Wirich VI, Count of Daun-Falkenstein ( – 11 October 1598) was a German nobleman, diplomat, statesman, and politician. By descent, he was a Count of

Falkenstein Falkenstein or Falckenstein ("falcons' stone" in German) may refer to: Places Austria * Falkenstein, Lower Austria, a market town in the district of Mistelbach Germany * Falkenstein, Bavaria, a market town in the district of Cham * Falke ...

, and by inheritance, he was Lord of Broich and Lord of Bürgel. He belonged to the lower nobility in the

Duchy of Berg Berg () was a state—originally a county, later a duchy—in the Rhineland of Germany. Its capital was Düsseldorf. It existed as a distinct political entity from the early 12th to the 19th centuries. It was a member state of the Holy Roman Emp ...

and was a member of the Estates of Berg. He supported 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 ...

in the

Lower Rhine Lower Rhine (, ; kilometres 660 to 1,033 of the Rhine) is the section of the Rhine between Bonn in Germany and the North Sea at Hook of Holland in the Netherlands, including the '' Nederrijn'' () within the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta; alternat ...

area.

Background

Wirich was born as the son of Count Philip II of Daun-Falkenstein ( – 1554) and his wife Maria Caspara of Holtey (1520–1558).

Life

Wirich's father died in the spring of 1554 and Wirich inherited the Lordships of Broich and Bürgel. Although his uncle Sebastian disputed the inheritance, Wirich's guardian William IV of Bernsau (d. 1576), who was Lord of Hardenberg, Marshal of Berg and Steward of

Solingen Solingen (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, 25 km east of Düsseldorf along the northern edge of the Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr. After Wuppertal, it is the second-largest city in the Bergisches Land, and a member of ...

, was invested with Bürgel on 29 September 1554 by

Adolph Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo, and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name with German origins. The name is a compound derived from the Old High German ''Athalwolf'' (or ''Hadulf''), a composition of ''athal'', or ''adal'', mean ...

archbishop of Cologne The Archbishop of Cologne governs the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne in western North Rhine-Westphalia. Historically, the archbishop was ''ex officio'' one of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire and ruled the Electorate of Cologne ...

. Wirich and his sister Magdalena (-1582) were educated at Broich Castle by a tutor named Heinrich. From 1557 to 1559, Wirich studied at academies in Duisburg and Düsseldorf. In 1562, he made a Grand Tour to France. Until 1564, he studied at the

University of Ferrara The University of Ferrara () is the main university of the city of Ferrara in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. In the years prior to the First World War the University of Ferrara, with more than 500 students, was the best attended of ...

. In 1563, Duke

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

of Jülich-Cleves-Berg recognized Wirich as the legitimate heir and on 24 August 1568, the Duke

enfeoffed In the Middle Ages, especially under the European feudal system, feoffment or enfeoffment was the deed by which a person was given land in exchange for a pledge of service. This mechanism was later used to avoid restrictions on the passage of t ...

him with the Lordship and Castle of Broich and with Biegerhof Manor in the

Angermund Angermund is an urban quarter of Düsseldorf, part of Borough 5 (Düsseldorf), Borough 5. Angermund is the northernmost part of Düsseldorf, neighbouring to Düsseldorf-Kalkum, Kalkum, Düsseldorf-Kaiserswerth, Kaiserswerth, Ratingen and Duisbu ...

district, even though Wirich had already administered his inheritance himself for quite some time. In March 1573, Archbishop Salentin 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 ...

enfeoffed Wirich with Bürgel. In view of the tense situation of the Lower Rhine, Count Wirich reinforced the defensive barriers and dykes of Broich in 1572 with seventy guns from Essen. In January 1573, Duke William requested that Wirich accompany his newly engaged daughter Marie Eleonore in the summer when she would travel to

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

to marry her fiancé, Duke

Albert Frederick Albert Frederick (; ; 7 May 1553 – 27 August 1618) was the Duke of Prussia, from 1568 until his death. He was a son of Albert of Prussia and Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He was the second and last Prussian duke of the Ansbach branch ...

of Prussia, on 23 August. Their journey was delayed and they finally departed on 4 August, to arrive in the Prussian capital on 8 October. The bridegroom was suffering from melancholy and it was difficulty to move him to go through with the marriage ceremony, which eventually took place on 14 October. He returned at Broich Castle in mid-December. In 1574, the Duke asked Wirich to accompany his other daughter,

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna of East Anglia, King (died c.654) * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th c ...

to her wedding in Neuburg. On this journey, Anna and Wirich were accompanied by Wirich's aunt, Countess Amöna of Daun, the widow of Count Gumprecht II of Neuenahr-Alpen. Anna married Count Palatine Philip Louis of Neuburg on 28 September 1574. On 13 February 1575, Wirich's only sister, Magdalena, married

William V of Bernsau William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...

(-1599), the son of Wirich's former guardian. Wirich gave her a

dowry A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...

of 8000 guilders. William IV died the following year and William V inherited the Lordship of Hardenberg. In the summer of 1576, Wirich again travelled to Königsberg, to represent the Duke at the

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

of his granddaughter

. While he was in Königsberg, Duchess Marie Eleonore commissioned him to send her someone who could act as ''... friendly and comforting council ...''. After his return to Berg, Wirich reported verbally to the Duke of Berg, who arranged for councillor Dietrich von Eickel to be sent to Marie Eleonore in Königsberg. During the Diet of 1577 in Grevenbroich, various parties from all over the United Duchies complained about the adverse effects of the mandatory

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 ...

faith. Duke William replied that as a ruler, he was entitled to decide the faith of his subjects. He put

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 ...

on the save level as

anabaptism Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism'; , earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...

and other

sect A sect is a subgroup of a religion, religious, politics, political, or philosophy, philosophical belief system, typically emerging as an offshoot of a larger organization. Originally, the term referred specifically to religious groups that had s ...

s and threatened with severe punishments. As a Calvinist himself, Wirich sided with the opposition and gradually became their spokesman. On 10 December 1577 in Bonn, Wirich represented the Duke when

Salentin IX of Isenburg-Grenzau __NOTOC__ Salentin IX of Isenburg-Grenzau (German: ''Salentin IX. von Isenburg-Grenzau'') (c. 1532–1610) was the Archbishop-Elector of Cologne as "Salentin of Isenburg" from 1567 until 1577, the Bishop of Paderborn from 1574 until 1577, and ...

, who had abdicated his post as

Prince-Bishop A prince-bishop is a bishop who is also the civil ruler of some secular principality and sovereignty, as opposed to '' Prince of the Church'' itself, a title associated with cardinals. Since 1951, the sole extant prince-bishop has been the ...

, married Countess Antonia Wilhelmina of Arenberg. Wirich had asked to be relieved of this task, but the Duke insisted, because he had come to rely on Wirich for such business. On 18 December 1578, Wirich married Elisabeth of Manderscheid-Blankenheim, the sister of his friend, Count Herman of Manderscheid-Blankenheim (1535–1604). Elisabeth had been

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa'') is the female superior of a community of nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Lutheran and Anglican abbeys, the mod ...

Essen Abbey Essen Abbey () was a community of secular canonesses for women of high nobility that formed the nucleus of modern-day Essen, Germany. A chapter of male priests were also attached to the abbey, under a dean. In the medieval period, the abbess ...

and had resigned from that post on 14 May 1578, in the presence of her brother, Bishop John IV of

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

. In the fall on 1579, Duke William asked Wirich to accompany yet another daughter, Magdalene to her wedding in

Bergzabern Bad Bergzabern () is a municipality in the Südliche Weinstraße district, on the German Wine Route in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated near the border with France, on the south-eastern edge of the Palatinate forest, approximately ...

with Count Palatine

John I John I may refer to: People Religious figures * John I (bishop of Jerusalem) * John Chrysostom (349 – c. 407), Patriarch of Constantinople * John I of Antioch (died 441) * Pope John I of Alexandria, Coptic Pope from 496 to 505 * Pope John I, P ...

of Zweibrücken. Wirich wrote a letter to the Duke, dated 10 September, to apologize and mentioned that his wife was in an advanced stage of pregnancy and that he really did not want to leave her. Later that month, his first child, a daughter named Margaret, was born. From 1578 onwards, the

was increasingly threatened by Dutch and Spanish troops fighting the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt (; 1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish Empire, Spanish government. The Origins of the Eighty Years' War, causes of the w ...

. Wirich, who emphatically stood on the Protestant side, actively participated in the Diets in Düsseldorf in November 1579 and in Urdenbach in April 1580. He stood out among the lower nobility and was regarded as an important representative of the Protestants in Berg and the Lower Rhine area. After his sister died in 1582 and at the request of his brother-in-law, Wirich took up the guardianship for his sister's children Wirich (1582–1656), Philip William and Amena Walburg. In 1585, Wirich mediated several times in the peace talks between his cousin, Count Adolph of Neuenahr and the new Archbishop of Cologne,

Ernest of Bavaria Wittelsbach- Hapsburg aristocrat Ernest of Bavaria () (17 December 1554 – 17 February 1612) was Prince-Elector-Archbishop of the Archbishopric of Cologne and, as such, Archchancellor of the Holy Roman Empire and Duke of Westphalia, from 158 ...

. Adolph had been commander of the troops of the excommunicated former Archbishop of Cologne,

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 ...

. On 3 July 1597, Duke John William of Jülich-Cleves-Berg enfeoffed Wirich as guardian of the minor Philip William and Wirich of Bernsau with the Lordship and Castle of Hardenberg.

Murder

Because of the risk the Spanish soldiers under Admiral

Francisco de Mendoza Francisco López de Mendoza y Mendoza (Granada, 1547 – Madrid, 1 March 1623), in the literature often simply referred to as Francisco de Mendoza, was a Spanish nobleman, diplomat, general, and eventually bishop, who briefly played an important r ...

quartered in Orsoy posed to his family, Wirich sent his relatives to Hardenberg on 4 October 1598. The very next day, a force of 5000 mercenaries led by de Mendoza appeared before Broich Castle and laid siege to the castle. Wirich insisted in vain that he was neutral and after negotiations failed, he felt he had no other option than to open fire. However, the Spanish force was too strong and he had to surrender the next morning. The Spanish commander swore that the Germans would be allowed to leave their castle unmolested. Nevertheless, some 200 people, including servants, maids, woman and children were massacred outside the gate of Broich Castle. Wirich himself was taken prisoner. On 11 October, he was allowed to have a stroll outside his castle. However, his two Spanish guards attacked him and stabbed him. They beheaded his body, doused him with

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...

and burned his body beyond recognition. News of his murder quickly spread throughout Germany and provoked outrage and sympathy. Wirich son, also named Wirich, was an officer in the army of the Dutch

stadtholder In the Low Countries, a stadtholder ( ) was a steward, first appointed as a medieval official and ultimately functioning as a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and ...

Maurice of Nassau Maurice of Orange (; 14 November 1567 – 23 April 1625) was ''stadtholder'' of all the provinces of the Dutch Republic except for Friesland from 1585 at the earliest until his death on 23 April 1625. Before he became Prince of Orange upo ...

from 1605 onwards. on 6 February 1607, he, too, was murdered by Spanish soldiers. He was robbed and killed at Sterkrade (now part of

Oberhausen Oberhausen (, ) is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen ( ). The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Rout ...

Marriages and issue

Wirich married three times. In 1578, he married Countess Palatine Ursula of Zweibrücken-Veldenz (3 April 1543 – 1578), the daughter of Count Palatine

Rupert, Count Palatine of Veldenz Rupert (German: Ruprecht) (1506 – 28 July 1544) was the Count of Veldenz from 1543 until 1544. Life Rupert was born in Zweibrücken in 1506 as the youngest son of Alexander, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken. As a younger son, Rupert was designate ...

and his wife Ursula,

Wild Wild, wild, wilds or wild may refer to: Common meanings * Wilderness, a wild natural environment * Wildlife, an undomesticated organism * Wildness, the quality of being wild or untamed Art, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Wild ...

- und Rheingräfin zu

Salm-Kyrburg Salm-Kyrburg was a state of the Holy Roman Empire located in present-day Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, one of the various partitions of Salm (state), Salm. It was twice created: the first time as a Wild- and Rhinegraviate (partitioned from Upper ...

(1516–1601). This marriage remained childless. On 18 December 1578, he married Countess Elisabeth of Manderscheid-Blankenheim (3 April 1544 at Dillenburg Castle – 3 September 1586), daughter of Count Arnold I of Manderscheid-Blankenheim (1500–1548) and his wife, Countess Margarethe of Wied (d. 1571). Her brother was Bishop John IV of

. Elisabeth had been

before she married. They had the following children: * Margaret (September 1579 – 28 December 1611, a nun at

Mariental Abbey Mariental Abbey (), in the present-day municipality of Mariental in Lower Saxony, Germany, is a former Cistercian monastery founded in 1138, now used and owned by a Lutheran congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick. History Th ...

* Anna Walburga (3 November 1580 – 29 June 1618), married: *# on 26 May 1612 with Count

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

(13 April 1567 – , the son of Count

Hermann Georg of Limburg Hermann Georg of Limburg was count of Limburg and Bronckhorst (1540 – 1574), son of Georg of Limburg, and count of Limburg and Bronckhorst. He married in 1554 Maria countess von Hoya und Bruchhausen (died 1612) and they had issue: * Jobst of Lim ...

*# On 23 November 1615 with Count Reinhard of

Solms-Braunfels Solms-Braunfels was a County and later Principality with Imperial immediacy in what is today the federal Land of Hesse in Germany. History Solms-Braunfels was a partition of Solms, ruled by the House of Solms, and was raised to a Princi ...

(27 March 1573 – 16 May 1630) * John Adolph (5 June 1582 – 13 March 1623), married on 3 February 1611 to Anna Maria of

Nassau-Siegen Nassau-Siegen was a principality within the Holy Roman Empire that existed between 1303 and 1328, and again from 1606 to 1743. From 1626 to 1734, it was subdivided into Catholic and Protestant parts. Its capital was the city of Siegen, found ...

(3 March 1589 – 27 February 1620), the daughter of Count John VII of Nassau-Siegen * Wirich (1582 – murdered on 6 February 1607) On 9 March 1596, Wirich married his third wife. She was Countess Anna Margareta of Manderscheid-Gerolstein (10 August 1575 – 4 March 1606), daughter of Count Hans Gerhard von Manderscheid-Gerolstein (1546–1611) and his wife, Countess Margareta zu

Salm Salm may refer to People * Constance de Salm (1767–1845), poet and miscellaneous writer; through her second marriage, she became Princess of Salm-Dyck * Kat Salm, New Zealand geospatial scientist * Salm ibn Ziyad, an Umayyad governor of Kh ...

(1540–1600). Anna was first cousin once removed of his second wife. Before her marriage, she had been a canoness at

. Three years after becoming a widow, she married in 1601 to Count Ludwig Günther of

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 ...

(1575–1604). She and Wirich had one daughter: * Margarete Maria (1597–1620), married on 12 March 1616 to Walram IV, 15th Lord of Brederode (1597 – January 1620)

References

* * Erich Glöckner: ''Eine familienkundliche Abhandlung über das Geschlecht der Daun-Falckensteiner'', in: ''Mülheimer Jahrbuch 1964'', Verkehrsverein, Mülheim an der Ruhr, p. 80 ff * Erich Glöckner: ''Eine Ahnenaufschwörung gab Rätsel auf'', in: ''Mülheimer Jahrbuch 1964'', Verkehrsverein Mülheim an der Ruhr, p. 102 ff * Rolf-Achim Mostert: ''Wirich von Daun Graf zu Falkenstein (1542–1598) – ein Reichsgraf und bergischer Landstand im Spannungsgefüge von Machtpolitik und Konfession'', thesis, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, 1997 * Brigide Schwarz (ed.) ''Zeitschrift des Geschichtsvereins Mülheim a. d. Ruhr'', issue 78: ''Die Petrikirche in Mülheim als herrschaftliche Grablege'', 2007 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wirich 06 Daun-Falkenstein 16th-century diplomats from the Holy Roman Empire Lords of Broich 1540s births 1598 deaths Counts of Falkenstein Year of birth uncertain 16th-century German nobility