Silvius I Nimrod, Duke of Württemberg-Oels (2 May 1622, Weiltingen – 24 April 1664, Brzezinka in

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

) was the first Duke of Oels-Württemberg.

Life

Silvius was the son of Duke Julius Frederick of Württemberg-Weiltingen and Anna Sabina of

Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg was the name of a branch line of the House of Oldenburg as well as the name of their land. It existed from 1564 until 1668 and was a titular duchy under the King of Denmark, rather than a true territorial dukedom in ...

. In 1638, he participated in the army of

Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar Bernard of Saxe-Weimar (; 16 August 160418 July 1639) was a German prince and general in the Thirty Years' War. Biography Born in Weimar in the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar, Bernard was the eleventh son of Johann, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, and Dorothea Mar ...

besieging

Breisach Breisach am Rhein (, ; formerly Alt-Breisach, , in contrast to " New Breisach"; Low Alemannic: ''Alt-Brisach''), commonly known as Breisach, is a town with approximately 16,500 inhabitants, situated along the Rhine in the Rhine Valley, in the di ...

. On 1 May 1647, he married in Oels Elisabeth Marie, Duchess of Oels, whose father, Duke Charles Frederick I died a few weeks later. Since Charles Frederick was the last reigning Duke of Oels, the Duchy fell to the

Crown of Bohemia The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were the states in Central Europe during the medieval and early modern periods with feudal obligations to the Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted of the Kingdom of Bohemia, an electorate of the Hol ...

as a vacant

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

. Emperor Ferdinand III, in his capacity as King of Bohemia, inherited the Duchy. After lengthy negotiations, Silvius Nimrod was invested on 15 December 1648 in Vienna with the

Duchy of Oels The Duchy of Oleśnica (, ) or Duchy of Oels () was one of the duchies of Silesia with its capital in Oleśnica in Lower Silesia, Poland. Initially ruled by the Silesian Piasts, it was acquired by the Münsterberg (Ziębice) dukes of the Podiebr ...

, in exchange for and the

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

n Lordship of

Jevišovice Jevišovice () is a town in Znojmo District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,200 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zone. Geography Jevišovice is locate ...

. Silvius Nimrod then began rebuilding the Duchy, which had suffered during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

. He focused on education and the Church. In 1652, he founded the Order of the Skull, which existed until the 19th century.

Angelus Silesius Angelus Silesius, Order of Friars Minor, OFM (9 July 1677), born Johann Scheffler, was a German Roman Catholicism, Catholic priest, physician, Mysticism, mystic and Christian poetry, religious poet. Born and raised a Lutheranism, Lutheran, he be ...

was his court physician from 1647 to 1652.

Matthäus Apelt Matthäus is a given name or surname. Notable people with the name include: ;Surname * Lothar Matthäus, (born 1961), German former football player and manager ;Given name * Matthäus Aurogallus, Professor of Hebrew at the University of Wittenberg ...

was until 1639 his ducal councillor and court music director. Silvius Nimrod died of a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

on 26 April 1664, during a visit to Brzezinka. In accordance with his last will and testament, Duke Christian of Liegnitz-Brieg took up the guardianship of Silvius Nimrod's underage children. To prevent an imperial guardianship, which would probably imply a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

education, Christian sent the young princes to

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 ...

, where they studied at the Collegium illustre.

Marriage and issue

Silvius married on 1 May 1647 in Oels Elisabeth Marie, Duchess of Oels (1625–1686). The couple had five sons and two daughters:Gerhard Raff: ''Hie gut Wirtemberg allewege II: Das Haus Württemberg von Herzog Friedrich I. bis Herzog Eberhard III. Mit den Linien Stuttgart, Mömpelgard, Weiltingen, Neuenbürg, Neuenstadt am Kocher und Oels in Schlesien'', Degerloch, 1993, , p 637 * Anna Sophia (1648–1661) * Karl Ferdinand (1650–1669) * Silvius II Frederick (1651–1697) * Christian Ulrich I (1652–1704) * Julius Siegmund (1653–1684) * Kunigunde Juliana (1655–1655) * Sylvius (1660–1660)

Footnotes

References

* Harald Schukraft: ''4.3.1 Silvius Nimrod'', in: Sönke Lorenz, Dieter Mertens, Volker Press (eds.): ''Das Haus Württemberg. Ein biographisches Lexikon'',

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, 1997, , p. 205-206 * Martin Feist: ''Sylvius Nimrod, Herzog von Oels'', in: ''Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Altertum Schlesiens'', issue 52, 1918, pp. 85–102

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Silvius Nimrod 01 Wurttemberg Oels 1622 births 1664 deaths 17th-century dukes of Württemberg