Henry, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, called the Younger, was Prince of Wolfenbüttel from 1514 until his death.
Background
He was born at Wolfenbüttel Castle, the son of Duke Henry IV of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Prince of Wolfenbüttel, known as Henry the Elder. Henry V became ruling duke when his father was killed in battle in 1514, and soon entered into the Great Diocesan Feud with the Bishopric of Hildesheim under John IV of Saxe-Lauenburg, against whom he lost the Battle of Soltau in 1519.
Career
The last Catholic of the Welf princes is known for the large number of wars in which he was involved. However, the duke profited from his support of Charles V in the succession as Holy Roman Emperor, and in 1523 the Bishopric had to cede large territories to Wolfenbüttel. Henry remained loyal to the Imperial authority during the German Peasants" War, and in 1528 he assisted Emperor Charles V in the War of the League of Cognac against King Francis I of France in Italy.
Henry fled to the Duchy of Bavaria.
In 1545, Henry recruited an army with the support of Emperor Charles and managed to take control of parts of Wolfenbüttel. But in October he was captured by Hessian troops and kept prisoner, until the Emperor finally defeated the Schmalkaldic League at the Battle of Mühlberg, freed Henry and reinstated him in 1547.
In 1550 the mercenaries of Count Volrad of Mansfeld occupied Wolfenbüttel, and Henry again fled, this time to the Emperor"s troops at Metz. But Mansfeld soon left, and Henry returned.
In 1553, he allied himself with Elector Maurice of Saxony against Margrave Albert Alcibiades of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, who had attacked Wolfenbüttel.
This conflict culminated in the bloody Battle of Sievershausen, in which Maurice as well as Henry"s two eldest sons were killed. The battle, however, ended in a victory for Henry. Henry firstly married Maria (died 1541), daughter of Henry, Count of Württemberg, former Count of Montbéliard, in 1515.
They had the following children:
Margaret (1516 - 1580), married John of Poděbrady, Duke of Münsterberg and Oels, in 1561
Andrew (c 1517 - c 1517)
Catherine (c 1518 - 1574), married Margrave John of Brandenburg-Küstrin, son of Elector Joachim I Nestor of Brandenburg in 1537
Mary (c 1521 - 1539), became Abbess of Gandersheim in 1532
Charles Victor (1525–1553), killed in the Battle of Sievershausen
Philip (1527–1553), killed in the Battle of Sievershausen
Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1528–1589), Prince of Wolfenbüttel from 1568
Henry secondly married Sophie Jagiellon (died 1575), daughter of King Sigismund I of Poland, in 1556.
The second marriage remained childless. He had a mistress, Eva von Trott zu Solz, with whom he had ten children.