Louis I, Count of Löwenstein (29 September 1463 in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

– 28 March 1523 in

Löwenstein Löwenstein () is a town in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was first mentioned in 1123. The castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nob ...

) was the founder of the House of Lowenstein-Wertheim.

Life

Louis was a son of the Elector Palatine

Frederick I Frederick I or Friedrich I may refer to: * Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht. * Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978) * Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105) * Frederick I ...

(1425–1476) from his

morganatic marriage Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spou ...

with Clara Tott. She had been a

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a Royal court, court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking nobility, noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was o ...

at the court of the Duke of Bavaria in

Münich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

where Frederick met her in 1459. They had two sons, Louis and his elder brother Frederick (1461–1474). In 1451, Frederick I had adopted his nephew

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...

as his son and heir. At the time, he had promised he would not marry himself, so as not to create rival heirs. However, at some point in time, Philip absolved his uncle from this promise and Frederick had secretly married Clara. Frederick continued to support Philip as his heir, and in return Philip promised to provide for Frederick's sons. Philip donated the Lordship of Scharfeneck to Louis, and in 1488, he gave Louis the County of

. In 1492, Louis acquired the Lordship of Abstatt, including

Wildeck Castle Wildeck Castle or Wildeck Palace () is an old Jagdschloss, hunting lodge in Zschopau in Saxony. It stands on a hill spur, rocky spur above the River Zschopau. Site The site today forms an irregular triangle, the narrow wing of the castle surrou ...

. On 24 February 1484, he was elevated to

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 ...

by Maximilian I, who was

King of the Germans This is a list of monarchs who ruled over East Francia, and the Kingdom of Germany (), from Treaty of Verdun, the division of the Francia, Frankish Empire in 843 and Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in ...

at the time. Louis I is considered the founder of the House of

Löwenstein-Wertheim Löwenstein-Wertheim was a county of the Holy Roman Empire, part of the Franconian Circle. It was formed from the counties of Löwenstein (based in the town of Löwenstein) and Wertheim (based in the town of Wertheim am Main) and from 1488 until ...

. Two branches of this house exist until this day: the Protestant princes of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg and the Catholic princes of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg.

Marriages and issue

Louis I married twice. His first wife was Elisabeth of Montfort (d. 13 January 1503), whom he married in 1488. They had ten children: * Margaret (28 June 1489 – 1489) * Elisabeth (8 June 1490 – 1530), married: *# Count Oswald II of Tierstein (27 August 1474 – 1514): *# in 1524 to George Würtwein * Wolfgang (2 April 1491 – 28 April 1491) * Louis (b. and d. March 1492) * Wolfgang (25 March 1493 – 15 April 1512), married on 15 January 1512 to Elisabeth (18 November 1495 – 1540), a daughter of Count Kraft VI of Hohenlohe-Neuenstein * Catherine (born 25 April 1497 – 10 September 1541), a nun in Lichtenstern Monastery * Louis II (28 April 1498 – 1536), married on 16 December 1525 to Anna Schenk of Limpurg (d. 1536) * Clara (28 April 1499 – 6 February 1568), a nun in Lobenfeld Monastery * Johanna (20 July 1500 – 10 January 1520), a nun in Lichtenstern Monastery * Frederick I (19 August 1502 – 3 February 1541), married on 16 June 1524 to Helen of Königsegg (15 March 1509 – 20 April 1566); they had a son: **

Louis III Louis III may refer to: * Louis the Younger, sometimes III of Germany (835–882) * Louis III of France (865–882) * Louis the Blind, Louis III, Holy Roman Emperor, (c. 880–928) * Louis the Child, sometimes III of Germany (893–911) * Louis III ...

(17 February 1530 – 13 March 1611) His second wife was Sophia Böcklin (d. 1510). This marriage remained childless.

References

* Harald Stockert: ''Adel im Übergang. Die Fürsten und Grafen von Löwenstein-Wertheim zwischen Landesherrschaft und Standesherrschaft'',

Kohlhammer Verlag W. Kohlhammer Verlag GmbH, or Kohlhammer Verlag, is a German publishing house headquartered in Stuttgart. History Kohlhammer Verlag was founded in Stuttgart on 30 April 1866 by . Kohlhammer had taken over the businesses of his late father-in-la ...

, Stuttgart 2000, * Hans und Marga Rall: ''Die Wittelsbacher – Von Otto I. bis Elisabeth I.'', Weltbild, 1994, * Isenburg, W. K. Prinz von, ''

Europäische Stammtafeln ''Europäische Stammtafeln'' - German for ''European Family Trees'' - is a series of twenty-nine books which contain sets of genealogical tables of the most influential families of Medieval European history. It is a standard reference work for t ...

'', vol. III, 1976 * ''Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser'', 1964 {{DEFAULTSORT:Louis 01 Lowenstein 1463 births 1523 deaths 15th-century German nobility 16th-century German nobility Counts of Löwenstein House of Wittelsbach House of Löwenstein-Wertheim Nobility from Heidelberg Sons of prince-electors