Agnes von Bentheim and Steinfurt
Agnes von Bentheim and Steinfurt (* around 1531; † September 15, 1589 in Nienburg ) was the ruling countess of the County of Rietberg from the House of Bentheim-Steinfurt from 1562 to 1566 .
Origin and family
Agnes was the daughter of Count Arnold II of Bentheim-Steinfurt a.L. and the Walburga from Brederode-Neuenahr. Her brother was Eberwin III. from Bentheim-Steinfurt . She married Count Johann II von Rietberg , with whom she had two daughters, Armgard and Walburgis . After the early death of her first husband, she married Count Otto VIII von Hoya-Nienburg ; this marriage remained childless.
The rescue of the County of Rietberg
The county of Rietberg fell to the liege lord Landgrave Philipp von Hessen after the death of Johann . But after the death of her husband in 1562, Agnes tried to get the county back for her daughter Armgard. In a letter to the landgrave dated January 24, 1563, she informed him of the death of her husband.
"Her Johan Graf zum Rittbergk, Esendts, Stettesdorff and Wittmunden, my dearest and gracious blessed, by the sake of the dear God and almost negligently imposed Creutz: hard and sworn, with temporally dying has been taken out of this valley of woe."
In another letter in July 1563, she lamented her husband's bitter years in captivity:
"How much she hardens my dear husband and wife blissfully with their terrible days of Kray and not only after his wandering, but also after love and life, of whom they have now been satisfied and delicately offered up, all because of ... that the Rittpergian tribe completely exterminated and they want to attract and bring poverty to my Khinder. "
The correspondence Agnes had with him about the return of the county shows her to be unusually knowledgeable, but also as persistent as diplomatic. From 1563 to 1565, she fought with substantial financial aid. The countess assured him that she would reimburse Philip for all his expenses in this matter.
In a draft contract dated March 11, 1565, Hessen took up the offer of compensation and demanded the payment of 12,000 Rhenish gold guilders by May 27. On May 6th, Philipp was able to confirm receipt of the quite substantial sum and on the following day issued the new loan letter to Armgard . However, the border with the Principality of Paderborn remained controversial. An agreement was finally reached on June 7, 1565. The county was returned to Agnes von Bentheim on October 14, 1566.
Although, as contemporaries report, her first husband, Johann II, did not treat her particularly carefully, she also did everything possible to present him in a good light. So she had two epitaphs built for him . The first is in Cologne, where he died, in the side aisle of the Romanesque church of Groß St. Martin . It shows the "Rietberger Adler" as a coat of arms at the top left, the "Lippische Rose" at the bottom left, the "East Frisian coat of arms" at the top right. On the epitaph is the text: variis mulitsque huius saeculi aerumnis et clamitatibus defatigatus.
On the cenotaph in Esens , however, Agnes became clearer:
"He was taken away from this valley of misery
by inciting the ill-favored without number"
In the same year she had the famous family portrait of Count Johann II von Rietberg made by Hermann tom Ring .
Agnes von Bentheim und Steinfurt is buried in the church of St. Martin in Nienburg at the side of her second husband.
Individual evidence
literature
- Paul Pieper: Contributions to the art history of Westphalia. Volume 2, Aschendorff, Münster 2000, ISBN 3402054221 .
- Theodor Riewerts and Paul Pieper: The painter tom Ring. Ludger the Elder. Hermann. Ludger the Younger. German art publisher, Munich 1960.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Agnes von Bentheim and Steinfurt |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Agnes |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Countess of Rietberg |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1531 |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 15, 1589 |
| Place of death | Nienburg / Weser |