Philip IV (Hanau-Lichtenberg)

Philip IV of Hanau-Lichtenberg (born September 20, 1514 in Babenhausen , † February 19, 1590 in Lichtenberg ) was the ruling Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg from 1538 to 1590 . Before taking office, he had the business for his sick father, Count Philip III. , already run for a few years. He was very interested in alchemy .

family

Pedigree of Count Philip IV of Hanau-Lichtenberg
Great grandparents	Philipp I von Hanau-Lichtenberg (* 1417; † 1480) ∞ Anna von Lichtenberg (* 1442; † 1474)	Ludwig II of Isenburg-Büdingen (* 1422; † 1511) ∞ Maria von Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein (* 1438; † 1480)	Karl I von Baden († 1475) ∞ Katharina von Österreich (* 1424; † 1493), daughter of Duke Ernst the Iron and Duchess Margarethe von Pommern-Stolp	Philipp the Younger von Katzenelnbogen (* 1427; † 1453) ∞ Ottilie von Nassau-Dillenburg (* 1437; † 1493)
Grandparents	Philip II of Hanau-Lichtenberg (* 1462; † 1504) ∞ Anna von Isenburg -Büdingen († 1522)		Christoph I of Baden-Sponheim (* 1453; † 1527) ∞ Ottilie von Katzenelnbogen (* 1451; † 1517)
parents	Philip III von Hanau-Lichtenberg (* 1482; † 1538) ∞ Sibylle von Baden -Sponheim (* 1485; † 1518)
Philip IV of Hanau-Lichtenberg

For the family cf. Main article: Hanau (noble family)

Philip IV married Eleonore von Fürstenberg on August 22, 1538 in Heiligenberg (* October 11, 1523; † June 23, 1544). From this marriage emerged:

1. Amalie (* February 23, 1540, in Buchsweiler , today: Bouxwiller; † May 1, 1540).
2. Philip V (born February 21, 1541, Buchsweiler; † June 2, 1599).
3. Anna Sibylle (May 16, 1542 - March 24, 1612).
4. Johanna (born May 23, 1543, Buchsweiler; † December 5, 1599 in Babenhausen, buried there).
5. Eleonore (born April 26, 1544, Buchsweiler; † January 6, 1585, buried in Ingelfingen ), married to Albrecht von Hohenlohe -Weikersheim-Langenburg (born May 28, 1543; † November 16, 1575). This marriage remained childless.

His son and successor, Philip V, married Philip IV, contrary to his religious policy, which is otherwise linked to Lutheran teaching, with the widely related Roman Catholic daughter of the last Count Palatine von Zweibrücken -Bitsch, Jakob. Inheritance was more important than denomination .

government

reformation

Solmser Landrecht , title page of the edition from 1571

In contrast to his father, Philip IV was fully behind the Reformation , which gained a foothold in the county in the Lutheran variant. He now filled pastoral posts himself, for example the one in Buchsweiler after a long vacancy in 1542, with a pastor who was committed to the new teaching. Theologians included: Erasmus Sarcerius and Magister Philipp Neunheller , the reformer of the County of Hanau-Munzenberg . The new form of divine service was generally introduced from 1544, and on May 28, 1545 the Count convened a synod of all pastors in the County of Hanau-Lichtenberg in Buchsweiler to oblige them to the new teaching. Obviously this happened very hesitantly, and the process of exchanging pastors for professors of Lutheran doctrine probably dragged on into the 1560s. A state-owned church administration was established.

He took part in the Reichstag in Augsburg , which passed the Augsburg Religious Peace in 1555 , as well as in the Reichstag there in 1566 and in the Reichstag in Speyer in 1570 . The catholic fittings of the churches that were no longer needed for Protestant services were sold from 1558. Philip IV exchanged the secularized Patershausen Monastery in 1567 for Mainz possessions near Brumath . In 1573 church regulations were issued for the county of Hanau-Lichtenberg. In 1579 he signed the 1577 Agreement Formula and in 1580 was one of the co-signers of the Book of Agreements .

With an ordinance of August 24, 1579, Count Philip IV decreed that the Solms land law should also apply to the Babenhausen office. The common law was only valid there if the regulations of the Solms land law did not contain any provisions for a matter. The Solms land law remained in effect here until the end of the 19th century, even while it was part of the Grand Duchy of Hesse . It was only replaced on January 1, 1900 by the civil code that was uniformly applicable throughout the German Empire .

Guardianship in Hanau-Munzenberg

For the underage Count Philipp Ludwig I. von Hanau-Münzenberg he took over together with Count Johann VI. of Nassau-Dillenburg from 1561 the guardianship . The same happened again for the children of Count Philipp Ludwig I when he died very early. In 1580 a guardianship for the minor heirs, Philipp Ludwig II. And Albrecht von Hanau-Münzenberg , was established again in Hanau-Münzenberg . In addition to Philip IV of Hanau-Lichtenberg, Count Johann VI., The elder, of Nassau-Dillenburg and Count Ludwig I of Sayn-Wittgenstein were involved . With regard to Count Albrecht, who was only born the year before his father's death, and considerable disputes between all parties involved, the guardianship could not be ended until 1608. Philip IV of Hanau-Lichtenberg, who was very old for the time, had himself replaced as guardian in 1585 by his son, Philip V of Hanau-Lichtenberg.

As early as 1581, the Hanau-Munzenberg countess widow Magdalena married Count Johann VII, the middle one, of Nassau-Siegen , the son of the co-guardian. As a result, the ward , Philip Ludwig II and Albrecht, came to the Nassau- Dillenburger Hof, a center of the Reformed faith and closely linked to the also Reformed Palatinate court. The Lutheran co-guardian Philip IV of Hanau-Lichtenberg and later his son Philip V vehemently opposed this reformed influence , albeit in vain. Philip V tried to launch the also Lutheran Duke Reichard von Pfalz-Simmern into the guardianship, which he did not succeed despite a corresponding mandate from the Imperial Court of Justice . The reformed majority of the guardianship prevented the Hanau-Munzenberg subjects from paying homage to the duke. In addition, she succeeded in installing the Count Palatine and spa administrator Johann Kasimir von Pfalz-Lautern as "Obervormund", a purely honorary position, but nevertheless further strengthening the Reformed position within the guardianship.

Territorial policy

Resistance to the Hanau-Lichtenberg Reformation policy also came from Kurmainz, which was able to assert itself in the joint condominiums ( Ober-Roden , Niederroden ). These remained Roman Catholic. Philip IV was largely able to keep his territory out of the armed conflicts of the second half of the 16th century, which often used the question of religion as a pretext.

In 1570, after the death of the last co-heir, Count Palatine Jakob von Zweibrücken-Bitsch, all of the property of the former Lichtenberg rulership came to Hanau-Lichtenberg. This also included the second half of Lichtenberg Castle , the other part of which was already in the hands of Hanau-Lichtenberg. The castle has now been renovated and modernized by the fortress builder Daniel Specklin on behalf of Philip IV .

Philip IV endeavored to bring about a "hereditary association" of the two Hanau lines, Hanau-Munzenberg and Hanau-Lichtenberg, which was to confirm the mutual position as heirs beyond the pure family relationship.

Emperor Maximilian II appointed Philip IV to his council in 1565, as did Emperor Rudolf II.

rating

Philip IV is the member of the Hanau family who lived the longest and the count from the Hanau family who ruled the longest. He was the first Count von Hanau-Lichtenberg who saw the focus of his stay and his politics not in Babenhausen , but in the much larger Alsatian possessions and moved there. Nevertheless, he had the south wing of the Babenhauser Castle built in 1578. He also bought the Falkenstein Castle and had the Philippsburg Castle built on the associated site, around which the town of the same name (today: Philippsbourg ) developed. Due to his old age, he ceded the business of government to his son, Philip V, in 1585.

death

Due to illness, Philip IV ceded the business of government to his son, Philip V, in 1585. Philip IV died on February 19, 1590 in Lichtenberg . A funeral sermon has been preserved. He was buried in the crypt that he himself had built in the castle church in Lichtenberg.

literature

• Reinhard Dietrich: The state constitution in the Hanauischen = Hanauer Geschichtsblätter 34. Hanau 1996, ISBN 3-9801933-6-5
• M. Goltzené and A. Matt: From the history of the office Buchsweiler and the gentlemen from Hanau-Lichtenberg . In: Société d'Histoire et d'Archaeologie de Saverne et Environs (ed.): Cinquième centenaire de la création du Comté de Hanau-Lichtenberg 1480 - 1980 = Pays d'Alsace 111/112 (2, 3/1980), p 63-72.
• JG Lehmann: Documented history of the county Hanau-Lichtenberg in the lower Alsace . 2 vol., O. O. 1862 (?), ND Pirmasens 1970.
• Klaus Lötzsch: Historical relations of the county Hanau-Lichtenberg to Swabia in the 16th century. Dynastic connection to the Fugger family - Count Philipp IV at the Reichstag in Augsburg in 1566. In: Babenhäuser Mosaik = Babenhausen once and now 20. Babenhausen 1990. pp. 7-19.
• Wilhelm Morhardt: Hanau old - in honor of b'halt - The Counts of Hanau-Lichtenberg in history and stories = Babenhausen then and now 10th Babenhausen 1984.
• Barbara Susanne Schöner: The legal position of women in the Hohenlohe family . Dissertation. Tubingen 1963.
• Reinhard Suchier : Genealogy of the Hanauer count house . In: Festschrift of the Hanau History Association for its 50th anniversary celebration on August 27, 1894. Hanau 1894.
• Wilhelm Will: A Christian funeral sermon [for Count Philip IV of Hanau-Lichtenberg]. Strasbourg 1590.
• Ernst Julius Zimmermann : Hanau city and country . 3rd edition, Hanau 1919, ND 1978.

References

1. ↑ Deviating: State Archives Darmstadt: D7 1/1: February 14, 1590
2. ↑ Deviating: March 8, 1540: Marburg State Archives, 81st Hanau Government, holdings: A 12.6f
3. ↑ Schöner, p. 13
4. ↑ Goltzené and A. Matt: From the history , p. 67
5. ↑ Lötzsch, p. 14.
6. ↑ See BSLK , p. 16 and p. 764; Burkhard zur Nieden: Confessional Contrasts in the Early Modern Age. In: Hanauer Geschichtsverein 1844 : The Thirty Years War in Hanau and the surrounding area = Hanauer Geschichtsblätter 45 (2011), ISBN 978-3-935395-15-9 , pp. 55-66 (59).
7. ↑ Arthur B. Schmidt: The historical foundations of civil law in the Grand Duchy of Hesse . Curt von Münchow, Giessen 1893, p. 73f. as well as the enclosed card.
8. ↑ Goltzené and A. Matt: From the history , p 68th
9. ↑ Deviating: State Archives Darmstadt: D7 1/1: February 14, 1590.
10. ↑ Will.

predecessor	Office	successor
Philip III	Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg 1538–1590	Philip V.