Ludwig I. (Wittgenstein)

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Count Ludwig von Sayn zu Wittgenstein (engraving after a painting in Berleburg Castle)

Ludwig I (the elder), Count of Sayn zu Wittgenstein (* December 7, 1532 at Wittgenstein Castle ; † July 2, 1605 on the journey near Altenkirchen ) ruled the County of Wittgenstein on the upper reaches of Lahn and Eder from 1558 . He introduced the Reformed Faith in his domain and was an influential politician in the service of the Palatinate .

Life

Ludwig was the son of Wilhelm I. Count von Sayn-Wittgenstein (* August 24, 1488, † April 18, 1570) and Johanetta von Isenburg-Grenzau (* 1500, † after 1561).

As a later son, Ludwig was actually intended for a spiritual career. He received his first education at Wittgenstein Castle from the pastor of Weidenhausen. He then went to Cologne with his brothers in 1543 for further education , where he acquired profound knowledge of both ancient and living languages. In addition to Latin and Greek , he spoke English , French , Italian and some Spanish . From 1545 he studied with two brothers at the universities of Leuven , Paris and Orléans . Between 1553 and 1556 he traveled to southern and western Europe ( Padua , Malta , Rome , Savoy , France , England ). For a short time he served Pope Pius IV as a chamberlain.

When Ludwig returned to Wittgenstein in 1556, he found that his father had now issued a moderate Lutheran church order. He then dealt with the new teaching and joined it. In 1558 he took over the reign of his older brother Wilhelm II, who died in Brussels , who had taken it over in 1551 while her elderly father Wilhelm I was still alive. The following year, Ludwig the Elder married Countess Anna von Solms-Braunfels (* 1538, † 1565) on August 14th at Dillenburg Castle . The couple moved their residence from their father's hilltop castle Wittgenstein via Laasphe to the former hunting lodge adjacent to the city of Berleburg . A short time later he also began to keep a diary. After the death of his first wife, he married Elisabeth Countess zu Solms-Laubach in 1567 (* March 6, 1549, † 1599).

Count Ludwig the Elder was a humanistically and theologically highly educated regent who was in lively intellectual exchange, especially with his Calvinist-minded contemporaries. He traveled to the Netherlands and visited the grave of Erasmus of Rotterdam . He began an intensive correspondence with various scholars of his time. As a result of these contacts he began to turn more and more to the Reformed teaching. In 1568 he traveled to Zurich and there came into contact with numerous representatives of the Reformed. This also resulted in intensive correspondence. Correspondence partners were u. a. Nikolaus Zell , Johannes Pincier , Heinrich Bullinger , Rudolf Gwalther , Theodor Beza and Hieronymus Zanchi .

Between 1574 and 1577 he officiated as Grand Chamberlain at the Reformed court of Elector Friedrich III. in Heidelberg . From this he was entrusted with numerous political assignments. In Heidelberg, too, he came into close contact with Reformed theologians and scholars. After the Palatinate under Ludwig VI. returned to Lutheranism, his service ended there.

On his return he brought the reformer Caspar Olevian with him to his native county of Wittgenstein , where from 1578 the Reformed Confession was also introduced externally by abolishing altars and portraits. Reformed church ordinances were issued as early as 1563 and 1565. Count Ludwig was close to his neighbor, who was almost the same age, Count Johann VI , who was also reformed . von Nassau-Dillenburg (1536–1606) friends, since 1586 even closely related. Ludwig von Wittgenstein helped found the High School in Herborn . He was also the sponsor of the important Calvinist legal scholar Johannes Althusius , who taught at the high school and later was the syndic of the city of Emden .

Between 1592 and 1594 he officiated a second time as Grand Court Master in Heidelberg after the Reformed Confession had been reintroduced there.

The so-called Wittgensteiner Landrecht , a collection of laws and legal systems from the 1560s and 1570s, which were so progressive that the Prussian government left them in force as particular law after 1816, was of great importance for the County of Wittgenstein .

Extensive parts of his diaries have been preserved (Princely Archives Berleburg), only excerpts of which were printed in the 19th century. They represent an important source for the intellectual and political history of his time. Even the extensive correspondence has not yet been fully evaluated.

The Wittgenstein division in 1605

Count Ludwig the Elder had already made a will on May 19, 1593, according to which the sons Georg and Wilhelm should receive his lands. The inheritance of the eldest son Georg in relation to the northern county with Berleburg Castle and the Homburg rule was undisputed . But because the future testator already had an entitlement to the County of Sayn, Ludwig the Elder ruled on February 5, 1601: His son Wilhelm should receive the County of Sayn, the third son, Ludwig should receive the southern part of the County, and he also fell the lordship of Vallendar to. Here, Ludwig the Elder established such a precise delimitation of the northern and southern halves of the County of Wittgenstein that there was no quarrel between the sons after his death. Further divisions of the County of Wittgenstein are forbidden at the same time by Ludwig the Elder, since “the further division of the county not only causes noticeable complaints to the subjects, but also to the lordship and their descendants to reduce the count's tribe and name.” These wise precautions against one further fragmentation was suitable to secure the solid existence of the north and south counties until the great upheaval of the Napoleonic period.

With the resignation of Count Ludwig the Elder, the division between the sons came into force in 1603. Nevertheless, on August 17, 1603, his three now reigning sons drew up a contract that the father should remain the head of the family. With the death of Count Ludwig in 1605, the tripartite division of power was finally sealed.

progeny

From his two marriages, Ludwig I had a total of twenty children, nine sons and eleven daughters, of which seven children died in the first years of life.

From his first marriage to Countess Anna (* 1538 - May 20, 1565), daughter of Count Philipp zu Solms-Braunfels , the following three children were born:

  • Johannette von Sayn-Wittgenstein (* February 15, 1561 - April 13, 1622), married in 1586 to Count Johann VI. of Nassau-Dillenburg (1536–1606)
  • Juliane (September 18, 1562; † 1563)
  • Georg V, Count of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (April 30, 1565 - December 16, 1631), married (1st) 1596 to Countess Elisabeth von Nassau-Weilburg (1572–1607) and (2nd) 1608 with Countess Maria Anna Juliana of Nassau-Beilstein (1592–1645)

From his second marriage to Countess Elisabeth (* March 6, 1549 - † August 5, 1599), daughter of Count Friedrich Magnus zu Solms-Laubach , the following seventeen children were born:

  • Agnes von Sayn-Wittgenstein (* April 18, 1568; † April 1617), married in 1590 to Count Johann Albrecht I of Solms-Braunfels (1563–1623)
  • Wilhelm III., Count of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hachenburg (* March 14, 1569 - † November 8, 1623), married (1st) 1591 to Countess Anna Elisabeth von Sayn (1572–1608) and (2nd) 1609 to Countess Anna Ottilie of Nassau-Weilburg (1582–1635)
  • Anna (February 11, 1570; † 1571)
  • Ludwig II. , Count of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Wittgenstein (* March 15, 1571; † 1634), married in 1598 to Countess Juliane zu Solms-Braunfels (1578–1630)
  • Conrad (May 5, 1572 - 1573)
  • Friedrich Magnus (born August 15, 1574; † 1574)
  • Magdalene von Sayn-Wittgenstein (* October 28, 1575; † 1634), married in 1619 to Baron Wilhelm von Winneburg († 1637)
  • Eberhard (* 1576; † 1576)
  • Anna Elisabeth (* 1577; † 1580)
  • Philipp (* 1579; † 1580)
  • Erika von Sayn-Wittgenstein (* 1580; † 1657)
  • Elisabeth von Sayn-Wittgenstein (* 1581; † 1600), married in 1600 to Maximilian Marschall von Pappenheim (1580–1639)
  • Juliane von Sayn-Wittgenstein (born February 26, 1583 - † February 8, 1627), married in 1616 to Count Wolfgang Ernst I. von Isenburg-Birstein (1560–1633)
  • Gebhard von Sayn-Wittgenstein (* 1584; † 1602)
  • Amalie von Sayn-Wittgenstein (* October 13, 1585 - March 28, 1633), married 1605 to Count Georg von Nassau-Dillenburg (1562–1623)
  • Bernhard von Sayn-Wittgenstein (* 1587; † 1616)
  • Katharina von Sayn-Wittgenstein (born August 10, 1588 - May 19, 1651), married in 1615 to Count Ludwig Heinrich von Nassau-Dillenburg (1594–1662)

Literature (in chronological order)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. From: Alexander von Hachenburg, Saynsche Chronik, Vol. 1, Bonn 1929, p. 81 (wrongly assigned there; the picture should be on p. 83).
  2. Form of the family name in use today: zu Sayn-Wittgenstein.
  3. See Gerhard Menk, Johannes Althusius and the County of Wittgenstein. In: Johannes Burkardt / Bernd Hey (eds.), Von Wittgenstein in die Welt (Contributions to Westphalian Church History 35), Bielefeld 2009, pp. 9–39, with numerous further references and sources.
  4. ^ The Wittgensteiner Landrecht according to the original codex from 1579. Ed. ed. v. Wilhelm Hartnack (= Wittgenstein. Leaves of the Wittgensteiner Heimatverein. Supplement 1), Laasphe 1960.
  5. ^ Prince Wittgenstein's archive: WA, Acta F 18, II.
  6. ^ Günther Wrede : Territorialgeschichte der Grafschaft Wittgenstein , Marburg 1927, p. 78
  7. ↑ Family table of the mediatized house Sayn-Wittgenstein 1907. Table 4. Unchanged reprint of the 1907 edition, Heimat-Verlag und Antiquariat Angelika Wied, Bad Laasphe 2009, No. 9/100,