Louis I, Count of Sayn-Wittgenstein, nicknamed "the Elder", formally "Louis I of Sayn, Count at Wittgenstein" (7 December 1532 at Wittgenstein Castle, near Bad Laasphe – 2 July 1605, while travelling near
Altenkirchen
Altenkirchen () is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, capital of the Altenkirchen (district), district of Altenkirchen. It is located approximately 40 km east of Bonn and 50 km north of Koblenz. Altenkirchen is the seat of the ' ...
Lahn
The Lahn () is a , right (or eastern) tributary of the Rhine in Germany. Its course passes through the States of Germany, federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia (23.0 km), Hesse (165.6 km), and Rhineland-Palatinate (57.0 km).
...
and Eder, from 1558 until his death. He converted his county to
Calvinism
Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyteri ...
and was an influential politician in the service to the
Electoral Palatinate
The Electoral Palatinate was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire until it was annexed by the Electorate of Baden in 1803. From the end of the 13th century, its ruler was one of the Prince-electors who elected the Holy Roman Empero ...
.
Biography
He was born as the sixth child and fourth son of William I, Count of
Sayn-Wittgenstein
Sayn-Wittgenstein was a county of medieval Germany, located in the Sauerland of eastern North Rhine-Westphalia.
History
Sayn-Wittgenstein was created when Count Salentin of Sayn-Homburg (1314-1392), a member of the House of Sponheim, married ...
(24 August 1488 – 18 April 1570) and his wife, Countess Johannetta of Isenburg-Neumagen (born 1500).
He received his first schooling at Wittgenstein Castle from the vicar of Weidenhausen. In 1543, Louis and his brothers went to
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 ...
to receive further education. He learned
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
and
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
, and some
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
. From 1545, Louis and two of his brothers studied at the Universities of
Leuven
Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...
,
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
and
Orléans
Orléans (,"Orleans" (US) and Grand Tour, visiting
Padua
Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...
,
Malta
Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...
,
Savoy
Savoy (; ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. he briefly served
Pope Pius IV
Pope Pius IV (; 31 March 1499 – 9 December 1565), born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 December 1559 to his death, in December 1565. Born in Milan, his family considered itself a b ...
as treasurer. When he returned to Wittgenstein Castle in 1556, Louis found that his father had issued a moderate
Lutheran
Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
Church Order (Lutheran)
The Church Order or Church Ordinance () means the general ecclesiastical constitution of a State Church.
History
The early Evangelical Church attached less importance to ecclesiastical rituals than the Catholic Church did. As early as 1526 Mar ...
. He studied the new faith and converted to Lutheranism.
His elderly father William I (died 18 April 1570) had appointed Louis' elder brother William II as Regent in 1551. In 1558, William II died in Brussels and Louis I took up the regency.
Count Louis was raised in a humanist fashion. He frequently corresponded with his contemporaries, especially with other Calvinists. He travelled to the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
and visited the grave of
Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...
. He began an intensive correspondence with various scholars of his time. As a result of this correspondence, he increasingly turned to the
Reformed
Reform is beneficial change.
Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to:
Media
* ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang
* Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group
* ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine
Places
* Reform, Al ...
doctrine. In 1568, he travelled to
Zurich
Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
, where he met numerous leading Reformed, with whom he also started an intense correspondence.
Between 1574 and 1577, he served as Lord High Stewart at the Reformed court of Elector Palatine Frederick III 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 ...
. During this period, he carried out numerous political tasks. In Heidelberg, he also came into close contact with Reformed theologicians and scholars. After the Palatinate reverted to Lutheranism under Elector Louis VI, his service in Heidelberg ended.
Louis returned to his county and brought the reformer Caspar Olevian with him. Reformed church orders had been issued in 1563 and 1565; in 1578, the conversion to the Reformed faith was made official and altars and religious imagery were banned.
Louis of Wittgenstein was a very close friend of his neighbour, Count John VI, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg, who was also reformed, and was almost the same age. In 1584, the two counts jointly founded Herborn Academy. From 1592 to 1594, he again served as Lord High Steward in the Electoral Palatinate, after the Palatinate had again converted to Calvinism.
Louise and his first wife Anna moved their residence from the ancestral Wittgenstein Castle on a hilltop overlooking Bad Laasphe to a former hunting lodge near Berleburg. Here he began keeping a diary.
Parts of his extensive diaries have preserved in the Princely Archive in Berleburg. Some excerpts were printed in the 19th century. His diaries are an important source of information about the intellectual and political history of his time. His extensive correspondence has not yet been fully evaluated by historians.
Family and children
On 14 August 1559, at Dillenburg Castle, he married Countess Anna of Solms-Braunfels (1538–1565), daughter of Philipp I, Count of Solms-Braunfels (1494–1581) and his wife, Countess Anna of Tecklenburg (1500–1554). Anna died in 1565. Children of his first marriage were:
* Johannette (15 February 1561 – 13 April 1622), married Johann VI, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg; she was his third wife.
* Juliana (18 September 1562 – 13 January 1563).
* George II (30 April 1565 – 16 December 1631), inherited
Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg was one of several imperial counties and later principalities ruled by the House of Sayn-Wittgenstein.
Most of the former county is located in the present district of Siegen-Wittgenstein (in the modern state of North ...
, married Countess Elisabeth of
Nassau-Weilburg
The House of Nassau-Weilburg, a branch of the House of Nassau, ruled a division of the County of Nassau, which was a state in what is now Germany, then part of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1344 to 1806.
On 17 July 1806, upon the dissolution of t ...
Nassau-Dillenburg
The County of Nassau was a German state within the Holy Roman Empire from the period of the formal recognition of the countly title in 1159 (though "de facto" sovereignty began in 1125) until the declaration of the Duchy of Nassau in 1806 with ...
Solms-Laubach
Solms-Laubach was a County of southern Hesse and eastern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The House of Solms had its origins in Solms, Hesse.
History
Solms-Laubach was originally created as a partition of Solms-Lich. In 1537 Philip, Count of S ...
(6 March 1549 – 1599), daughter of Frederick Magnus I, Count of Solms-Laubach and his wife, Countess Agnes von Wied (d. 1588), widow of Count Kaspar von Mansfeld-Hinterort (d. 1542). Children from his second marriage were:
* Agnes (18 April 1568 – 18 April 1617), married John Albert I, Count of Solms-Braunfels (1563–1603), and had issue, including
Amalia of Solms-Braunfels
Amalia of Solms-Braunfels (31 August 1602 – 8 September 1675) was Princess of Orange by marriage to Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange. She acted as the political adviser of her spouse during his reign, and acted as his de facto deputy and regent ...
.
* William III (14 March 1569 – 29 October 1623), inherited
Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hachenburg
Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hachenburg (sometimes called Sayn-Hachenburg) was a German County located in Rhineland-Palatinate, near the river Sieg.
History
When Count William III of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn died in 1623 without clear heirs, the Archbishop ...
, married Countess Anna Elisabeth of Sayn-Sayn (1572–1608), and secondly Countess Anna Ottilie of
Nassau-Weilburg
The House of Nassau-Weilburg, a branch of the House of Nassau, ruled a division of the County of Nassau, which was a state in what is now Germany, then part of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1344 to 1806.
On 17 July 1806, upon the dissolution of t ...
(1582–1635).
* Anna (11 February 1570 – 9 July 1571).
* Louis II (15 March 1571 – 14 September 1634), inherited
Sayn-Wittgenstein-Wittgenstein
Sayn-Wittgenstein-Wittgenstein was a county of the Sauerland of Germany. Sayn-Wittgenstein-Wittgenstein was a partition of Sayn-Wittgenstein, comprising the southern portion of the Wittgenstein County. In 1657, it was partitioned into Sayn-Wittge ...
, married Countess Juliana of Solms-Braunfels (1578–1634).
* Conrad (5 May 1572 – 20 March 1573).
* Frederick Magnus (15 – 18 August 1574).
* Magdalena (28 October 1575 – 6 February 1634), married
Baron
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...
Wilhelm of Winneburg und Beilstein (1571–1637).
* Eberhard (born and died 6 November 1576).
* Anna Elisabeth (8 December 1577 – 18 December 1580).
* Philipp (8 March 1579 – 10 November 1580).
* Erika (31 May 1580 – 30 August 1657).
* Elisabeth (25 August 1581 – ca. 1600), married Maximilian Marschall of
Pappenheim
Pappenheim is a town in the Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen district, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the river Altmühl, south of Weißenburg in Bayern.
History
Historically, Pappenheim was a statelet within the Holy Roman Empire. It was ...
,
Landgrave
Landgrave (, , , ; , ', ', ', ', ') was a rank of nobility used in the Holy Roman Empire, and its former territories. The German titles of ', ' ("margrave"), and ' ("count palatine") are of roughly equal rank, subordinate to ' ("duke"), and su ...
of
Stühlingen
Stühlingen (; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Stüelinge'') is a town in the Waldshut (district), Waldshut district in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the border with Switzerland, with a border crossing to the village of Ob ...
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