In 1203 it was conquered by Waldemar II., king of Denmark, but in 1227 it reverted to Albert, a son of its former duke.
The only other occasions on which he was out of the Netherlands were in 1630, when he made a flying visit to England to observe for himself some alleged magnetic phenomena, and in 16 3 4, when he took an excursion to Denmark.
It reverted to Hanover after the battle of Leipzig in 1813, and in 1816 was ceded to Prussia, the greater part of it being at once transferred by her to Denmark in exchange for Swedish Pomerania.
In 1848, when Prussia made war on Denmark, Lauenburg was occupied at her own request by some Hanoverian troops, and was then administered for three years under the authority of the German confederation, being restored to Denmark in 1851.
His opportunity seemed to have come when, in the middle of the 16th century, the Order of the Sword broke up, and the possession of Livonia was fiercely contested between Sweden, Poland and Denmark.
