George John I (German: Georg Johann I.; sometimes called George Hans) (11 April 1543 – 18 April 1592) was the Count of Veldenz from 1544 until 1592.

Life

George John was born in 1543 as the only son of

Rupert, Count Palatine of Veldenz Rupert (German: Ruprecht) (1506 – 28 July 1544) was the Count of Veldenz from 1543 until 1544. Life Rupert was born in Zweibrücken in 1506 as the youngest son of Alexander, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken. As a younger son, Rupert was designat ...

. George John's cousin, Wolfgang, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, was a child when he inherited his title, so George John's father served as Wolgang's regent. In 1543, when Wolfgang reached majority and took on the responsibility of office, he enacted the Marburg Contract, giving Rupert the

County of Veldenz The County of Veldenz was a principality in the contemporary Land Rhineland-Palatinate. The county was located partially between Kaiserslautern, Sponheim and Zweibrücken, partially on the Mosel in the Archbishopric of Trier. A municipality of ...

. Rupert died the following year, and the one-year-old George John succeeded him. In 1563 he married Anna of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, the daughter of King Gustav I of Sweden, beginning a long-running connection between the Electorate of the Palatinate and Sweden. In 1553 after the

Heidelberg War of Succession 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 ...

which regulated the mutual inheritance of all the lines of 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 ...

, George John obtained Palatinate-Lützelstein. He attempted to develop his Alsatian territories to be the focus of his state, which led to him building the city of Phalsbourg (Pfalzburg) in 1570 and populating it with Protestant refugees from the Duchy of Lorraine. The project was so grand and unaffordable that in 1583 he was forced to sell the city and half of Palatinate-Lützelstein to Lorraine. George John died in Lützelstein in 1592 and was buried in the city's church. Pierre tombale Georges-Jean de Veldenz

Marriage

George John married Anna of

(1545–1610), daughter of King Gustavus I, in 1563 and had the following children: # George Gustavus (1564 – 3 June 1634) #Anne Margaret (28 April 1565 – 2 October 1566) #John Rupert (9 September 1566 – 1 October 1567) # Anne Margaret (17 January 1571 – 1 November 1621) third wife of Reichard, Count Palatine of Simmern-Sponheim # Ursula (24 February 1572 – 5 March 1635), second wife of Louis III, Duke of Württemberg # Joanna Elizabeth (2 October 1573 – 28 July 1601) # John Augustus (26 November 1575 – 18 September 1611) # Louis Philip (24 November 1577 – 24 October 1601) #Maria Anne (9 June 1579 – 10 October 1579) #Catherine Ursula (3 August 1582 – 22 January 1595) # George John (24 June 1586 – 29 September 1654)

Life

Marriage

Ancestors

See also