Count Ferdinand Edzard of East Frisia (12 July 1636,

Aurich Aurich (; East Frisian Low Saxon: ''Auerk'', West Frisian: ''Auwerk'', stq, Aurk) is a town in the East Frisian region of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Aurich and is the second largest City in East Frisia, both i ...

– 1 January 1668,

Norden Norden is a Scandinavian and German word, directly translated as "the North". It may refer to: Places England * Norden, Basingstoke, a ward of Basingstoke and Deane * Norden, Dorset, a hamlet near Corfe Castle * Norden, Greater Manchester, a vi ...

) was known as the "Count of

Life

Ferdinand Edzard was a member of the

Cirksena The House of Cirksena () was the name of the ruling family of East Frisia, Ostfriesland. They descended from a line of East Frisian chieftains from Greetsiel. East Frisia In 1439, in the wake of clashes between different lines of chieftains, t ...

ruling house of East Frisia. He was the youngest son of Count Ulrich II of East Frisia and Landgravine

Juliana Juliana (variants Julianna, Giuliana, Iuliana, Yuliana, etc) is a feminine given name which is the feminine version of the Roman name Julianus. Juliana or Giuliana was the name of a number of early saints, notably Saint Julian the Hospitaller, wh ...

of Hesse-Darmstadt. From the age of 14, he attended the academies of Breda and Tübingen. As part of his training, he undertook extensive travels to France, Switzerland, Italy and England. In 1658, he returned to the court of his brother Prince Enno Louis at Aurich. After Enno Louis's sudden death in March 1660, Ferdinand Edzard demanded that power be shared between himself and his brother George Christian. He could not prevail. His request to have his share of the inheritance paid out, did not succeed either. On 18 January 1661 the brothers came to an agreement. Ferdinand Edzard dropped his request for a share of power in return for an annual sum of money and an

apanage An appanage, or apanage (; french: apanage ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture. It was common in much o ...

consisting the town of

. Ferdinand Edzard took up residence in Norden with a small court, and was henceforth known as the "Count of Norden". On 22 July 1665 he married Anna Dorothea of Criechingen and Püttingen, with whom he had two sons. The sudden death of George Christian beginning in June 1665 revived the question of government power. Because George Christian's widow

Christine Charlotte of Württemberg Christine Charlotte of Württemberg (21 October 1645, Stuttgart – 16 May 1699, Bruchhausen) was a princess consort of East Frisia by marriage to George Christian, Prince of East Frisia. She served as the regent of East Frisia during the minor ...

was pregnant, Ferdinand Edzard took up the interim government until the birth of the future prince Christian Everhard. Ferdinand Edzard and Christine Charlotte then jointly took responsibility for the regency and guardianship of the newborn Prince.

References and sources

* Wiarda, Tieleman Dothias: ''Ostfriesische Geschichte'', vol. 5, Aurich, 1795 * Esselborn, Ernst: ''Das Geschlecht Cirksena, die Häuptlinge, Grafen und Fürsten von Ostfriesland'', Berlin-Pankow, 1945 1636 births 1668 deaths 17th-century German people Counts of East Frisia {{Germany-noble-stub