Eberwin III, Count of Bentheim-Steinfurt (1536 – 19 February 1562 at

Bentheim Castle Bentheim Castle (german: Burg Bentheim) is an early medieval hill castle in Bad Bentheim, Lower Saxony, Germany. The castle is first mentioned in the 11th century under the name ''binithem''. Situation The castle is built on a protrusion of Ben ...

) was a German nobleman. He was a member of the elder line of the House of

Bentheim-Steinfurt Bentheim-Steinfurt was a historical county located in northwestern North Rhine-Westphalia in the region surrounding Steinfurt, Germany. Bentheim-Steinfurt was a partition of Bentheim-Bentheim, itself a partition of the County of Bentheim. Bentheim- ...

and was the ruling Count of Bentheim and

Steinfurt Steinfurt (; Westphalian: ''Stemmert'') is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Steinfurt. From roughly 1100-1806, it was the capital of the County of Steinfurt. Geography Steinfurt is situated north- ...

from 1544 until his death. From 1557, he was also Count of

Tecklenburg Tecklenburg () is a town in the district of Steinfurt, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Its name comes from the ruined castle around which it was built. The town is situated on the Hermannsweg hiking trail. The coat of arms shows an anchor a ...

and Lord of Rheda by marriage.

Life

Eberwin III was the eldest son of Count Arnold II of Bentheim-Steinfurt and his wife, Walburga of Brederode-Neuenahr. Eberwin's younger brother Arnold married Magdalena Sophia (1540–1586), daughter of

Ernest I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg Ernest of Brunswick-Lüneburg (german: Ernst der Bekenner; 27 June 1497 – 11 January 1546), also frequently called Ernest the Confessor, was duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and a champion of the Protestant cause during the early years of the Prote ...

. In 1553, when he was 18 years old, Eberwin III married the 21 years old

Anna of Tecklenburg-Schwerin Anna von Tecklenburg-Schwerin (1532-1582) was the ruling suo jure Countess of Tecklenburg and the lordships of Wevelinghoven and Rheda between 1557 and 1582. She was regent of the County of Bentheim-Steinfurt during the minority of her son in 1562� ...

, the heiress of

. The reasons for this marriage were the religious and territorial policies of the two countly families. The families even agreed in the marriage contract that if Eberwin III were to die young, his younger brother Arnold should marry Anna. After Anna's father, Count Conrad of Tecklenburg-Schwerin, died, a dispute broke out between Eberwin III and his wife. She claimed that she was entitled to rule her own inheritance as Countess

suo jure ''Suo jure'' is a Latin phrase, used in English to mean 'in his own right' or 'in her own right'. In most nobility-related contexts, it means 'in her own right', since in those situations the phrase is normally used of women; in practice, especi ...

. Eberwin claimed that he was entitled to rule her inheritance as Count

jure uxoris ''Jure uxoris'' (a Latin phrase meaning "by right of (his) wife"), citing . describes a title of nobility used by a man because his wife holds the office or title ''suo jure'' ("in her own right"). Similarly, the husband of an heiress could becom ...

. Eberwin had his wife arrested, and locked her up in her own residence, Tecklenburg Castle. Anna was only released when Count

Christopher of Oldenburg Christopher, Count of Oldenburg (German: ''Christoph, Graf von Oldenburg'') (c. 1504 – 4 August 1566) was German count and regent in eastern Denmark between 1534–36 during the Count's War, Count's Feud (Danish: ''Grevens Fejde'') which was ...

intervened. After her release, the nobility of Tecklenburg sided with Anna, and accused Eberwin of

adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...

. Anna herself accused him of spending too much on luxury items, such as precious horses, and a portrait of himself by Hermann tom Ring.This portrait is on display in the LWL State Museum in Münster After mediation by the rulers of neighbouring territories, Anna and Eberwin agreed to a separation from bed and board. The dispute ended in 1562, when Eberwin died from

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, an ...

at the age of 26.

Issue

From his marriage to Anna, Eberwin had two children: * Arnold III (2 October 1554 in Neuenhaus – 11 January 1606 in Tecklenburg) * Walburga (24 October 1555 – 9 April 1628), married in 1576 Count to Herman I of Wied

References

* Oskar Prinz von Bentheim: ''Anna von Tecklenburg 1532-1582 — Die erste evangelische Regentin in Westfalen'', in: ''Jahrbuch für westfälische Kirchengeschichte'', vol. 98, 2003, p. 77-86 * Gerhard Arnold Rumpius: ''Des Heil. Röm. Reichs uhralte hochlöbliche Graffschafft Tekelenburg'', 1672, p. 105 ff * Geh. Justizrat Müller: ''Aus der Geschichte der Grafschaft Tecklenburg'', Arnsberg, 1920, p. 12 ff

External links

Biography
*http://www.his-data.de

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eberwin 03 Bentheim-Steinfurt Counts of Bentheim Counts of Steinfurt Counts of Tecklenburg Lords of Rheda House of Bentheim 1562 deaths 1536 births 16th-century German people Deaths from syphilis