Friedrich I of Württemberg (19 August 1557 – 29 January 1608) was the son of

George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

of Mömpelgard and his wife

Barbara of Hesse Barbara of Hesse, Duchess of Württemberg-Mömpelgard (8 April 1536 – 8 June 1597) was a German noblewoman, and the wife of Count George I of Württemberg-Mömpelgard. Her second husband was Daniel, Count of Waldeck. Family Barbara was bor ...

, daughter of

Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse (13 November 1504 – 31 March 1567), nicknamed (), was a German nobleman and champion of the Protestant Reformation, notable for being one of the most important of the early Protestant rulers in Germany. He was ...

. Several references are made to him in

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

The Merry Wives of Windsor ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...

'', in which a series of anti-German jokes start with a horse theft, several references are made to German travellers in England and to a German duke who is ''not'' expected to come to Windsor.

Early life and education

Frederick of Mömpelgard was born in Mömpelgard present day

Montbéliard Montbéliard (; traditional ) is a town in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France, about from the border with Switzerland. It is one of the two subprefectures of the department. History Montbéliard is ...

, France, the son of

George I of Württemberg-Mömpelgard George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

and his wife

, daughter of

. He spent his youth at the Württemberg court in Stuttgart, where

Christoph, Duke of Württemberg Christoph of Württemberg (12 May 1515 – 28 December 1568), ruled as Duke of Württemberg from 1550 until his death in 1568. Life Born in 1515, Christoph was the son of Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg and Sabina of Bavaria. In November 1515 ...

himself took care of his education. From 1571 to 1574 he was educated in the later Collegium Illustre in

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

Career

Frederick visited various courts in Germany, Denmark, Hungary, Austria, France, Italy and England. He signed the

Formula of Concord Formula of Concord (1577) (; ; also the "''Bergic Book''" or the "''Bergen Book''") is an authoritative Lutheran statement of faith (called a confession, creed, or "symbol") that, in its two parts (''Epitome'' and ''Solid Declaration''), makes up ...

of 1577 and the Book of Concord of 1580. In 1592, Frederick was

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

to the dukedom of

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 ...

when he visited

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places *Detroit–Windsor, Michigan-Ontario, USA-Canada, North America; a cross-border metropolitan region Australia New South Wales *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area Queen ...

and other English cities. He desired to become a

Knight of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. The most senior order of knighthood in the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system, it is outranked in ...

and repeatedly solicited

Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to: Queens regnant * Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland * Elizabeth II (1926–2022; ), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms * Queen B ...

for the honor. After he had inherited the dukedom and become more prominent, she admitted him to the order. In a calculated slight, he was not informed of his admission in time to attend the investiture in spring 1597, the ceremony for which

was written. Comic references to Mömpelgard's earlier visit and his absence from

intended for the play's first audience, taken from the first private performance, appear in the

First Folio ''Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies'' is a collection of plays by William Shakespeare, commonly referred to by modern scholars as the First Folio, published in 1623, about seven years after Shakespeare's death. It is cons ...

edition of the play. These references were not included in the 1602

Quarto Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...

derived from public theatrical production. On 4 October 1603 he was invested in the Order of the Garter by a delegation of

James VI and I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 M ...

. Sir Robert Spencer and William Dethick brought him the insignia of the order. His councillor Benjamin von Buwinckhausen helped organise the ceremonies in the church and castle at

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

. The jewels including two garters with diamonds and rubies, and two St Georges with diamonds and rubies, and a gold chain or collar, made by the London goldsmiths,

John Spilman Sir John Spilman (also spelt Spielman) (died 1626) was a Lindau, Holy Roman Empire-born businessman who founded the first commercially successful paper-mill in England, establishing a factory on the River Darenth in Dartford, Kent in 1588.Dartford ...

and William Herrick.''HMC Laing Manuscripts at the University of Edinburgh'', vol. 1 (London, 1914), pp. 93-7. In 1599, Frederick I issued an order that a new town should be established at the northern extremity of the

Black Forest The Black Forest ( ) is a large forested mountain range in the States of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is th ...

by the name of

Freudenstadt Freudenstadt (, Swabian: ''Fraidestadt'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is the capital of the district Freudenstadt. The closest population centres are Offenburg to the west (approx. 36 km away) and Tübingen to ...

. The aim was for the town to become the new residence of the Duchy of

as it was closer to Mömpelgard than the Württemberg capital

. However, Frederick I died in 1608, aged 50, in

, and his plans never came to fruition.

Children

The sons of Frederick I established the ducal house of

Württemberg-Neuenstadt Württemberg-Neuenstadt was the name of two branch lines of the ducal House of Württemberg in the 17th and 18th century. It was named after the town of residence, Neuenstadt am Kocher, Neuenstadt. First branch line The first branch line of th ...

, a branch line of the

House of Württemberg The House of Württemberg is an uradel, ancient German nobility, German dynasty and former royal family of the Kingdom of Württemberg. History County The House probably originated in the vicinity of the Salian dynasty. Around 1080 the ancestors ...

after a ''Fürstbrüderlicher Vergleich'' – a mutual agreement made between ducal brothers on 7 June 1617. The eldest son, Johann Friedrich, assumed barony over the Duchy of Württemberg while the second youngest son, Frederick Achilles, was bequeathed Neuenstadt Castle and an annual endowment of 10,000

guilder Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' (" gold penny"). This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Rom ...

. Frederick and his spouse

Sibylla of Anhalt Sibylla of Anhalt (28 September 1564 – 26 October 1614) was a German princess from the House of Ascania who became Duchess of Württemberg as the wife of Duke Frederick I. Life Sibylla of Anhalt was born in Bernburg on 28 September 1564, as th ...

(1564–1614), daughter of Joachim Ernst, Prince of Anhalt, had the following children: * Johann Frederick (1582–1628) * George Frederick (1583–1591) * Sibylla Elisabeth (1584–1606) - married

John George I, Elector of Saxony John George I (5 March 1585 – 8 October 1656) was Elector of Saxony from 1611 to 1656. He led Saxony through the Thirty Years' War, which dominated his 45-year reign. Biography Born in Dresden, John George was the second son of the Elector C ...

* Elisabeth (born and died in 1585) * Louis Frederick (1586–1631), founder of the later branch line of Württemberg-Mömpelgard * Joachim Frederick (born and died in 1587) * Julius Frederick (1588–1635), founder of the branch line of Württemberg-Weiltingen, also known as the Julian Line * Philip Frederick (born and died in 1589) * Eva Christina (1590–1657) - married John George of Brandenburg (1577–1624), Duke of Jägerndorf, son of

Joachim Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg Joachim Frederick (27 January 1546 – 18 July 1608), of the House of Hohenzollern, was Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from 1598 until his death. Biography Joachim Frederick was born in Cölln to John George, Elector of Brand ...

* Frederick Achilles (1591–1631) * Agnes (1592–1629) - married Francis Julius of Saxe-Lauenburg (1584–1634) *

Barbara of Württemberg Barbara of Württemberg (4 December 1593 — 18 May 1627) was margravine of the historical German territory of Margraviate of Baden, Baden-Durlach. The daughter of Frederick I, Duke of Württemberg and his wife, Sibylla of Anhalt, she was born a ...

(1593–1627) - married Margrave Frederick V of Baden-Durlach *

Magnus Magnus, meaning "Great" in Latin, was used as cognomen of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus in the first century BC. The best-known use of the name during the Roman Empire is for the fourth-century Western Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus. The name gained wid ...

( de) (1594–1622), fell in the

Battle of Wimpfen The Battle of Wimpfen took place during the Palatinate campaign period of the Thirty Years' War on 6 May 1622 near Wimpfen. The combined forces of the Catholic League (German), Catholic League and the Spanish Empire under Marshal Johann Tsercl ...

* August (born and died in 1596) * Anna (1597–1650), married Ludwig Ulrich Von Schlesien-Jägerndorf (1591-1644)

Early life and education

Career

Children

Ancestors

References

Further reading