Arnold III of Bentheim-Tecklenburg-Steinfurt-Limburg (10 or 11 October 1554 in Neuenhaus – 11 January 1606 in

Tecklenburg Tecklenburg () is a town in the district of Steinfurt, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Its name comes from the ruined castle around which it was built. The town is situated on the Hermannsweg hiking trail. The coat of arms shows an anchor ...

) was a German nobleman. He was Count of Bentheim,

and

Steinfurt Steinfurt (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Steinfurt. From –1806, it was the capital of the County of Steinfurt. Geography Steinfurt is situated north-west of Münster, North Rhine-Westp ...

, and Count of Limburg. He ruled as Arnold IV in Bentheim and Tecklenburg, and as Arnold II in Steinfurt. In Limburg, he was the first Count named Arnold and hence just the name distinctive.

Early life

Arnold was the born as the eldest child and only son of Count Eberwin III of

Bentheim-Steinfurt Bentheim-Steinfurt was a historical county located in northwestern North Rhine-Westphalia in the region surrounding Steinfurt, Germany. Bentheim-Steinfurt was a partition of Bentheim-Bentheim, itself a partition of the County of Bentheim. Benthei ...

(elder line) and his wife, Countess

Anna of Tecklenburg-Schwerin Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna of East Anglia, King (died c.654) * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th ...

. He had one sister, Countess Walburga of Wied (1555–1628).

Biography

He spent his youth in Leeden Abbey with his sister Walburga. His mother educated him in regards to religion. He attended the princely school in

Jülich Jülich (; in old spellings also known as ''Guelich'' or ''Gülich'', , , Ripuarian: ''Jöllesch'') is a town in the district of Düren, in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. As a border region between the competin ...

where he studied arts, languages and knightly exercises. He had both Protestant and Catholic teachers. In 1571, he went to Strasbourg, to study Protestant theology, law and politics. He was planning to visit the French court in Paris after completing his Grand Tour but during his journey he received word that there was a turmoil. The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre hindered him to follow through on his original plan. Instead he returned to his studies at the landgraviate court of

Hesse-Kassel The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, also known as the Hessian Palatinate (), was a state of the Holy Roman Empire. The state was created in 1567 when the Landgraviate of Hesse was divided upon t ...

. On 26 July 1573, he married Magdalena of Neuenahr-Alpen, the daughter of Count Gumprecht II, Count of Neuenahr-Alpen (1503–1556) and his wife, Countess Amöne of Daun-Falkenstein (1537–1560). Arnold peacefully united a substantial number of territories in his hand, due to inheritance and marriage. He held the counties of Bentheim,

, Limburg an der Lenne, the Lordship of Rheda, possessions on the Lower Rhine and bailiff rights in the Archbishopric of Cologne. This made the House of Bentheim-Tecklenburg a significant political factor. Even so, this house did not follow

primogeniture Primogeniture () is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn Legitimacy (family law), legitimate child to inheritance, inherit all or most of their parent's estate (law), estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some childre ...

; this led to its possessions being fragmented and the house losing its prominence. During his reign, Arnold had to cope with a lawsuit brought by the Counts of

Solms-Braunfels Solms-Braunfels was a County and later Principality with Imperial immediacy in what is today the federal Land of Hesse in Germany. History Solms-Braunfels was a partition of Solms, ruled by the House of Solms, and was raised to a Princi ...

about the inheritance of the County of

. Between 1588 and 1593, Arnold III gradually introduced the Reformed doctrine of

John Calvin John Calvin (; ; ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French Christian theology, theologian, pastor and Protestant Reformers, reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of C ...

and

Huldrych Zwingli Huldrych or Ulrich Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a Swiss Christian theologian, musician, and leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. Born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swis ...

in his territories. He had studied it in detail while he was a student in Strasbourg in 1571 and 1572. His time in Strasbourg coined his religious stance and moreover influenced his stance on politics and education. He supported existing schools and eventually founded himself several schools in his counties. In September 1588, he founded his first school, a

Latin school The Latin school was the grammar school of 14th- to 19th-century Europe, though the latter term was much more common in England. Other terms used include Lateinschule in Germany, or later Gymnasium. Latin schools were also established in Colon ...

in an abandoned monastery in

Schüttorf Schüttorf (; ) is a town in the district of Grafschaft Bentheim in southwesternmost Lower Saxony near the Netherlands, Dutch border and the boundary with Westphalia (North Rhine-Westphalia). The town of Schüttorf forms with the surrounding commun ...

. In 1591, due to a looming invasion by enemy troops, the school had to move from Schüttorf to Steinfurt. In 1853, the school was expanded to a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

; it was named after him . Arnold III died in 1606 and was buried in the Protestant church in

Bad Bentheim Bad Bentheim (; ) is a town in the southwestern part of Lower Saxony, Germany, in the district of Grafschaft Bentheim on the borders of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Netherlands roughly 15 km south of Nordhorn and 20 km northeast of En ...

Issue

* Otto (22 December 1574 in Steinfurt – 1574) * Eberwin Wirich (14 January 1576 in Bentheim – 31 May 1596 in Padua) * Adolf (7 July 1577 in Steinfurt – 5 November 1623), married in 1606 to Margaret of Nassau-Wiesbaden, daughter of John Louis I, Count of Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein *

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna of East Anglia, King (died c.654) * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th c ...

(3 January 1579 – 9 December 1624), married in 1595 to Prince

Christian I Christian I ''(Christiern I)'' (February 1426 – 21 May 1481) was a German noble and Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union. He was king of Denmark (1448–1481), Norway (1450–1481) and Sweden (1457–1464). From 1460 to 1481, he ...

Anhalt-Bernburg Anhalt-Bernburg was a Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, principality of the Holy Roman Empire and a duchy of the German Confederation ruled by the House of Ascania with its residence at Bernburg in present-day Saxony-Anhalt. It emerged as a subd ...

* Arnold Jost (4 April 1580 – 26 August 1643), married in 1608 with Anna Amalia of

Isenburg-Büdingen Isenburg-Büdingen was a County of southern Hesse, Germany, located in Büdingen. It was originally a part of the County of Isenburg. History There were two different Counties of the same name. The first (1341–1511) was a partition of Isenbur ...

, daughter of Wolfgang Ernst I of Isenburg-Büdingen-Birstein * Amalie Amoena (15 May 1581 in Tecklenburg – 31 January 1584 in Bentheim) * William Henry (13 February 1584 in Bentheim – 6 October 1632), married in 1617 with Princess Anna Elisabeth of

Anhalt-Dessau Anhalt-Dessau was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire and later a duchy of the German Confederation. Ruled by the House of Ascania, it was created in 1396 following the partition of the Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst, and finally merged into th ...

, daughter of

John George I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau John George I of Anhalt-Dessau (9 May 1567 – 24 May 1618) was a German prince of the House of Ascania. From 1586 to 1603 he ruled the unified principality of Anhalt jointly with his brothers. After the partition of the principality in 1603, he ...

* Conrad Gumprecht (10 March 1585 in Bentheim – 10 March 1618), married in 1616 Countess Johannetta Elisabeth of

Nassau-Siegen Nassau-Siegen was a principality within the Holy Roman Empire that existed between 1303 and 1328, and again from 1606 to 1743. From 1626 to 1734, it was subdivided into Catholic and Protestant parts. Its capital was the city of Siegen, found ...

, daughter of

Johann 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-l ...

* Amoena Amalia (19 March 1586 in Bentheim – 3 September 1625), married in 1606 to Prince

Louis I Louis I may refer to: Cardinals * Louis I, Cardinal of Guise (1527–1578) Counts * Ludwig I, Count of Württemberg (c. 1098–1158) * Louis I of Blois (1172–1205) * Louis I of Flanders (1304–1346) * Louis I of Châtillon (died 13 ...

Anhalt-Köthen Anhalt-Köthen was a Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, principality of the Holy Roman Empire ruled by the House of Ascania. It was created in 1396 when the Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst was partitioned between Anhalt-Dessau and Anhalt-Köthen. T ...

* Frederick Ludolph (23 August 1587 in Bentheim – 8 January 1629) * Magdalena (6 May 1591 in Steinfurt – 1649), married on 24 May 1631 in Steinfurt with Count Georg Ernst of Limburg-Stirum, son of Count Jobst of Limburg

References

* Oskar Prinz von Bentheim: ''Anna von Tecklenburg 1532-1582. Die erste evangelische Regentin in Westfalen'', in: ''Jahrbuch für westfälische Kirchengeschichte'', vol. 98, 2003, p. 77-86. * Gerhard Arnold Rumpius: ''Des Heiligen Römischen Reichs uhralte hochlöbliche Graffschafft Tekelenburg''. 1672, reprinted: Edition Howe, 1988, , p. 105 ff * Geh. Justizrat Müller: ''Aus der Geschichte der Grafschaft Tecklenburg'', Verlag Bischof, Arnsberg, 1920, p. 12 ff

External links

*
Biography
*
History of the Gymnasium Arnoldium
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnold 03 Bentheim-Tecklenburg Counts of Bentheim Counts of Steinfurt Counts of Tecklenburg Counts of Limburg Lords of Rheda House of Bentheim 1554 births 1606 deaths 16th-century German nobility