Otto, Duke of Lolland and Estonia

Otto of Denmark (c. 1310 – after 1346) (Danish: Otto Christoffersen) was a Danish prince who was also Duke of Lolland and Estonia.

He was the second son of King Christopher II of Denmark and Euphemia of Pomerania. In his childhood his older brother Eric had been elected as junior king of Denmark. Otto was given the titles Duke of Lolland and Estonia and was expected to expand the Danish conquest of Estonia acquired during Livonian Crusade.

His father and brother were deposed in 1326 and restored three years later on the condition his father signed a charter that gave him little to no power while the Danish nobles and the Counts of Holstein ruled behind the scene and mortgaged most of the kingdom. His brother Eric predeceased both Otto and his father, fighting to rid Denmark from the rule of the Counts of Holstein. King Christopher died in 1332, leaving Otto and his younger brother Valdemar as his only sons and potential heirs to the throne.

The Danish nobles for some reason decided not to elect a successor. In 1332, Otto made an attempt to win the Danish crown, but was defeated by Count Gerhard III of Holstein on Taphed at Viborg on 7 October 1334. He was held prisoner in the Segeberg Castle.

Upon his father's death and his failed attempt to seize the throne, Denmark ceased being a formal kingdom, and for the next eight years it was subjected by various mortgagees to German military rule. His younger brother would later regain Denmark from the Holsteiners and succeed as Valdemar IV of Denmark. Once Valdemar became king in 1340, Otto was released on the condition that he surrender his claim to the throne. Otto subsequently went to Germany, and joined the Teutonic Order in 1346. The Order bought his duchy in the same year, and no further information is recorded about him.

Otto is the other (?Translation needed?) hero of Bernhard Severin Ingemann's novel, Prins Otto af Danmark og Hans Samtid (Prince Otto of Denmark and his Time, 1835).

Ancestry

Ancestors of Otto, Duke of Lolland and Estonia

16. Valdemar II of Denmark

8. Christopher I of Denmark

17. Berengaria of Portugal

4. Eric V of Denmark

18. Sambor II, Duke of Pomerania

9. Margaret Sambiria

19. Mechtild of Mecklenburg

2. Christopher II of Denmark

20. Albert II, Margrave of Brandenburg

10. John I, Margrave of Brandenburg

21. Mathilde von Landsberg

5. Agnes of Brandenburg

22. Albert I, Duke of Saxony

11. Jutta of Saxony

23. Agnes of Thuringia and Meissen

1. Otto of Denmark

24. Bogislaw II, Duke of Pomerania

12. Barnim I, Duke of Pomerania

25. Miroslawa of Pomerelia

6. Bogislaw IV, Duke of Pomerania

26. Eric X of Sweden

13. Marianna of Sweden?

27. Richeza of Denmark

3. Euphemia of Pomerania

28. Jaromar II, Prince of Rügen

14. Wizlaw II, Prince of Rügen

29. Euphemia of Pomerania

7. Margarete of Rügen (d. 1320)

30. Otto I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg

15. Agnes of Brunswick-Lüneburg

31. Mathilde of Brandenburg

Succession

Preceded by Ingeborg of Norway	Duke of Estonia 1332-1338	Succeeded by Valdemar II

Sources

DENMARK, Medieval Lands

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