Count Wilhelm IV of Eberstein (3 May 1497 – 1 July 1562) was a member of the Swabian noble Eberstein family. His father, Bernhard III (1459–1526) was president of 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 ...

from 1510 to 1520. His mother was Countess Kunigunde of Sonnenberg (1472–1538). Like his father, Wilhelm IV served as president of the Reichskammergericht; he presided from 1546 to 1555. He and his wife are mentioned several times in the ''

Zimmern Chronicle The Zimmern Chronicle (German: ''Zimmerische Chronik'' or ''Chronik der Grafen von Zimmern'') is a family chronicle describing the lineage and history of the noble family of Zimmern, based in Meßkirch, Germany. It was written in a Swabian variety ...

'', which was written by their son-in-law, Count

Froben Christoph of Zimmern Count Froben Christoph of Zimmern (19 February 1519 – 27 November 1566) was the author of the '' Zimmern Chronicle'' and a member of the von Zimmern family of Swabian nobility. This article is based primarily on Beat Rudolf Jenny's biograp ...

. In 1561, Wilhelm officially converted the County of Eberstein 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 ...

. He had been unofficially promoting the Evangelical faith for some time. He expanded his Neu-Eberstein Castle significantly. A tombstone depicting Wilhelm and his wife, has been preserved in the St. Jakob church in

Gernsbach Gernsbach () is a town in the district of Rastatt, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the river Murg, east of Baden-Baden in the Black Forest. Twin towns are Baccarat in France and Pergola, Marche in Italy. The town is the hist ...

Marriage and issue

On 6 November 1522, he married Countess Johanna of Hanau-Lichtenberg (1507–1572), the eldest daughter of

Philipp III, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg Philipp III of Hanau-Lichtenberg (18 October 1482 – 15 May 1538, Bouxwiller (german: Buchsweiler)) was the third Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg. Childhood and youth Philipp III was the eldest son of Count Philipp II of Hanau-Lichtenberg and ...

(1482–1538) and Margravine

Sibylle of Baden Sibylle of Baden (26 April 1485 – 10 July 1518 in Willstätt) was a Margravine of Baden by birth and by marriage, Countess of Hanau-Lichtenberg. She was a daughter of Margrave Christoph I of Baden and his wife, Countess Ottilie von Katze ...

(1485–1518). They had the following children: # Philipp I (1523 – 11 September 1589 in Remlingen), member of the Imperial Council, Supreme Captain and Reeve in Upper

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

, married to Johanna of Bailleul, Dame of Douxlieu (d. 12 April 1565). In 1577, Philipp was put under guardianship because of mental problems. # Anna (1524–1546) # Elisabeth (1526–1555) # Felicity (1527–1565),

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, Copt ...

of Gerresheim Abbey # Kunigunde (1528 – 13 July 1575), married to Count

(1519–1566) # Wilhelm (1529 – 3 June 1561), a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

in the

Strasbourg Cathedral Strasbourg Cathedral or the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg (french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg, or ''Cathédrale de Strasbourg'', german: Liebfrauenmünster zu Straßburg or ''Straßburger Münster''), also known as Strasbourg ...

(where he later also served as choirmaster and dean) and in

Cologne Cathedral Cologne Cathedral (german: Kölner Dom, officially ', English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a Catholic cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese o ...

# Sibylla (1531–1589), married to Count

Markus Fugger Markus Fugger (Marx Fugger) ''von der Lilie'' (14 February 1529 – 18 June 1597) was a German politician and businessman of the Fugger family. He was the eldest son of Anton Fugger. He achieved several high offices - chamberlain to Archduke Ern ...

(1529 – 18 April 1597)Lötzsch, p. 7 ff # Bruno (b. 1532) # Otto (1533 – 4 December 1576, drowned in Antwerp), he was initially a canon in Strasbourg and later returned to the lay state and became an imperial councilor and later colonel. He was killed while trying to stop the

Spanish Fury A Spanish Fury (or the Spanish Terror) was one of a number of violent sackings of cities in the Low Countries, mostly by Spanish Habsburg armies, that occurred in the years 1572–1579 during the Dutch Revolt. In some cases the sack did not fol ...

in Antwerp. # Anna (1536–1537)

References

* Klaus Lötzsch: ''Historische Beziehungen der Grafschaft Hanau-Lichtenberg nach Schwaben im 16. Jahrhundert. Dynastische Verbindung zum Hause Fugger – Graf Philipp IV. auf dem Reichstag zu Augsburg 1566'', in: ''Babenhäuser Mosaik'', in the series ''Babenhausen einst und jetzt'', vol. 20, Babenhausen, 1990. p. 7–19 * Detlev Schwennicke: '' Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten'', new series, vol. 12, 1992, table 29 * Reinhard Suchier: ''Genealogie des Hanauer Grafenhauses'', in: ''Festschrift des Hanauer Geschichtsvereins zu seiner fünfzigjährigen Jubelfeier am 27. August 1894'', Hanau, 1894

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilhelm 04 Eberstein Württembergian noble families People from Gernsbach Counts of Germany 1497 births 1562 deaths 16th-century German judges

Marriage and issue

See also

References

Footnotes