William I, Count of Schwarzburg-Frankenhausen (4 October 1534 in

Sondershausen Sondershausen is a town in Thuringia, central Germany, capital of the Kyffhäuserkreis district, situated about 50 km north of Erfurt. On 1 December 2007, the former municipality Schernberg was incorporated by Sondershausen. Until 1918 it ...

– 30 September 1597 in Straußberg, which is today part of Sondershausen), was the ruling Count of Schwarzburg-Frankenhausen from 1571 until his death. He was the founder of the Schwarzburg-Frankenhausen line.

Life

He was the son of Count Günther XL of Schwarzburg (1490–1552), nicknamed ''the Rich'' or ''Günther with the fat mouth'', and his wife, Countess Elisabeth (d. 14 May 1572), a daughter of Count Philip of Isenburg-Büdingen-Ronneburg. He was raised as a Christian and became a pious, God-fearing, strictly Lutheran man. After the death of Günther XL in 1552, his four sons initially ruled the land jointly. Before he took up government, he studied for several years, in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a popu ...

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...

, and

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. From 1563 to 1565, he served in the Danish army; in 1566 he fought against the Turks. In 1571 the brothers decided to divide their county. William's part of the county included the city of Frankenhausen, which he chose as his residence, and the districts of Straußberg, Heringen and Kelbra. He later received the district of Schernberg as well. His part of the count was named Schwarzburg-Frankenhausen, after his residence. After William I and his elder brother Günther XLI both died childless, the two remaining brothers, John Günther I and

Albrecht VII Albert VII may refer to: * Albert VII, Archduke of Austria (1559–1621) * Albert VII, Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow Albrecht VII, the Handsome, Duke of Mecklenburg in Güstrow (25 July 1486 – 5 January 1547), was a minor ruler in North Germ ...

divided their possessions. John Günther I received Arnstadt and Sondershausen and founded the Schwarzburg-Sondershausen line. Albrecht VII (1537–1605) received Rudolstadt and Frankenhausen and founded the Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt line. William I signed both the

Formula of Concord Formula of Concord (1577) (German, ''Konkordienformel''; Latin, ''Formula concordiae''; also the "''Bergic Book''" or the "''Bergen Book''") is an authoritative Lutheran statement of faith (called a confession, creed, or "symbol") that, in its t ...

of 1577 and the

Book of Concord ''The Book of Concord'' (1580) or ''Concordia'' (often referred to as the ''Lutheran Confessions'') is the historic doctrinal standard of the Lutheran Church, consisting of ten credal documents recognized as authoritative in Lutheranism since t ...

of 1580.See the

, pages 16 and 764

Marriages and issue

William's first marriage was on 6 April 1567 with Elisabeth (d. 23 November 1590), the daughter of Count Joachim of Schlick. His second marriage was on 7 March 1593 with Clara (1571–1658), the daughter of Duke William the Younger of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Both marriages remained childless.

References

* Friedrich Apfelstedt: ''Das Haus Kevernburg-Schwarzburg von seinem Ursprunge bis auf unsere Zeit'', Arnstadt, 1890 * Johann Christian August Junghans: ''Geschichte der schwarzburgischen Regenten'', Leipzig, 1821
Online
* Dr. Kamill von Behr: ''Genealogie der in Europa regierenden Fürstenhäuser'', Leipzig, 1870

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:William 01 Schwarzburg Frankenhausen Counts of Schwarzburg House of Schwarzburg People from Sondershausen 16th-century German people 1534 births 1597 deaths

Life

Marriages and issue

See also

References

Footnotes