Eric V of Hoya (1535 – 12 March 1575) was from 1563 to 1575 Count of

Hoya Hoya may refer to: Places *Hoya, Germany, a city in Lower Saxony, Germany *County of Hoya, a former state in present Germany *Hōya, Tokyo, now incorporated within Nishi-tokyo, Tokyo, Japan * Hoya, Hpruso, a place in Hpruso Township, Kayah, Myanma ...

Life

Eric was the son of Jobst II of Hoya and Anna of Gleichen. As a younger son, Eric was initially destined for an ecclesiastical career. He was a canon of

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

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 ...

. After his older brother Albert II had died childless in 1563, Eric ruled the county of Hoya jointly with his younger brother Otto VIII. After introducing the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

in his territories, he issued in 1573 a Lutheran Church Order for his counties Hoya, Rietberg and Bruchhausen and the

Lordships of Esens, Stedesdorf and Wittmund The Lordships of Esens, Stedesdorf and Wittmund (German language, German: ''Herrlichkeiten Esens, Wittmund und Stedesdorf'') formed a contiguous area in the old district of Harlingerland in the north of the East Frisia (peninsula), East Frisian ...

Marriage

In 1568, Eric married Countess Armgard of Rietberg. At the same time, his brother Otto VIII married Armgard's mother, Agnes of Rietberg (born in

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 ...

). He took up the regency of the

Harlingerland The Harlingerland is a strip of land on the North Sea coast of East Frisia. While today the whole of the district of Wittmund is usually described as Harlingerland, historically it specifically refers to the northern part of the present district, ...

for his wife and her underage sister Walburgis. The sisters had inherited Harlingerland from their father, Count

John II John II may refer to: People * John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (1455–1499) * John II Casimir Vasa of Poland (1609–1672) * John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch (died 1302) * John II Doukas of Thessaly (1303–1318) * John II Komnenos (1087–114 ...

. Eric's marriage remained childless. After Eric's death Armgard married Count Simon VI of Lippe. The county of Rietberg and the Harlingerland fell to Walburgis. His brother Otto took up the government of Hoya. Otto was the last Count of Hoya; he died childless in 1582.

References

* Heinrich Gade: ''Historisch-geographisch-statistische Beschreibung der Grafschaften Hoya und Diepholz'', Nienburg, 1901 * Wilhelm Hodenberg (ed.): ''Hoyer Urkundenbuch'', Hannover, 1848–1856 * Bernd Ulrich Hucker: ''Die Grafen von Hoya'', Hoya, 1993 * Museum Nienburg: ''Die Grafschaften Bruchhausen, Diepholz, Hoya und Wölpe'', Nienburg, 2000 Counts of Hoya 1535 births 1575 deaths 16th-century German nobility {{Germany-count-stub