Ludwig I. (Pfalz-Zweibrücken)

Ludwig I of Pfalz-Zweibrücken , called the Black , (* 1424 - † 19 July 1489 in Simmern ) was Count Palatine and Duke of Pfalz-Zweibrücken .

Life

His father was Stefan von Pfalz-Simmern-Zweibrücken , his mother Anna von Veldenz . He married on March 20, 1454 in Luxembourg Johanna (around 1435-1504), daughter of Antoine I. de Croÿ , Count of Porcean and Guines. Ludwig was buried in the princely crypt of the newly built castle church in Meisenheim .

His father Stefan handed over government affairs to Ludwig in 1453 and retired to his retirement home in Meisenheim. In 1455, 1460 and 1470/71 Ludwig led three unsuccessful feuds against his cousin Elector Friedrich von der Pfalz. The first dispute arose over the question of whether or not the County of Veldenz should be under the feudal sovereignty of the Palatinate . The Eusserthal monastery was also burned down. Friedrich gathered troops from Speyer and Weissenburg, among others . They besieged the city of Bergzabern, which was fortified by Ludwig . An attempt to horror the city failed and so Ludwig had to sign the Peace of Worms and recognize Friedrich as liege lord . In 1460 Ludwig fought against Friedrich together with the Archbishop of Mainz Diether von Isenburg and other allies. Ludwig suffered a crushing defeat in the battle of Pfeddersheim. Thereupon Friedrich Meisenheim besieged . After an eight-day bombardment, Ludwig surrendered. In 1470, Ludwig intervened as the Alsatian bailiff in the internal order of the Weißenburg monastery . Elector Friedrich also intervened here and was able to prevail against Ludwig. In 1471 Ludwig had to finally recognize the Electoral Palatinate's fiefdom and cede property to Friedrich.

Because of his dark hair and skin he was called Ludwig the Black .

Through his son Alexander, he became a progenitor of several lines of the Wittelsbach family, including the ancestor of the Electors of the Palatinate from 1685 and of the Bavarian kings .

Offspring from the marriage with Johanna

• Margaret (1456-1514)

⚭ 1470 Count Philipp von Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein (1450–1509)

• Kaspar (1458–1527), Count Palatine and Duke of Pfalz-Zweibrücken

⚭ 1478 Princess Amalie of Brandenburg (1461–1481)

• Johanna (1459–1520), nun in the Cistercian convent Marienberg near Boppard
• Anna von Pfalz-Zweibrücken (1461–1520), nun in Marienberg
• Alexander (1462–1514), Count Palatine and Duke of Pfalz-Zweibrücken

⚭ 1499 Countess Margarete von Hohenlohe-Neuenstein (1480–1522)

• David (1463-1478)
• Albrecht (1464–1513), 1486 as “D. Albertus Dux Bavariae Comes Palatinus Rheni Comes Vellensii “matriculated at the old University of Cologne ( Universitas Studii Coloniensis ), Canon in Strasbourg
• Katharina (1465–1542), abbess in the St. Agnes monastery in Trier
• Philipp (1467–1489), provost of Cologne
• Johann (1468–1513), Canon of Strasbourg and Cologne
• Elisabeth (1469–1500)

⚭ 1492 Count Johann Ludwig I of Nassau-Saarbrücken (1472–1545)

• Samson (1474–1480), died after falling from a tower in Zweibrücken

literature

• Volker Rödel:  Ludwig (I.), the black, from Veldenz. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 15, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-428-00196-6 , p. 416 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Willi Wagner: The Wittelsbachers of the Pfalz-Simmern line. Their ancestors, their families and their grave monuments. Simmern 2003.
• Jakob Wille:  Ludwig I. von Veldenz, Duke of Pfalz-Zweibrücken . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 19, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1884, pp. 573-575.

predecessor	Office	successor
Friedrich III.	Count of Veldenz 1444–1489	Alexander
Stefan	Duke of Pfalz-Zweibrücken 1453–1489	Kaspar