Count John VII of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst (nicknamed "the Dike Builder"; 9 September 1540 in

Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to: Places * Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica *Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany **Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony * Ol ...

– 12 November 1603 in

) was a member of the

House of Oldenburg The House of Oldenburg is a Germans, German dynasty whose members rule or have ruled in Danish Realm, Denmark, Kingdom of Iceland, Iceland, Kingdom of Greece, Greece, Norway, Russian Empire, Russia, Sweden, United Kingdom, the United Kingdom, King ...

and was the ruling Count of

County of Oldenburg The County of Oldenburg () was a county of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1448 Christian I of Denmark (of the House of Oldenburg), Count of Oldenburg became King of Denmark, and later King of Norway and King of Sweden. One of his grandsons, Adolf, ...

from 1573 until his death. His parents were Count Anthony I of Oldenburg and Sophie of Saxe-Lauenburg.

Life

In 1573, John VII inherited the

from his father. In 1575, he inherited the Lordship of

Jever Jever () is the capital of the district of Friesland (district), Friesland in Lower Saxony, Germany. The name Jever is usually associated with a major brand of beer, Jever Pilsener, which is produced there. The city is also a popular holiday res ...

from Maria of Jever, despite objections by Count Edzard II of

East Frisia East Frisia () or East Friesland (; ; ; ) is a historic region in the northwest of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisia (peninsula), East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West Frisia and to the ...

. In 1577, he had to concede the revenue from

Harpstedt Harpstedt is a municipality in the district of Oldenburg, Lower Saxony, Germany, south of Bremen (30 km). Harpstedt is also the seat of the ''Samtgemeinde A (, ; plural: ''Samtgemeinden'') is a type of administrative division in Lower S ...

Delmenhorst Delmenhorst (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Demost'') is an urban district (''List of German urban districts, Kreisfreie Stadt'') in Lower Saxony, Germany. It has a population of 74,500 and is located west of downtown Bremen (city), Bremen with which ...

Varel Varel () is a town in the district of Friesland, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the Jade River and the Jade Bight, approximately south of Wilhelmshaven and north of Oldenburg. With a population of 23,984 (2020) it is the bigg ...

and some minor castles to his younger brother Anthony II for a 10-year period. In 1597, the

Aulic Council 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). ...

ordered that the County of Delmenhorst be split off from Oldenburg; this separation would last until 1647. In 1596, John VII attempted to dam the Schwarze Brack, in order to create a land link from Oldenburg to Jever. He had to cancel this project under pressure of Edzard II. John VII nevertheless earned the nickname "dike builder" with his costly land reclamation projects in

Butjadingen Butjadingen () is a peninsula and municipality in the Wesermarsch district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Geography Butjadingen is situated on the German North Sea coast. It is bordered on the west and southwest by the Jade River and the east by the ...

and the

Jade Bight The Jade Bight (also known as ''Jade Bay''; , ) is a bight or bay on the North Sea coast of Germany. It was formerly known simply as (the) Jade or Jahde. Because of the very low input of freshwater, it is classified as a bay rather than an e ...

. He reorganized the administration and the judiciary and modernized the organization of the Lutheran Church in Oldenburg. His superintendent Hamelmann unified the Lutheran confession. John VII died in 1603 and was succeeded by his son Anthony Günther.

Marriage

In 1576 John VII married Countess Elisabeth of Schwarzburg (1541–1612), daughter of

Günther XL, Count of Schwarzburg Günther XL, Count of Schwarzburg nicknamed ''the Rich'' or ''Günther with the fat mouth'' (31 October 1499 in Sondershausen – 10 November 1552 in Gehren), was a ruling Count of Schwarzburg. Life Guenther was the eldest son of Henry X ...

. John and Elisabeth had six children: * John (1578–1580) * Anne (1579–1639) *

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth'' * Princess Elizabeth ...

(1581–1619) * Catherine (1582–1644), married in 1633

Augustus of Saxe-Lauenburg Augustus of Saxe-Lauenburg (Ratzeburg, 17 February 1577 – 18 January 1656, Lauenburg upon Elbe) was Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg between 1619 and 1656. He was a son of Duke Francis II and his first wife Margaret of Pomerania-Wolgast, daughter of Phi ...

* Anthony Günther (1583–1667), succeeding Count of Oldenburg * Magdalene (1585–1657), heiress of

; married in 1612

Rudolph, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst Rudolph of Anhalt-Zerbst (Harzgerode, 28 October 1576 – Zerbst, 30 July 1621), was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the unified Principality of Anhalt. From 1603, he was ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Zerbst. Rudolph ...

References

* * Hans Friedl, Wolfgang Günther, Hilke Günther-Arndt and Heinrich Schmidt (eds.): ''Biographisches Handbuch zur Geschichte des Landes Oldenburg'', Oldenburg, 1992, Counts of Oldenburg 1540 births 1603 deaths 16th-century German nobility {{Germany-noble-stub

Life

Marriage

See also

References