Jan van Scharnbeck

Duke Jan van Scharnbeck (611 - 683), also known as Jan the Dragon, was the Duke of Oethen and head of House van Scharnbeck during the mid-7th Century. He is famous for expanding the holdings of the Duchy to its current reach.
== History ==
Jan was born the first son of Artor von Scharnbeck, the Baron of Engelvoord - a small hamlet on the outskirts of Laageward. When Duke Geldt Hamel died heirless in 641, the law of the land gave Jan the right to contest for the Duchy, so long as he was disinherited from his fathers' titles. This he did, and won the Duchy in a tournament fought among over two dozen other claimants.
Duke Jan spent the next ten years consolidating the lands he already had - they had been devastated by the Second Zouterkrige in 635. Once he gained the support of his vassals, he declared war on the Duchy of Vastergein to the south. The Partition of Vastergein resulted in half the affected Duchy being annexed into Oethen - this greatly pleased his vassals and made Jan the most popular Duke since the First Zouterkrige in 583. Shortly afterwards he married the daughter of the Grand Duchy of Senheim, Laura Artissen, to ensure the two duchies would never attack one another.
In 657 Jan headed north - during the Third Zouterkrige he managed to push back the far stronger Kingdom of Varland and retook the towns of Landningen and Zouternisse. 
In his later years Duke Jan considered pushing east into the Duchy of Flenburgh, but never found the chance. He ceded the throne to his son Hertel van Scharnbeck in 670 and lived out the rest of his days travelling between his son's palace in Laageward and his wife's in Harnfell.
Category:People
Category:Oethen