Frederick III of Simmern, the Pious,
Elector Palatine
The counts palatine of Lotharingia /counts palatine of the Rhine /electors of the Palatinate (german: Kurfürst von der Pfalz) ruled some part of Rhine area in the Kingdom of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire from 915 to 1803. The title was a kind ...
of the Rhine (14 February 1515 – 16 October 1576) was a ruler from the house of
Wittelsbach
The House of Wittelsbach () is a German dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including Bavaria, the Palatinate, Holland and Zeeland, Sweden (with Finland), Denmark, Norway, Hungary (with Romania), Bohemia, the Electorate o ...
, branch
Palatinate-Simmern
The House of Palatinate-Simmern (german: Pfalz-Simmern) was a German- Bavarian cadet branch of the House of Wittelsbach. The house was one of the collateral lineages of the Palatinate.
The Palatinate line of the House of Wittelsbach was divided i ...
-
Sponheim
Sponheim is a municipality in the district of Bad Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate in western Germany.
History
Sponheim was the capital of the County of Sponheim.
Sponheim Abbey
There was a Benedictine abbey which was founded in 1101 by Step ...
. He was a son of
John II of Simmern and inherited the Palatinate from the childless Elector
Otto-Henry, Elector Palatine
Otto-Henry, Elector Palatine, (; 10 April 1502, Amberg – 12 February 1559, Heidelberg) a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty was Count Palatine of Palatinate-Neuburg from 1505 to 1559 and prince elector of the Palatinate from 1556 to 1559. ...
(''Ottheinrich'') in 1559. He was a devout convert to
Calvinism
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...
, and made the Reformed confession the official religion of his domain by overseeing the composition and promulgation of the
Heidelberg Catechism
The Heidelberg Catechism (1563), one of the Three Forms of Unity, is a Protestant confessional document taking the form of a series of questions and answers, for use in teaching Calvinist Christian doctrine. It was published in 1563 in Heidelberg, ...
. His support of Calvinism gave the German Reformed movement a foothold within the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
.
Life
Frederick was strictly educated in the
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
faith at his father's court and at
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
, but, influenced by his wife, the pious princess
Maria of Brandenburg, whom he married in 1537, he followed the
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
, and in 1546 made a public profession of his faith. He succeeded his father John II as duke of
Simmern
Simmern (; officially Simmern/Hunsrück) is a town of roughly 7,600 inhabitants (2013) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, the district seat of the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis, and the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Simmern-Rheinböllen. In the Rhinelan ...
on 18 May 1557, and became elector on 12 February 1559, on the death of Otto Henry. Under his predecessor
strict Lutherans like
Tilemann Heshusius
Tilemann Heshusius (also ''Hesshus, Heßhusen, Hess Husen, Heshusen'') (3 November 1527 in Wesel — 25 September 1588 in Helmstedt) was a Gnesio-Lutheran theologian and Protestant reformer.
Life
Heshusius came from an influential family in ...
,
Melanchthonians
The Philippists formed a party in early Lutheranism. Their opponents were called Gnesio-Lutherans.
Before Luther's death
''Philippists'' was the designation usually applied in the latter half of the sixteenth century to the followers of Philip ...
, and
Calvinists
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...
had found a place in the Palatinate. In the summer of 1559 bitter controversies arose among them. Theses on the
Lord's Supper
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
prepared by the
Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
deacon Wilhelm Klebitz provoked a bitter controversy between him and Heshusius.
When efforts at mediation failed Frederick deposed both men on 16 September 1559. To get a clear understanding of the controversy Frederick spent days and nights in theological studies and was thus led more and more to the Reformed confession. A disputation held in June 1560 between the Saxon theologians
Johann Stössel
Johann Stössel (also spelled Stoessel; 24 June 1524 – 18 March 1576) was a Lutheran Theologian and Reformer.
Life
Stössel was born in Kitzingen. He came to Wittenberg at 15 and became a master after 10 years of study. Since he distanced him ...
and
Joachim Mörlin
Joachim Mörlin (5 April 1514, Wittenberg, Electorate of Saxony – 29 May 1571, Königsberg, Duchy of Prussia (now Kaliningrad in Russia) - 1945) was an Evangelical Lutheran theologian and an important figure in the controversies following ...
and the Heidelbergers
Pierre Boquin
Pierre Boquin (also known as Bouquin, Boucquin, or Petrus Boquinus; post 1518 –1582 in Lausanne) was a French Reformed Theologian who played a critical role in the Reformation of the Electoral Palatinate.
Origins and early career
Pierre ...
,
Thomas Erastus
Thomas Erastus (original surname Lüber, Lieber, or Liebler; 7 September 152431 December 1583) was a Swiss physician and Calvinist theologian. He wrote 100 theses (later reduced to 75) in which he argued that the sins committed by Christians sho ...
, and Paul Einhorn increased Frederick's dislike for the Lutheran zealots. After the
Naumburg Convention (January 1561) Frederick fully adopted the Reformed dogmas.
In March 1561 he invited
Emmanuel Tremellius
Immanuel Tremellius ( it, Giovanni Emmanuele Tremellio; 1510 – 9 October 1580) was an Italian Jewish convert to Christianity. He was known as a leading Hebraist and Bible translator.
Life
He was born at Ferrara and educated at the University ...
to Heidelberg, and in September the famous
Zacharius Ursinus
Zacharias Ursinus (18 July 15346 May 1583) was a sixteenth-century German Reformed theologian and Protestant reformer, born Zacharias Baer in Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland). He became the leading theologian of the Reformed Protestant movement o ...
. The whole Church was now transformed.
Caspar Olevianus
Caspar Olevian (or Kaspar Olevianus; 10 August 1536 – 15 March 1587) was a significant German Reformed theologian during the Protestant Reformation and along with Zacharius Ursinus was said to be co-author of the Heidelberg Catechism. That the ...
had been there since January 1560. Images of the saints,
vestments
Vestments are liturgical garments and articles associated primarily with the Christian religion, especially by Eastern Churches, Catholics (of all rites), Anglicans, and Lutherans. Many other groups also make use of liturgical garments; this ...
, baptismal fonts, and other "idolatrous works," even organs, were ruthlessly removed from the churches. In the celebration of the Lord's Supper the breaking of bread was introduced. The revenues from monasteries and foundations were confiscated and applied to Evangelical church purposes or charity. The
Heidelberg Catechism
The Heidelberg Catechism (1563), one of the Three Forms of Unity, is a Protestant confessional document taking the form of a series of questions and answers, for use in teaching Calvinist Christian doctrine. It was published in 1563 in Heidelberg, ...
, prepared by a committee of theologians and ministers likely led by Ursinus, now served as the norm of doctrine and for the instruction of the youth.
The church order of 15 November 1563 and the
consistory
Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to:
*A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church
*Consistory ...
order of 1564 consolidated the changes. The opposition of ministers inclining to Lutheranism was suppressed by their dismissal. Among the Lutherans, Frederick's measures caused a great sensation. The religious colloquy held at
Maulbronn
Maulbronn () is a city in the district of Enz in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.
History
Founded in 1838, it emerged from a settlement, built around a monastery, which belonged to the Neckar Community in the Kingdom of Württemberg. In ...
in April 1564 increased the animosity. In 1565 the
Emperor Maximilian ordered the changes to be annulled. A unanimous decree of the 1566
Diet of Augsburg
The Diet of Augsburg were the meetings of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire held in the German city of Augsburg. Both an Imperial City and the residence of the Augsburg prince-bishops, the town had hosted the Estates in many such sess ...
also demanded the abolition of the changes. Frederick, however, declared in the 14 May session of the Diet that a matter was concerned over which God alone has the rule, and if it was intended to proceed against him, he would find comfort in the promises of his Saviour. The decree was not carried out.
After completing the work of reform in the
Rhine Palatinate
The Palatinate (german: Pfalz; Palatine German: ''Palz'') is a region of Germany. In the Middle Ages it was known as the Rhenish Palatinate (''Rheinpfalz'') and Lower Palatinate (''Unterpfalz''), which strictly speaking designated only the wes ...
, Frederick endeavored to continue it in the
Upper Palatinate
The Upper Palatinate (german: Oberpfalz, , ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany, and is located in the east of Bavaria.
Geography
The Upper Palatinate is a landscape with low mountains and numerous ponds and lakes ...
; but here he was resisted by the zealous Lutheran estates. He continued his work of reform on the Rhine by introducing in 1570 a strict church discipline. Frederick pronounced the sentence of death on the Antitrinitarian
Johann Sylvan
Johann Sylvan (died 23 December 1572) was a Reformed German theologian who was executed for his heretical Antitrinitarian beliefs.
Origins and early career
Johann Sylvan probably came from the Etsch valley in the County of Tyrol. By 1555 he wa ...
based on the opinion signed by Olevianus, Ursinus, and Boquin, on 23 December 1572.
In 1562 Frederick gave
Frankenthal
Frankenthal (Pfalz) ( pfl, Frongedahl) is a town in southwestern Germany, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
History
Frankenthal was first mentioned in 772. In 1119 an Augustinian monastery was built here, the ruins of which — known, af ...
as a refuge to the Evangelicals driven from the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. He sent his like-minded son
Johann Casimir
John Casimir, Count Palatine of Simmern (German: ''Johann Casimir von Pfalz-Simmern'') (7 March 1543 – Brockhaus Geschichte Second Edition) was a German prince and a younger son of Frederick III, Elector Palatine. A firm Calvinist, he was a lea ...
in 1567 and again in 1576 to
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
in aid of the
Huguenots
The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss politica ...
. In 1569 he assisted also
Wolfgang, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken
Count Palatine Wolfgang of Zweibrücken (german: Pfalzgraf Wolfgang von Zweibrücken; 26 September 1526 – 11 June 1569) was member of the Wittelsbach family of the Counts Palatine and Duke of Zweibrücken from 1532. With the support of his re ...
on his way to France.
Frederick's last years were troubled by domestic afflictions. As his older son Louis was a strict Lutheran, he could not hope that after his death his work would be carried out in his own spirit.
Family and children
Frederick III was married twice. Firstly, he married in 1537
Marie of Brandenburg-Kulmbach
Marie of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (born 14 October 1519 in Ansbach – died 31 October 1567 in Heidelberg) was a Princess of Brandenburg-Kulmbach and by marriage Electress Palatine.
Biography
Marie was the oldest child of the Margrave Casimir of B ...
(1519 – 1567), daughter of
Casimir, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth and
Susanna of Bavaria
Susanna of Bavaria (2 April 1502 – 23 April 1543) was a German noblewoman. Born in Munich, she was the daughter of Albert IV, Duke of Bavaria, and Kunigunde of Austria, herself the daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III and Eleanor of P ...
. Their children were:
# Alberta (4 April 1538 – 19 March 1553)
#
Louis VI, Elector Palatine
Louis VI, Elector Palatine (4 July 1539 in Simmern – 22 October 1583 in Heidelberg), was an Elector from the Palatinate-Simmern branch of the house of Wittelsbach. He was the first-born son of Frederick III, Elector Palatine and Marie of ...
(4 July 1539 – 22 October 1583)
#
Elisabeth (30 June 1540 – 8 February 1594), married in 1558 to Duke
Johann Frederick II of Saxony
# Hermann Ludwig (6 October 1541 – 1 July 1556)
#
Johann Casimir
John Casimir, Count Palatine of Simmern (German: ''Johann Casimir von Pfalz-Simmern'') (7 March 1543 – Brockhaus Geschichte Second Edition) was a German prince and a younger son of Frederick III, Elector Palatine. A firm Calvinist, he was a lea ...
(7 March 1543 – 16 January 1592); married: 1570
Elisabeth of Saxony
Elisabeth of Saxony (18 October 1552, at Wolkenstein Castle in Wolkenstein – 2 April 1590, in Heidelberg) was a Saxon princess, and Countess Palatine of Simmern by marriage to John Casimir of the Palatinate-Simmern.
Life
Elisabeth was a da ...
(18 October 1552 - 2 April 1590)
#
Dorothea Susanne (15 November 1544 – 8 April 1592), married in 1560 to
John William, Duke of Saxe-Weimar
Johann Wilhelm (11 March 1530 – 2 March 1573) was a duke of Saxe-Weimar.
Life
He was the second son of Johann Frederick I, Elector of Saxony, and Sibylle of Cleves.
At the time of his birth, his father still carried the title Elector of Saxo ...
# Albert (30 September 1546 – 30 April 1547)
# Anna Elisabeth (23 July 1549 – 20 September 1609), married:
## in 1569 to Landgrave
Philipp II of Hesse-Rheinfels;
## in 1599 to Count Palatine
John August of Veldenz
# Christof (13 June 1551 –
14 April 1574)
# Karl (28 December 1552 – 12 September 1555)
# Kunigunde Jakobäa (9 October 1556 – 26 January 1586), married in 1580 to Count
John VI of Nassau-Dillenburg
Count John VI of Nassau-Dillenburg (22 November 1536 – 8 October 1606) was the second son of William the Rich and the younger brother of William the Silent. He has a special place in the history of the Netherlands because he is the male-lin ...
Secondly, he married in 1569
Amalia of Neuenahr
Amalia of Neuenahr (6 April 1539 – 10 April 1602) was the daughter of Gumprecht of Neuenahr and Cordula of Holstein Schauenburg.
Her first husband was Hendrik van Brederode, who played an important part in the events leading up to the Eighty Ye ...
( 1539 – 1602), but this marriage was childless.
He died in 1576, and was succeeded as Elector Palatine by his son
Louis VI. Frederick had carved out a territory from the Lower Palatine land dubbed "Pfalz-Lautern" for his second surviving son
Johann Casimir
John Casimir, Count Palatine of Simmern (German: ''Johann Casimir von Pfalz-Simmern'') (7 March 1543 – Brockhaus Geschichte Second Edition) was a German prince and a younger son of Frederick III, Elector Palatine. A firm Calvinist, he was a lea ...
as an enclave to enable the continued existence of the Reformed faith. Johann Casimir would serve as regent for the
Electorate of the Palatinate
The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) or the Palatinate (), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate (), was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of ...
upon Louis VI's death and would oversee the return of the Reformed faith to the Palatinate.
Literature
*
Ancestors
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frederick 03, Elector Palatine
1515 births
1576 deaths
People from Simmern
Converts to Calvinism
German Calvinist and Reformed Christians
House of Palatinate-Simmern
House of Wittelsbach
Prince-electors of the Palatinate
Burials at the Church of the Holy Spirit, Heidelberg