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Bernard II Duke of Saxony Monarch

Bernard II (c. 995 – 29 June 1059) was the Duke of Saxony (1011–1059), the third of the Billung dynasty, a son of Bernard I and Hildegard. He had the rights of a count in Frisia.Bernard expanded the powers of the duke in Saxony and is regarded as the greatest of the Billungers. He was originally a supporter of Emperor Henry II and he accompanied him into Poland and negotiated the treaty of Bautzen of 1018. In 1019–1020, he revolted and gained the recognition of the tribal laws of Saxony, something his father had just failed to do. He returned then to war with the Slavs (Obodrites and Lutici) and drew them into his sphere of power and influence through their leader, Godescalc (Gottschalk).He supported Conrad II in 1024 and his son Henry III, though he began to fear the latter for his closeness to the Archbishop Adalbert of Bremen, an inveterate enemy of the dukes of Saxony. Though he was a critical ally of the Danes, so fundamental to Henry's wars in the Low Countries, Bernard was on the brink of rebellion until the death of Adalbert. The remainder of his reign, however, was quiet.In 1045, he erected the Alsterburg in Hamburg. He died in 1059 and was succeeded without incident by his son Ordulf. He is buried in the Church of Saint Michael in Lüneburg.