Bernhard VIII, Count of Lippe (6 December 1527 in

Detmold Detmold () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of . It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947. Today it is the administrative center of ...

– 15 April 1563 in

) was from 1547 until his death in 1563 ruling the County of Lippe.

Life

Bernard's father, the reigning Count Simon V of Lippe, died in 1536, when Bernard was eight years old. Since he was too young to take over at this age, the country was ruled by a regency council consisting of Landgrave Philip I of Hesse, Count Adolph of Schaumburg and Count Jobst II of Hoya. Bernhard was raised in the Lutheran faith. In 1546 he joined the government of the county of Lippe. During his reign, he tried especially to strengthen the Lutheran faith in his county. This met with the disapproval of the

Emperor Charles V Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (as Charles I) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II) fr ...

, whose troops occupied Lippe in the course of the

Schmalkaldic War The Schmalkaldic War (; July 1546May 1547) was fought within the territories of the Holy Roman Empire between the allied forces of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Maurice, Duke of Saxony against the Lutheran Schmalkaldic League, with the forc ...

(1546–1547) and, after the defeat of the Protestant side in 1548, began implementing the

Augsburg Interim The Augsburg Interim (full formal title: ''Declaration of His Roman Imperial Majesty on the Observance of Religion Within the Holy Empire Until the Decision of the General Council'') was an imperial decree ordered on 15 May 1548 at the 1548 Die ...

. As a result, Lippe became an imperial

fief A fief (; ) 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 overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

. In 1555, Bernard visited the

Diet of Augsburg The diets of Augsburg were the meetings of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire held in the German city of Augsburg. Both an Imperial City and the residence of the Augsburg prince-bishops, the town had hosted the Estates in many such se ...

in person, and in 1556, he convened a meeting of the Protestant clergy in his county. In 1556, he declared war on Count John II of Rietberg. Bernard besieged John's court in 1557. In 1559, Bernhard gave Sternberg Castle to his brother Herman Simon as a

Paréage In Medieval France a ''paréage'' or pariage was a feudal treaty recognising joint sovereignty over a territory by two rulers, who were on an equal footing, ''pari passu''; compare peer. On a familial scale, ''paréage'' could also refer to the ...

. This triggered an inheritance dispute with the

County of Schaumburg The County of Schaumburg (), until ca. 1485 known as Schauenburg, was a state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the present German state of Lower Saxony. Its territory was more or less congruent with the present district . History Schaum ...

Marriage and issue

His marriage to Catherine (1524–1583), daughter of the Count Philip III of

Waldeck-Eisenberg The principality, or county of Waldeck-Eisenberg was a principality in the Holy Roman Empire that belonged to the Upper Rhenish Circle. Waldeck-Eisenberg (1507-1598) The principality of Waldeck-Eisenberg was created in 1507 when the principali ...

produced the following children: * Anna (1551–1614) : married in 1576 to Count Wolfgang II of Everstein-Massow (1528-1592) * Magdalene (1552–1587) : married in 1572 to Landgrave George I of Hesse-Darmstadt (1547–1596) * Simon VI of Lippe-Brake (1554–1613). : married in 1578, to Countess Armgard of Rietberg-Arnsberg (1551–1584) : married in 1585, to Countess Elisabeth of Holstein-Schauenburg (1566-1638) * Bernhardine (1563–1628) : married in 1578 to Count

Louis Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also ...

of Leiningen-Leiningen (1577-1622)

References

*

Counts of Lippe House of Lippe 1527 births 1563 deaths 16th-century German nobility {{Germany-count-stub