Count Simon V of Lippe (1471September 17, 1536) was Noble Lord of Lippe, and from 1528 Count of Lippe. During his reign, the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

was introduced in Lippe.

Life

Simon V was the fifth child and eldest son of Bernard VII "the Bellicose" and Anna of Holstein-Pinneberg and inherited Lippe after his father's death, around 1511. In 1528, he was raised 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 ...

and Lippe became one of about 140 Imperial Counties. Since 1518, the Reformation had prevailed, first in

Lemgo Lemgo (; ) is a university and old Hanseatic League, Hanseatic town in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated between the Teutoburg Forest and the Weser Uplands, 25 km east of Bielefeld and 70 km west of H ...

and then in other cities in Lippe. An open conflict arose in 1530 when Protestant hymns were sung during a Catholic Easter Mass. Simon, who remained a Catholic all his life, was outraged, and spoke of ''insurgent farmers who refuse to endure any authority over themselves''. He was, however, a

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

of two

liege lord Homage (/ˈhɒmɪdʒ/ or ) (from Medieval Latin , lit. "pertaining to a man") in the Middle Ages was the ceremony in which a feudal tenant or vassal pledged reverence and submission to his feudal lord, receiving in exchange the symbolic title t ...

s: the Bishop of

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn (district), Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pade ...

and

Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse (13 November 1504 – 31 March 1567), nicknamed (), was a German nobleman and champion of the Protestant Reformation, notable for being one of the most important of the early Protestant rulers in Germany. He was ...

, who had been a Lutheran since 1524. This limited his freedom to act. The cities in Lippe, in particular

Lippstadt Lippstadt () is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest town within the district of Soest. Lippstadt is situated about 60 kilometres east of Dortmund, 40 kilometres south of Bielefeld and 30 kilometres west of Paderborn. Geo ...

and Lemgo, also favoured a closer relationship with the Lutheran faith. Philip of Hesse urged the citizens of Lemgo to redress their dispute with Simon V; nevertheless,

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 ...

continued to spread in the cities. When in 1533, Simon sought support for military action against Lemgo, Philip intervened and mediated. Later that year, Lemgo adopted the Church Order and thus officially became Lutheran. In 1535, Simon V and Duke John III of Cleves invaded Lippstadt, which had turned

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

. The city surrendered to its liege lord. The citizens of Lemgo were afraid that Simon V and John III would invade Lemgo as well, however, due to Philip's ongoing mediation, this did not happen.

Marriage and issue

Simon V married Countess Walpurgis of

Bronckhorst Bronckhorst () is a municipality in Gelderland, the Netherlands. The municipality is the result of a merger of the former municipalities Hengelo, Gelderland, Hengelo, Hummelo en Keppel, Steenderen, Vorden and Zelhem, on 1 January 2005. The munici ...

(died: 21 December 1522). With her, he had a son: *Gisbert of Lippe (d. 1522) Simon then married Magdalene of

Mansfeld Mansfeld (), sometimes also unofficially Mansfeld-Lutherstadt, is a town in the district of Mansfeld-Südharz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Protestant reformator Martin Luther grew up in Mansfeld, and in 1993 the town became one of sixteen places ...

-Mittelort (born: ) and had five more children: *Margaret of Lippe (1525–1578) * Bernhard VIII, Count of Lippe *Herman Simon, Count of Sternberg, married Ursula of Pyrmont and

Spiegelberg Spiegelberg is a municipality in the Rems-Murr district of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History Spiegelberg's name originates from a glassworking manufactory built in 1699-1700 that produced mirrors from 1705 to 1794. The municipality started w ...

(d. 1576) *Anna of Lippe, married Count John I of Waldeck-Landau (born: 1521 or 1522) *Agnes of Lippe (born: 1535), married Dietrich of Plesse

External links

Internet portal Westphalian history: County / Principality of Lippe (-Detmold) / Free State of Lippe
Lords of Lippe Counts of Lippe House of Lippe 1471 births 1536 deaths 15th-century German nobility 16th-century German nobility {{Germany-noble-stub