He was the son of Lord
Simon IV of Lippe and his wife, Margaret of
Brunswick-Grubenhagen. He inherited Lippe in 1429, before his first birthday. He stood under the regency and guardianship of his uncle Otto. After Otto died in 1446, his great-uncle Archbishop Dietrich II of Cologne was appointed
regent. Dietrich was represented in Lippe by his
Amtmann, Johann Möllenbeck. In 1444, Bernard VII concluded a treaty with Duke
Adolph I of Cleves-Mark, in which he ceded to Adolph a 50% share in the city of
Lippstadt, which had been mortgaged to Cleves. At the same time, he joined an alliance, which made him a party in the so-called
Feud of Soest against Archbishop Dietrich II of Cologne. In 1447, Dietrich called in a Bohemian army, which devastated the countryside in Lippe and levelled the town of
Blomberg to the ground. The Bohemians also besieged the cities of
Lippstadt and
Soest, but were unsuccessful. After the feud had been settled in 1449, Bernard took up residence at
Blomberg Castle. In 1468, he moved to
Detmold, which at the time was the smallest city in Lippe, with only 350 inhabitants. He expanded the
Detmold Castle; an inscription in the old castle tower dated 1470 is a reminder of this. Bernard was involved in a large number of
feuds against various enemies, with shifting alliances. In 1469, he supported Landgrave
Louis II, Landgrave of Lower Hesse against his brother
Henry III, Landgrave of Upper Hesse. On the other hand, in 1464, he supported his own brother, Prince-Bishop
Simon III of Paderborn against Louis II of Lower Hesse when they fought the
Hesse-Paderborn Feud about
Calenberg Castle. == Marriage and issue ==