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 House of Schwarzburg, Schwarzburg dy ...

, which later received the title of Prince.

Early life

He was the youngest of the surviving sons of Günther XL, Count of Schwarzburg-Blankenburg and his wife Countess Elisabeth zu Ysenburg-Büdingen-Birstein (1508–1572).

Biography

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 may refer to: Kings * William the Conqueror (–1087), also known as William I, King of England * William I of Sicily (died 1166) * William I of Scotland (died 1214), known as William the Lion * William I of the Netherlands and Luxembour ...

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, which is in modern-day central Germany. Upon the death of Prince Friedrich Günther in 1971, a claim to the headship of the house passed under Semi-Salic primogeniture t ...

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 (earldom) until 1697. In that year, it became a principal ...

, both of which existed until the post-

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

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

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

. 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

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

and from 1573 lived in

Rudolstadt Rudolstadt is a town in the German federal state Thuringia, within 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 ...

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 Henry II of Reuss (younger line) (10 June 1572 – ), nicknamed ''the Posthumous'' because his father died two months before he was born, was Lord of Gera, Lord of Bad Lobenstein, Lobenstein and Lord of Kranichfeld, Oberkranichfeld. Life ...

# Louis Günther I, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (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 Leiningen-Westerburg was a historic state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the vicinity of Leiningen and Westerburg in what is now the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Leiningen-Westerburg was formed in 1467, when the last Landgrave ...

(1568–1617), daughter of Count Reinhard II von Leiningen-Westerburg (1530–1584) and his wife, Countess Ottilia von Manderscheid-Blankenheim-Keyll (1536–1597). The 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 nobility