Brandenburg’s Ascanian dynasty, established by Albert the…

Brandenburg’s Ascanian dynasty, established by Albert the Bear, becomes extinct in 1320 with the death of Margrave Henry II.

Henry's parents were Margrave Henry I of Brandenburg-Stendal and Agnes, a daughter of the Wittelsbach duke Louis II of Bavaria.

Henry II has three older sisters.

In 1319, at the age of eleven, Henry II was to succeed his cousin, Margrave Waldemar, who had died childless.

The Pomeranian duke Wartislaw IV had taken the occasion to set himself up as regent and uses this position to promote his own interests in the longtime Brandenburg–Pomeranian conflict.

In turn, Henry's Ascanian relative, Duke Rudolph I of Saxe-Wittenberg, intervenes and tries to take over the regency.

King Louis IV, half-brother of Henry's mother Agnes, finally declares him an adult, though he does not enfeoff him with Brandenburg.

Henry's early death in 1320 prevents him from acting independently, moreover, it also meas the end of the Brandenburg line of the Ascanian dynasty.

As a completed fief, the Margraviate falls back to the Wittelsbach king Louis IV, who will enfeoff his eldest son Louis V (called "the Brandenburger") with Brandenburg in 1323.