Louis I, Count of Löwenstein (29 September 1463 in

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 ...

– 28 March 1523 in

Löwenstein Löwenstein () is a city in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was first mentioned in 1123. The castle of Löwenstein served as a residence for the counts of Löwenstein-Wertheim. In 1634 the castle was destroyed by the ...

) was the founder of the House of Lowenstein-Wertheim.

Life

Louis was a son of the Elector Palatine

Frederick I Frederick I may refer to: * Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht. * Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978) * Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105) * Frederick I, Count of Zoller ...

(1425-1476) from his

morganatic marriage Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spous ...

with

Clara Tott Clara Tott, in other sources Clara Dett, Clara of Dettingen, Tettingen, or Clare Dettin ( – 1520), was a court singer associated with the Elector Palatine Frederick I, whom she is said to have secretly married. Life Clara Tott was the ...

. She had been a

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

at the court of the Duke of Bavaria in

Münich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

where Frederick met her in 1459. She bore him two sons, Louis and his elder brother Frederick (1461-1474). In 1451, Frederick I had adopted his nephew

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

as his son and heir. At the time, he had promised he would not marry himself, so as not to create rival heirs. However, at some point in time, Philip absolved his uncle from this promise and Frederick had secretly married Clara. Frederick continued to support Philip as his heir, and in return Philip promised to provide for Frederick's sons. Philip donated the Lordship of Scharfeneck to Louis, and in 1488, he gave Louis the County of

. In 1492, Louis acquired the Lordship of

Abstatt Abstatt () is a municipality in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. Geography Abstatt is situated in the south of the district of Heilbronn at the Schozach river. Heilbronn is about to the northwest. Neighb ...

, including

Wildeck Castle Wildeck Castle or Wildeck Palace (german: Schloss Wildeck) is an old hunting lodge in Zschopau in Saxony. It stands on a rocky spur above the River Zschopau. Site The site today forms an irregular triangle, the narrow wing of the castle surr ...

. On 24 February 1484, he was elevated to

Imperial Count Imperial Count (german: Reichsgraf) was a title in the Holy Roman Empire. In the medieval era, it was used exclusively to designate the holder of an imperial county, that is, a fief held directly ( immediately) from the emperor, rather than from ...

Maximilian I Maximilian I may refer to: *Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, reigned 1486/93–1519 *Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, reigned 1597–1651 *Maximilian I, Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1636-1689) *Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, reigned 1795� ...

, who was

King of the Germans This is a list of monarchs who ruled over East Francia, and the Kingdom of Germany (''Regnum Teutonicum''), from the division of the Frankish Empire in 843 and the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 until the collapse of the German Empir ...

at the time. Louis I is considered the founder of the House of

Löwenstein-Wertheim Löwenstein-Wertheim was a county of the Holy Roman Empire, part of the Franconian Circle. It was formed from the counties of Löwenstein (based in the town of Löwenstein) and Wertheim (based in the town of Wertheim am Main) and from 1488 until ...

. Two branches of this house exist until this day: the Protestant princes of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg and the Catholic princes of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg.

Marriages and issue

Louis I married twice. His first wife was Elisabeth of Montfort (d. 13 January 1503), whom he married in 1488. They had ten children: * Margaret (28 June 1489 – 1489) * Elisabeth (8 June 1490 – 1530), married: *# Count Oswald II of Tierstein (27 August 1474 – 1514): *# in 1524 to George Würtwein * Wolfgang (2 April 1491 – 28 April 1491) * Louis (b. and d. March 1492) * Wolfgang (25 March 1493 – 15 April 1512), married on 15 January 1512 to Elisabeth (18 November 1495 – 1540), a daughter of Count Kraft VI of Hohenlohe-Neuenstein * Catherine (born 25 April 1497 – 10 September 1541), a nun in Lichtenstern Monastery * Louis II (28 April 1498 – 1536), married on 16 December 1525 to Anna Schenk of Limpurg (d. 1536) * Clara (28 April 1499 – 6 February 1568), a nun in Lobenfeld Monastery * Johanna (20 July 1500 – 10 January 1520), a nun in Lichtenstern Monastery * Frederick I (19 August 1502 – 3 February 1541), married on 16 June 1524 to Helen of

Koenigsegg Koenigsegg Automotive AB () is a Swedish manufacturer of high-performance sports cars based in Ängelholm, Skåne County, Sweden. Company The company was founded in 1994 in Sweden by Christian von Koenigsegg, with the intention of producing ...

(15 March 1509 – 20 April 1566); they had a son: **

Louis III Louis III may refer to: * Louis the Younger, sometimes III of Germany (835–882) * Louis III of France (865–882) * Louis the Blind, Louis III, Holy Roman Emperor, (c. 880–928) * Louis the Child, sometimes III of Germany (893–911) * Louis III ...

(17 February 1530 – 13 March 1611) His second wife was Sophia Böcklin (d. 1510). This marriage remained childless.

References

* Harald Stockert: ''Adel im Übergang. Die Fürsten und Grafen von Löwenstein-Wertheim zwischen Landesherrschaft und Standesherrschaft'',

Kohlhammer Verlag W. Kohlhammer Verlag GmbH, or Kohlhammer Verlag, is a German publishing house headquartered in Stuttgart. History Kohlhammer Verlag was founded in Stuttgart on 30 April 1866 by . Kohlhammer had taken over the businesses of his late father-in-law ...

, Stuttgart 2000, * Hans und Marga Rall: ''Die Wittelsbacher – Von Otto I. bis Elisabeth I.'', Weltbild, 1994, * Isenburg, W. K. Prinz von, ''

Europäische Stammtafeln ''Europäische Stammtafeln'' - German for ''European Family Trees'' - is a series of twenty-nine books which contain sets of genealogical tables of the most influential families of Medieval European history. It is a standard reference work for thos ...

'', vol. III, 1976 * ''Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser'', 1964 {{DEFAULTSORT:Louis 01 Lowenstein 1463 births 1523 deaths 15th-century German people 16th-century German people Counts of Löwenstein House of Wittelsbach House of Löwenstein-Wertheim Nobility from Heidelberg Sons of monarchs