Albrecht VII, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (16 January 1537 – 10 April 1605) was Count of Schwarzburg and founder of the Line of

Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was a small historic state in present-day Thuringia, Germany, with its capital at Rudolstadt. History Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was established in 1599 in the course of a resettlement of Schwarzburg dynasty lands. Since t ...

, which later received the title of Prince. He was the youngest of the surviving sons of Günther XL, Count of Schwarzburg-Blankenburg and his wife Countess Elisabeth zu Ysenburg-Büdingen in Birstein.

Life

His father, Günther XL, had united all of the Schwarzburg possessions. After he died in 1552, the county inherited by his four surviving sons, Günther XLI, John Günther I,

William I William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...

and Albrecht VII, who divided their country in 1572. After the deaths of childless Günther XLI in 1583 and Wilhelm I in 1597, his possessions were divided between the still living brothers Johann Günther and Albrecht VII. This partition became the beginning of two lines of the

house of Schwarzburg The House of Schwarzburg was one of the oldest noble families of Thuringia. Upon the death of Prince Friedrich Günther in 1971, a claim to the headship of the house passed under Semi-Salic primogeniture to his elder sister, Princess Marie Ant ...

and

Schwarzburg-Sondershausen Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was a small principality in Germany, in the present day state of Thuringia, with its capital at Sondershausen. History Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was a county until 1697. In that year, it became a principality, which la ...

, both of which existed until the post-

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

major governmental changes of 1918. Albrecht, studied at several German universities and in

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

. From 1557 he resided at the court of the Prince of Orange-Nassau. He served from 1563 under his brother Günther XLI in the army of King of

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and from 1573 lived in

Rudolstadt Rudolstadt is a town in the German federal state Thuringia, with the Thuringian Forest to the southwest, and to Jena and Weimar to the north. The former capital of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the town is built along the River Saale inside a wide v ...

Family and children

He was married twice. Firstly, on 14 June 1575 he married Countess Juliana of Nassau-Dillenburg, daughter of Count William I of Nassau-Dillenburg and had the following children: # Charles Günther, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (6 November 1576 – 24 September 1630) # Elisabeth Juliane (1 January 1578 – 28 March 1658) # Sophie (1 March 1579 – 24 August 1630), married on 30 March 1595 to Count Jobst II of Barby-Mühlingen # Magdalene (12 April 1580 – 22 April 1632), married on 22 May 1597 to Henry II, Count of Reuss-Gera #

Louis Günther I, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Louis Günther I, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (27 June 1581 in Rudolstadt – 4 November 1646 in Rudolstadt) was the ruling Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt from 1612 until his death. Life Louis Günther I was the son of Count Albrecht VII of ...

(27 May 1581 – 4 November 1646) # Albert Günther I, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstdat (8 August 1582 – 20 January 1634) # Anna Sybille (14 March 1584 – 22 August 1623), married on 15 November 1612 to Count Christian Günther I of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen # Katharina Maria (13 July 1585 – 19 January 1659) # Katharina Susanna (13 February 1587 – 19 April 1662) # Henry Günther, died young in 1589 Secondly, on 2 March 1591 he married Countess Albertine Elisabeth of Leiningen-Westerburg, but this marriage was childless.

Sources

* F. Apfelstedt: ''Das Haus Kevernburg-Schwarzburg von seinem Ursprunge bis auf unsere Zeit'', Arnstadt 1890 * Dr. Kamill von Behr: ''Genealogie der in Europa regierenden Fürstenhäuser'', Leipzig 1870 {{DEFAULTSORT:Albrecht 07, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Albrecht VII of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Albrecht VII of Counts of Schwarzburg House of Schwarzburg People from Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt 16th-century German people