Christian (Waldeck)

Christian von Waldeck (born December 25, 1585 in Eisenberg , † December 31, 1637 in Waldeck ) was Count von Waldeck - Wildungen and imperial chamberlain.

Life

Residence Waldeck Castle on Edersee in Hesse

Christian was the son of Count Josias I von Waldeck-Eisenberg (1554–1588) and his wife Marie von Barby (1563–1619), later Countess von Erbach . So he belonged to the Waldeck family . He was the guardian of his nephew Simon Ludwig (1627-1631) and his son Simon Philipp (1636-1637) in the county of Lippe .

“He was fond of science and the arts and was inclined to all scholars. He loved God's word warmly and zealously cared for church, school and hospitals, ”also promised that he would eagerly stay with the Protestant religion. But in the end he could not withstand the urging of the clergy, and so in 1630 he gave the order "that the utmost means be used to exterminate the magic vice." (Klettenberg, quoted from Eichler, p. 123)

Christian was followed by his son Philip VII as Count of Waldeck zu Wildungen. The younger son Johann (1623–1668) was named Johann II. Count von Waldeck zu Landau .

Witch trials

Count Christian I von Waldeck was responsible for the particularly violent series of witch trials in Wildungen, which began in 1629. It claimed 29 victims by 1632, including Elisabeth Kotzenberg, wife of the Countess Waldeck's secretary and hainaschen Vogts Günther Samuel. She withstood the torture and died on July 3, 1630 in the town hall prison.

Marriage and offspring

On November 18, 1604, he married Countess Elisabeth (1584–1661), daughter of Count Johann VII of Nassau-Siegen and his wife Magdalena von Waldeck-Wildungen. The marriage had 16 children:

• Maria Magdalena (1606–1671) ⚭ 1623 Count Simon VII in Lippe
• Sofie Juliane (1607–1637) ⚭ 1633 Hermann von Hessen-Rotenburg , son of Landgrave Moritz von Hessen-Kassel
• Anna Augusta (1608–1658) ⚭ 1627 Count Johann VIII. (Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein)
• Elisabeth (1610–1647) ⚭ 1634 Count Wilhelm Wirich von Daun-Falkenstein
• Moritz (1611-1617)
• Catherine (1612–1649)

1. ⚭ 1631 Count Simon Ludwig zu Lippe
2. ⚭ 1641 Duke Philipp Ludwig (Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Wiesenburg)

• Philip VII von Waldeck-Wildungen (1613–1645) ⚭ 1634 Countess Anna Katharina von Sayn-Wittgenstein
• Christine (1614–1679) ⚭ 1642 Count Ernst von Sayn-Wittgenstein-Homburg
• Dorothea (1616–1661) ⚭ 1641 Count Emich XIII. from Leiningen-Falkenburg
• Agnes (1617–1651) ⚭ 1650 Count Johann Philipp III. from Leiningen-Dagsburg
• Sibylle (1619–1678) ⚭ 1643 Count Friedrich Emich von Leiningen-Dagsburg
• Johanna Agathe (1620-1636)
• Gabriel (1621-1624)
• Johann II of Waldeck-Landau (1623–1668)

1. ⚭ 1644 Countess Alexandrine Marie von Vehlen-Meggen (daughter of Alexander II. Von Velen )
2. ⚭ 1667 Henriette Dorothea of Hessen-Darmstadt

• Louisa (1624–1665) ⚭ 1647 Baron Gerhard Ludwig von Effern

literature

• Karl Eichler: The Wildunger witch trials. History sheets for Waldeck and Pyrmont, No. 24, 1927, 103-126 (inter alia pp. 104, 106, 111, 112)
• Klettenberg, Waldeckischer Helden- und Regentensaal (around 1850, handwritten), for the source cf. Association for Hessian History and Regional Studies [1]