign. Failed in his fight for the Saxon electorate Eric finally agreed and made Bernard the co-duke of Saxe-Lauenburg in 1426. When Eric V died in 1435 Bernard continued the reign alone.
Bernard II reinforced Saxe-Lauenburg's claim to inherit Electoral Saxe-Wittenberg with the latter and Saxe-Lauenburg having been partitioned from the younger Duchy of Saxony in the 13th century. Following his great-great-great-great grandfather Bernard I, the first Ascanian duke of younger Saxony, Bernard II is counted as second.
In 1444, during the Soester feud, King Frederik III referred the Soest delegation to the court of Duke Bernard of Saxe-Lauenburg. The people of Soest also rejected Duke Bernhard of Saxe-Lauenburg as an arbitrator. The duke largely agreed with the archbishop of Cologne in 1444.
