Notes |
- BIOGRAPHY
Ludwig I, Graf zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, was born in the castle of Wittgenstein (near Bad Laasphe in North Rhine-Westphalia) on 7 December 1532, the son of Wilhelm I, Graf zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, and Johannetta von Isenburg-Neumagen.
He received his first education at a school in his father's castle, later in Cologne where he acquired a sound knowledge of old and newer foreign languages. From his letters and diaries we know that he had command of Latin, Greek, English, French and Italian, and a working knowledge of Spanish. From 1545 he studied with two brothers in Leuven, from where he moved in 1548 to Paris. He later went to Orléans where he probably made the acquaintance of Pfalzgraf Hermann Ludwig bei Rhein and of Caspar Olevian.
Ludwig spent 1551 to 1553 in Germany. In 1553 he set out on an extensive journey through Southern and Western Europe. He studied for some time in Padua together with Graf Philipp von Nassau. His journey then took him to Malta. After the election of Pope Pius IV in 1555, Ludwig became a chamberlain in the papal court for a short time. A year later he travelled around Savoy, France, England and Flanders. At the end of 1556 he was back in Wittgenstein. Here he found new circumstances, as the county had turned to Protestantism during his absence. In 1555 Ludwig's father had allowed the introduction of a church order of service which included elements of the Lutheran teaching. Ludwig studied the new teaching intensively and was soon persuaded of its correctness.
In 1558 Ludwig took over rule of the whole county of Wittgenstein, which had been divided until 1551 into two parts: Sayn-Wittgenstein-Wittgenstein (with its seat Castle Wittgenstein near Laasphe) and Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (with its seat at Berleburg). He also took over the rule of Homburg in the county of Berg, Vallendar on the Rhine and Neumagen on the Moselle.
At Dillenburg on 25 January 1559 Ludwig married Gräfin Anna zu Solms-Braunfels, the daughter of Philipp I, Graf zu Solms-Braunfels, and Gräfin Anna von Tecklenburg. They had three children of whom Johannetta and Georg would have progeny. In October 1559 Ludwig started to keep his diary, an important source for the political and religious history of the 16th century.
Anna had died in 1565, and at Laubach on 14 January 1567 Ludwig married Gräfin Elisabeth zu Solms-Laubach, daughter of Friedrich Magnus, Graf zu Solms-Laubach, and Gräfin Agnes zu Wied. They had 18 children of whom two sons and four daughters would have progeny. Ludwig's extensive university studies made a deep impression on him, and all his life remained committed to humanist ideals. This manifested itself for example in the 1560s when he travelled to Rotterdam to visit the grave of Erasmus. At the same time he began an intensive correspondence with a wide range of scholars, but particularly with the theologians Nikolaus Cell and Johannes Pincier. He leant progressively more to the reformed teaching. In 1568 he travelled to Zurich where came to know Heinrich Bullinger, Rudolf Gwalther, Markus Beumler, Johannes Wolf, Josias Simmler and others. In particular he developed a close friendship with Bullinger and Gwalther, which found its expression in Ludwig's correspondence with them.
Possibly with Bullinger's intercession, in 1574 Ludwig became lord high steward to Friedrich III 'der Fromme', Kurfürst von der Pfalz, in Heidelberg. Numerous missions for Friedrich brought great respect for Ludwig in the world of politics. Through his service in Heidelberg he was also at the centre of reformed thinking. Here he came to know men like Zacharia Ursin and Daniel Tossanus, who impressed him greatly. He remained in permanent correspondence with them. Other important figures in the Reformed Church with whom Ludwig maintained close contact were Hieronymus Zanchi and Johannes Piscator.
Ludwig's activity in the Palatinate came to an end in 1577 with its return to the Lutheran Faith under Friedrich's son Kurfürst Ludwig VI. He returned to Berleburg where he took in Caspar Olevian (who he had first met many years earlier) who had been expelled from Heidelberg. Now both Ludwig and Olevian worked assiduously in Wittgenstein and its surroundings to promulgate the Reformation. The Reformed Faith was fully implemented in the county of Wittgenstein. In 1563 and 1565 suitable church orders of service were promulgated. The last step in full implementation of the Reformed Faith occurred about 1578 when all altars and images were removed from the churches. The work of Ludwig and Olevian also took effect in Nassau, Solms, Wied, Hanau-Münzenberg and Isenburg.
Ludwig developed a particularly close relationship with his neighbour Johann VI, Graf von Nassau-Dillenburg. Together with Olevian, Ludwig supported Johann and became his close advisor, providing the equipment for the high school at Herborn where Oleviuan became a teacher in 1584. In 1586 Johann became Ludwig's son-in-law, marrying his daughter Johannetta.
After the restoration of the Reformed Faith in the Palatine, Ludwig was again appointed its lord high steward, remaining in that position from 1592 to 1594.
Ludwig was the last count who combined the whole county of Wittgenstein under his rule. After his death at Altenkirchen on 2 July 1605, his rule was divided into the lines existing to this day: Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, Sayn-Wittgenstein-Wittgenstein (from the 17th-century Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein) and Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn.
It would not be an understatement to say that Ludwig was a particularly unusual representative of the high nobility given his combination of theological, judicial and linguistic learning. He was a committed and powerful sponsor of the Reformed Faith in Western Germany.
Ludwig's extensive and valuable library in the castle of Berleburg is testimony to his intensive interest particularly in theology, but also in the sciences and in literature. His wide-ranging correspondence is documented in his diaries. Seven of the eight volumes of the diaries are still held in the castle archives. As well, manuscripts and letters by Ludwig are found in numerous archives in Western Europe.
Ludwig left an important legacy of his service to the sciences as co-founder and sponsor of the high school at Herborn, and as patron of other educational institutions, such as the Reformed Church boarding school in Siegen. He became famous as patron of Johannes Althaus, for whose education he provided. Althaus became known later under the name Johannes Althusius, a founder of modern political science.
The county of Wittgenstein owes a debt to Ludwig, not only for the introduction of the Reformed Faith, but also for a succession of prominent religious men such as Paul Asphe and Paul Crocius. Important for the internal cohesion of the county was the so-called Wittgenstein common-law, covering the collection of orders and laws which came into force under him in the 1560s and 1570s in the Wittgenstein lands. The collection contains laws relating to the police, marriage and the courts as well as the orders of church service promulgated in 1563 and 1565. The common-law was still highly valued in the 19th century by Prussian governments.
|