Ludowika Margaretha of Zweibrücken-Bitsch (19 July 1540, Ingwiller – 15 December 1569, Bouxwiller), was the only child and heiress of Count James of

Zweibrücken-Bitsch The County of Zweibrücken-Bitsch (, ) was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire that was created between 1286 and 1302 from the eastern part of the County of Zweibrücken and the Barony of Bitche (german: Bitsch) in Lorraine. It continued to exist ...

(born: 19 July 1510; died: 22 March 1570) by his wife Catherine, born Countess of Honstein zu Klettenberg. She was buried in Ingwiller.

Inheritance

Her father, Count James of

(1510–1570), was the last male member of the House of Zweibrücken. His older brother, Simon V Wecker, had already died in 1540. Both James and Simon had only one daughter, Ludowika Margaretha and Amalie, respectively. A dispute over the inheritance ensued between their husbands,

Philip V of Hanau-Lichtenberg Philipp V of Hanau-Lichtenberg (21 February 1541, Bouxwiller – 2 June 1599, Niederbronn) was Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg from 1590 until his death. Life Philipp V was the eldest son, heir and successor of Count Philipp IV of Hanau-Lichten ...

and Philip I of Leiningen-Westerburg, respectively. The disputed territories include the Lordship of Bitsch, the

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

and castle of Lemberg, the Lordship of Ochsenstein and half of the Lordship of

Lichtenberg Lichtenberg () is the eleventh borough of Berlin, Germany. In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it absorbed the former borough of Hohenschönhausen. Overview The district contains the Tierpark Berlin in Friedrichsfelde, the larger of Berlin's ...

(the other half was already held by the Counts of Hanau-Lichtenberg). Bitsch was formally a

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...

of the

Duchy of Lorraine The Duchy of Lorraine (french: Lorraine ; german: Lothringen ), originally Upper Lorraine, was a duchy now included in the larger present-day region of Lorraine in northeastern France. Its capital was Nancy. It was founded in 959 following t ...

and could in theory only be inherited in the male line. Initially, Philip V appeared successful. However, he immediately introduced the

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

faith in his newly gained territory and this made the powerful and

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 ...

Duke of Lorraine unhappy. The Duke terminated the fief and in July 1572 Lorraine troops occupied the county. Since Philip V's army was no match for Lorraine, he took his case to the

Reichskammergericht The ''Reichskammergericht'' (; ; la, Iudicium imperii) was one of the two highest judicial institutions in the Holy Roman Empire, the other one being the Aulic Council in Vienna. It was founded in 1495 by the Imperial Diet in Worms. All legal ...

. During the trial, Lorraine argued that, firstly, a significant part of the territory of Zweibrücken-Bitsch had been obtained in an exchange with Lorraine in 1302 and, secondly, the Counts of Leiningen had sold their hereditary claims to Lorraine in 1573. In 1604, Hanau-Lichtenberg and Lorraine decided to settle out of court. In a treaty signed in 1606, it was agreed that Bitsch would revert to Lorraine and Hanau-Lichtenberg would retain Lemberg. This was reasonable, as it corresponded approximately to the religious realities of the territories.

Marriage and issue

She married on 14 October 1560 in Bitsch with Count

(1541–1599). This was the first of his three marriages. They had the following children: # Johanna Sybille (born: 6 July 1564 in

; died on 24 March 1636

Runkel Runkel is a town on the river Lahn in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Runkel lies in the Lahn Valley on both sides of the river between the Westerwald and the Taunus, some eight kilometres east of Limburg an ...

), married to Count William V of Wied-Runkel and Isenburg (died: 1612) # Philip (born: 7 October 1565 in Bouxwiller; died: 31 August 1572 in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

; buried in

Neuwiller-lès-Saverne Neuwiller-lès-Saverne (, literally ''Neuwiller near Saverne''; german: Neuweiler; gsw-FR, Neiwiller) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Landmarks The handsome 1873 synagogue survived the war. See ...

) # Albert (born: 22 November 1566 in Bouxwiller; died: 13 February 1577 in

Haguenau Haguenau (; Alsatian: or ; and historically in English: ''Hagenaw'') is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department of France, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is second in size in the Bas-Rhin only to Strasbourg, some to the south. To the ...

; buried in Neuwiller) #

Catherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

(born: 30 January 1568 Hessisches Staatsarchiv Marburg, collection 81 Government Hanau, document A 12,6f says she was baptized on 7 February 1568 in Bouxwiller; died 6 August 1636), married Schenk Eberhard of Limpurg-Speckfeld (1560–1622) # Johann Reinhard I (born: 13 February 1569 in Bitsch, died: 19 November 1625 in

)

Notes

References

*''

Hessisches Staatsarchiv Marburg The Hessisches Staatsarchiv Marburg (HStAM, "Hessian State Archives in Marburg") is one of the three archives of the Hessisches Landesarchiv and is based in Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesla ...

'', collection 81 Government Hanau

Inheritance

Marriage and issue

Notes

References

Further reading