Philipp Ludwig II, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg
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Philipp Ludwig II of Hanau-Münzenberg (18 November 1576, in Hanau – 9 August 1612, in Hanau), was one of the most notable counts of
Hanau Hanau () is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main and is part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Its Hanau Hauptbahnhof, station is a ...
of the early modern period, his policies bringing about sweeping changes. Count Philipp Ludwig II of Hanau-Münzenberg was born in the castle at Hanau and baptised two weeks later on 3 December. His parents were Count Philipp Ludwig I of Hanau-Münzenberg (1553–1580) and Countess
Magdalene of Waldeck-Wildungen Countess Magdalene of Waldeck-Wildungen (1558 – 9 September 1599), german: Magdalena Gräfin zu Waldeck-Wildungen, was a countess from the House of Waldeck and through marriage successively Countess of Hanau-Münzenberg and Countess ...
(1558–1599).


Guardianship

He nominally succeeded his deceased father on 4 February 1580, albeit under the guardianship of Counts
John VI, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg Count John VI of Nassau-Dillenburg (22 November 1536 – 8 October 1606) was the second son of William the Rich and the younger brother of William the Silent. He has a special place in the history of the Netherlands because he is the male-lin ...
(1536–1606),
Louis I, Count of Sayn-Wittgenstein Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...
(1568–1607) and
Philipp IV, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg Philipp IV of Hanau-Lichtenberg (20 September 1514, in Babenhausen – 19 February 1590, in Lichtenberg) was from 1538 to 1590 the reigning Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg. Before his accession he had already conducted government business on behalf o ...
(1514–1590), who was replaced in 1585 by his son, Count Philipp V of Hanau-Lichtenberg (1541–1599). His widowed mother, Magdalena, remarried on 9 December 1581 to Count John VII, the Middle, of Nassau-Siegen (1561–1623), the son of one of the guardians. In consequence Philipp Ludwig II and his younger brother, Count Albrecht, joined the Nassau-Dillenburg court, a centre of the Reformation movement in Germany and closely tied to the
Electorate of the Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) or the Palatinate (), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate (), was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of ...
of the Rhine. The new ideas he encountered here greatly influenced his life. The guardianship was ended only in 1608 at the behest of the Elector Palatine Friedrich IV (1574–1610).


Family

During a wedding feast in
Dillenburg Dillenburg, officially Oranienstadt Dillenburg, is a town in Hesse's Gießen (region), Gießen region in Germany. The town was formerly the seat of the old Dillkreis district, which is now part of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis. The town lies on the German-N ...
that lasted from 23 October 1596 - 3 November 1596, he married Katharina Belgica, third daughter of
William the Silent William the Silent (24 April 153310 July 1584), also known as William the Taciturn (translated from nl, Willem de Zwijger), or, more commonly in the Netherlands, William of Orange ( nl, Willem van Oranje), was the main leader of the Dutch Re ...
, producing the following children: #Charlotte Louise (1597–1649
Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...
), not married #Daughter (29 July 1598 – 9 August 1598), died unbaptised #Philipp Ulrich (2 January 1601 – 7 April 1604 Steinau) # Amalia Elisabeth (1602–1651
Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...
), married to
Wilhelm V, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel William V (german: Wilhelm) (13 February 1602 – 21 September 1637), a member of the House of Hesse, was Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel from 1627 to 1637. Having come to rule in unfavorable circumstances and in the midst of the Thirty Years' War, he c ...
# Katharina Juliane (1604–1668 Hanau), married first on 11 September 1631 to Count Albrecht Otto II of Solms-Laubach, Rödelheim and Assenheim and secondly on 31 March 1642 to Moritz Christian of Wied-Runkel # Philipp Moritz (1605–1638), who succeeded him, buried in the Marienkirche in Hanau #Wilhelm Reinhard (1607–1630
Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...
), buried in the Marienkirche in Hanau #Heinrich Ludwig (1609–1632) died during the Siege of Maastricht #Friedrich Ludwig (27 July 1610 – 4 October 1628 Paris), buried in the family tomb of the Duke of Bouillon in Sedan #Jakob Johann (1612–1636
Zabern Saverne (french: Saverne, ; Alsatian: ; german: Zabern ) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is situated on the Rhine-Marne canal at the foot of a pass over the Vosges Mountains, and 45 km (27 ...
), buried in St. Nikolaus 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 ...


Policies

Count Philipp Ludwig II's policies are notable for their drive of modernisation for his tiny state. With his marriage, he came of age, although the regency continued for his younger brother Albrecht. By using his rights under the
Cuius regio, eius religio () is a Latin phrase which literally means "whose realm, their religion" – meaning that the religion of the ruler was to dictate the religion of those ruled. This legal principle marked a major development in the collective (if not individual ...
rule, he changed the
confession A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of persons – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information th ...
of his county to
Calvinism Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...
. He succeeded with this nearly everywhere in his sphere of influence, except in a few villages in the district Bornheimerberg, which surrounded
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
and the condominiums shared with the
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
archbishop-
elector of Mainz The Elector of Mainz was one of the seven Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. As both the Archbishop of Mainz and the ruling prince of the Electorate of Mainz, the Elector of Mainz held a powerful position during the Middle Ages. The Archb ...
. The villages in the vicinity of Frankfurt had strong ties to this (mainly) Lutheran city and a majority of the villagers just went to Lutheran services in “foreign” Frankfurt territory. Also in the condominiums Philipp Ludwig II shared with the
Archbishopric of Mainz The Electorate of Mainz (german: Kurfürstentum Mainz or ', la, Electoratus Moguntinus), previously known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the Holy Roman Empire. In the ...
he couldn’t change anything — whether they had become Lutheran during the reformation or had remained Roman Catholic. The introduction of Calvinism and its location, at only half a
day's journey A day's journey in pre-modern literature, including the Bible, ancient geographers and ethnographers such as Herodotus, is a measurement of distance. In the Bible, it is not as precisely defined as other Biblical measurements of distance; the dis ...
away from Frankfurt with its trade fair, made Hanau an attractive place to settle for Calvinist refugees from France and later from the
Southern Netherlands The Southern Netherlands, also called the Catholic Netherlands, were the parts of the Low Countries belonging to the Holy Roman Empire which were at first largely controlled by Habsburg Spain (Spanish Netherlands, 1556–1714) and later by the A ...
. They were often wealthy traders and were attractive subjects for a ruler in need of tax revenues. In 1597 and 1604, the count and the refugees entered into two treaties which gave them a large degree of self-government and founded the “New Town” of Hanau, south to the historic mediaeval settlement. This proved to be a big success and initiated an economic growth for Hanau which lasted even into the 19th century. Philipp Ludwig II also reinstated a Jewish community in Hanau. Space was allocated for the Jews on the southern fortifications of the historic town, which was no longer needed, due to the new town which protected this side of the old town. This
Ghetto A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...
was not part of one either town, but placed directly under the administrative control of the county. Count Philipp Ludwig II also tried to found a university. He founded the “Hohe Landesschule” in Hanau. It was modeled on the
Herborn Academy The Herborn Academy ( la, Academia Nassauensis) was a Calvinist institution of higher learning in Herborn from 1584 to 1817. The Academy was a centre of encyclopaedic Ramism and the birthplace of both covenant theology and pansophism. Its faculty ...
, where he had studied himself. Even so, it did not develop into a university and it still exists until today as a
secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...
.


Ancestors


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Philipp Ludwig 02 of Hanau-Munzenberg 1576 births 1612 deaths Counts of Hanau-Münzenberg