Egon VIII of Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg (Ernst Egon; 21 March 1588 in

Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ; ; ), historically known in English as Spires, is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in the western part of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the r ...

– 24 August 1635 in

Constance Constance may refer to: Places * Constance, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community * Constance, Minnesota, United States, an unincorporated community * Mount Constance, Washington State, United States * Lake Constance (disambiguat ...

) was

Imperial Count Imperial Count (, ) was a title in the Holy Roman Empire. During the medieval era, it was used exclusively to designate the holder of an imperial county, that is, a fief held directly ( immediately) from the emperor, rather than from a prince wh ...

Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg was a county and later a principality in southern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located in the historical territory of Heiligenberg. It was created as a partition of Fürstenberg-Baar in 1559, and it suffered one partition ...

(1618–1635) and Bavarian Field-marshal, and an important military leader in the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

Early life

By birth, member of an old House of Fürstenberg, Egon was the son Frederick IV of Fürstenberg (1563–1617) and his wife, Countess Elizabeth of Sulz (1562/63-1601).

Career

Presumably the third son of the couple, Egon held several church offices. He was

Chorbishop A chorbishop is a rank of Christian clergy below bishop. The name chorepiscope or chorepiscopus (plural chorepiscopi) is taken from the Greek and means "rural bishop". History Chorepiscopi are first mentioned by Eusebius as existing in the se ...

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

and

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, treasurer and prebendary, Provost at St. Gereon in Cologne and of Archduke Leopold, Bishop of Passau and Strasbourg, Council and the governor in the autonomous Cathedral district of

Rouffach Rouffach (; German and Alsatian: ''Rufach'') is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Rouffach lies along the Alsatian wine route (''Route des Vins d'Alsace''). Its vineyards produce one of the finest A ...

. By imperial

letters patent Letters patent (plurale tantum, plural form for singular and plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, President (government title), president or other head of state, generally granti ...

of 9 September 1619, he was made a warlord of the

Catholic League (German) The Catholic League (, ) was a coalition of Catholic Church, Catholic List of states in the Holy Roman Empire, states of the Holy Roman Empire formed 10 July 1609. While initially formed as a confederation to act politically to negotiate issues v ...

during the

Thirty Years War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine, or disease, whil ...

. In 1631, Egon of Fürstenberg enforced the

Edict of Restitution The Edict of Restitution was proclaimed by Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor in Vienna, on 6 March 1629, eleven years into the Thirty Years' War. Following Catholic League (German), Catholic military successes, Ferdinand hoped to restore control ...

Franconia Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franco ...

and

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

. Together with Johann von Aldringen, he waged war on

after the Peace of Cherasco, which forced the Duke of Württemberg to submit to the emperor and to distance himself from the decisions of the Leipzig convention. On 14 September 1631, during the siege of Leipzig, he commanded the right wing of the imperial troops led by General Tilly.

Marriage and descendants

Egon married Countess Anna Maria of

Hohenzollern-Hechingen Hohenzollern-Hechingen () was a small principality in southwestern Germany. Its rulers belonged to the House of Hohenzollern#Swabian branch, Swabian branch of the House of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern dynasty. History The County of Hohenzollern- ...

(1605–1652), the daughter of Prince Georg of Hohenzollern-Hechingen. They had seven sons and four daughters: * Eleonore (born: 1620; died young). * Elisabeth (1621–1662), married Ferdinand Count of Aspremont-Lynden und Reckheim (1611–1665). * Ferdinand Frederick Egon (1623–1662), Imperial

Reichshofrat The Aulic Council (; ; literally "Court Council of the Empire", sometimes abbreviated in academic writing as "RHR") was one of the two supreme courts of the Holy Roman Empire, the other being the ''Reichskammergericht'' (Imperial Chamber Court). ...

and colonel. * Leopold Ludwig Egon (1624–1639), died before the age of 15 at Dietenhofen in the imperial service. * Franz Egon (1626–1682),

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of Strasbourg. * Herman Egon (1627–1674), Prince of

from 1664. * Johann Egon (1628–1629). * Wilhelm Egon (1629–1704),

of Strasbourg as a successor to his brother Franz Egon. * Ernst Egon (1631–1652 in the Siege of Étampes). * Maria Franziska (1633–1702), married

Wolfgang William, Count Palatine of Neuburg Wolfgang Wilhelm von Pfalz-Neuburg (4 November 1578 in Neuburg an der Donau – 14 September 1653 in Düsseldorf) was a German Prince. He was Count Palatine of Neuburg and Duke of Duchy of Jülich, Jülich and Duchy of Berg, Berg. Life Wol ...

, and after his death Leopold Wilhelm of Baden-Baden. * Anna Maria (1634–1705), married

Ferdinand Karl, Count of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "courage" or "ready, prepared" related to Old High German "to risk, ventu ...

Sources

Theatrum Europaeum ''Theatrum Europaeum'' was a journal on the history of the German-speaking lands by Matthäus Merian Matthäus is a given name or surname. Notable people with the name include: ;Surname * Lothar Matthäus, (born 1961), German former football play ...

, Vol 2, Frankfurt am Main, 1646, p. 396 online] * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Furstenberg-Heiligenberg, Egon Viii Of Counts of Fürstenberg, Egon 1588 births 1635 deaths Generals of the Holy Roman Empire German military personnel of the Thirty Years' War