Louis VI,

Elector Palatine This article lists counts palatine of Lotharingia, counts palatine of the Rhine, and electors of the Palatinate (), the titles of three counts palatine who ruled some part of the Rhine region in the Kingdom of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire b ...

(4 July 1539 in Simmern – 22 October 1583 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 ...

), was an Elector from the Palatinate-Simmern branch of the house of

Wittelsbach The House of Wittelsbach () is a former Bavarian dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including the Electorate of Bavaria, the Electoral Palatinate, the Electorate of Cologne, County of Holland, Holland, County of Zeeland, ...

. He was the first-born son of

Frederick III, Elector Palatine Frederick III of Simmern, the Pious, Elector Palatine of the Rhine (14 February 1515 – 16 October 1576) was a ruler from the house of Wittelsbach, specifically the cadet branch of Palatinate-Simmern- Sponheim. He was a son of John II of S ...

and Marie of Brandenburg-Kulmbach.

Biography

To learn French, the young prince Ludwig visited the Burgundian University of Dole in 1554. As presumptive heir of the Electorate in the Palatinate, he was already participating in government affairs at the court of

Otto Henry, Elector Palatine Otto-Henry, Elector Palatine, (; 10 April 1502, Amberg – 12 February 1559, Heidelberg) a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty was Count Palatine of Palatinate-Neuburg from 1505 to 1557 and prince elector of the Palatinate from 1556 to 1559 ...

. Since 1563, he was governor of the

Upper Palatinate The Upper Palatinate (; , , ) is an administrative district in the east of Bavaria, Germany. It consists of seven districts and 226 municipalities, including three cities. Geography The Upper Palatinate is a landscape with low mountains and nume ...

. Unlike his father, he gave preference to

Lutheranism 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 ...

over

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 ...

, replacing Calvinists from positions at the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

. The Calvinist theologians found protection at the court of Prince John Casimir, the brother of Ludwig, in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse and established the "

Casimirianum Neustadt The Casimirianum in Neustadt an der Haardt (currently Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Rheinland-Pfalz) was a Reformed academy, which was founded in 1578 by Count Palatine Johann Casimir and named after him. The Casimirianum endured only five years. ...

". During the

Cologne War The Cologne War (, ''Kölnischer Krieg'', '' Truchsessischer Krieg''; 1583–1588) was a conflict between Protestant and Catholic factions that devastated the Electorate of Cologne, a historical ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Em ...

Louis VI was the only Lutheran imperial prince who stood on the side of Cologne's Elector and Archbishop

Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg (10 November 1547 – 31 May 1601) was the archbishop-elector of Cologne from 1577 to 1588. After pursuing an ecclesiastical career, he won a close election in the cathedral chapter of Cologne over Ernst ...

. With the Lutheran reorganization of the country Louis adopted a new court constitution, a police constitution and in 1582, a grand country constitution.

Family and children

Ludwig VI was married twice. First, on 8 July 1560, he married Elisabeth of Hesse (13 February 1539 – 14 March 1582). They had the following children: # Anna Marie (b. Heidelberg, 24 July 1561 - d. Eskilstuna, 29 July 1589), married

Charles IX of Sweden Charles IX, also Carl (; 4 October 1550 – 30 October 1611), reigned as King of Sweden from 1604 until his death. He was the youngest son of King Gustav I () and of his second wife, Margaret Leijonhufvud, the brother of King Eric XIV and of ...

# Elisabeth (b. Heidelberg, 15 June 1562 - d. Heidelberg, 2 November 1562). # Dorothea Elisabeth (b. Jagdschloß Deinschwang, 12 January 1565 - d. Jagdschloß Deinschwang, 7 March 1565). # Dorothea (b. Amberg, 4 August 1566 - d. Amberg, 10 March 1568). # Frederick Philip (b. Amberg, 19 October 1567 - d. Amberg, 14 November 1568). # Johann Friedrich (b. Amberg, 17 February 1569 - d. Amberg, 20 March 1569). # Ludwig (b. Amberg, 30 December 1570 - d. Amberg, 7 May 1571). # Katharina (b. Amberg, April 1572 - d. Amberg, 16 October 1586), died young. # Christine (b. Schloß Hirschwald, 6 January 1573 - d. Zweibrücken, 21 July 1619), unmarried. #

Frederick IV, Elector Palatine Frederick IV, Elector Palatine of the Rhine (; 5 March 1574 – 19 September 1610), only surviving son of Louis VI, Elector Palatine and Elisabeth of Hesse, called "Frederick the Righteous" (; French: ''Frédéric IV le juste''). Life Bor ...

(b. Amberg, 5 March 1574 - d. Heidelberg, 9 September 1610). # Philip (b. Amberg, 4 May 1575 - d. Amberg, 9 August 1575). # Elisabeth (b. Amberg, 24 November 1576 - d. Heidelberg, 10 April 1577). Second, he married on 12 July 1583 Countess Anne of Ostfriesland (26 June 1562 – 21 April 1621), but they had no children.

References

Sources

* * *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Louis 06, Elector Palatine 1539 births 1583 deaths 16th-century Prince-electors of the Palatinate House of Palatinate-Simmern House of Wittelsbach Burials at the Church of the Holy Spirit, Heidelberg