Count Henry of Stolberg (2 January 1509 – 12 November 1572 at Stolberg Castle) was a German nobleman.

Life

Henry was born at

Stolberg Castle Stolberg Castle (german: Schloss Stolberg) is a palace in the town of Stolberg in the Harz Mountains of Germany. It dates to the 13th century and stands above the town on a hill with steep drops on three sides. Since 2003 it has been completely ...

in Stolberg, the fourth son of the ruling Count Bodo VIII and his wife Countess

Anna of Eppstein-Königstein Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221) ...

. His eldest sister was

Juliana of Stolberg Juliana, Countess of Stolberg-Wernigerode (15 February 1506 in Stolberg, Saxony-Anhalt – 18 June 1580) was the mother of William the Silent, the leader of the successful Dutch Revolt against the Spanish in the 16th century. Juliana was born i ...

, the ancestress of the

House of Orange-Nassau The House of Orange-Nassau (Dutch: ''Huis van Oranje-Nassau'', ) is the current reigning house of the Netherlands. A branch of the European House of Nassau, the house has played a central role in the politics and government of the Netherlands ...

. He was named after his uncle, Count Henry the Younger of Stolberg, whose body was transferred from

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 ...

to Stolberg the day after Henry was born. Henry was educated for several years at the court of his maternal grandfather, Count Eberhard of

Eppstein Eppstein is a town in the Main-Taunus-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. Eppstein lies west of Frankfurt am Main, around 12 km north east of the state capital Wiesbaden, and is at the edge of the Taunus mountains. The ruins of the Eppstein castle is ...

. One of his teachers was the famous

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...

dr. Johann Caesarius from

. From November 1525, Henry studied at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

, where his advisor was Tilemann Plathner. His father managed to reserve posts as

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

for him in Cologne and

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

. In 1538, a post as dean in Halberstadt fell vacant. Henry moved to Halberstadt and began to furnish a manor in Dardesheim for himself. In 1542, he was appointed cathedral dean in Cologne, after the death of his predecessor, Frederick of Beichlingen. Back to Cologne, he learned that the new archbishop,

Hermann of Wied Hermann of Wied (German: ''Hermann von Wied'') (14 January 1477 – 15 August 1552) was the Archbishop-Elector of Cologne from 1515 to 1546. In 1521, he supported a punishment for German reformer Martin Luther, but later opened up one of the H ...

had converted to

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

. Henry also converted to Protestantism and together they started spreading the new faith. The pope then removed them both from office.

Marriage and issue

On 3 November 1556 in Quedlinburg, Henry married Elisabeth (d. 1578), a daughter of Count Hector I of Gleichen. They had four children: * Bodo (1559–1583), inherited Stolberg-Wernigerode * George Louis (1562–1618), inherited Stolberg-Ortenburg *

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221) ...

(1565–1601),

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic ...

of Quedlinburg as Anna III * Christopher (1567–1638), inherited Stolberg-Wernigerode after Bodo's death

References

* House of Stolberg Counts of Stolberg 1509 births 1572 deaths 16th-century German people {{Germany-noble-stub