Johann Casimir of Simmern
Encyclopedia
John Casimir of the Palatinate-Simmern (German: Johann Casimir von Pfalz-Simmern) (7 March, 1543 – ) was a German prince
Prince
Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...

 and a younger son of Elector Frederick III
Frederick III, Elector Palatine
Frederick III of Simmern, the Pious, Elector Palatine of the Rhine was a ruler from the house of Wittelsbach, branch Palatinate-Simmern-Sponheim. He was a son of John II of Simmern and inherited the Palatinate from the childless Elector Otto-Henry, Elector Palatine in 1559...

, Count Palatine of the Rhine. A firm Calvinist, he was a leader of mercenary troops in the religious wars of the time, including the Dutch Revolt
Dutch Revolt
The Dutch Revolt or the Revolt of the Netherlands This article adopts 1568 as the starting date of the war, as this was the year of the first battles between armies. However, since there is a long period of Protestant vs...

. From 1583–1592 he acted as regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...

 for his nephew, Elector Frederick IV
Frederick IV, Elector Palatine
Frederick IV, Elector Palatine of the Rhine , only surviving son of Louis VI, Elector Palatine and Elisabeth of Hesse, called "Frederick the Righteous" .-Life:Born in Amberg, his father died in October 1583 and...

.

Career

Pfalzgraf John Casimir was born in Simmern
Simmern
Simmern is a town of 8,000 inhabitants in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, the district seat of the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis, and the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde...

 as the third son of Frederick III
Frederick III, Elector Palatine
Frederick III of Simmern, the Pious, Elector Palatine of the Rhine was a ruler from the house of Wittelsbach, branch Palatinate-Simmern-Sponheim. He was a son of John II of Simmern and inherited the Palatinate from the childless Elector Otto-Henry, Elector Palatine in 1559...

, Count Palatine of the Rhine, and Marie of Brandenburg-Kulmbach
Marie of Brandenburg-Kulmbach
Marie of Brandenburg-Kulmbach was a Princess of Brandenburg-Kulmbach and by marriage Electress Palatine.- Biography :...

, of the Simmern
Simmern
Simmern is a town of 8,000 inhabitants in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, the district seat of the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis, and the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde...

 middle electoral line of the House of Wittelsbach. In 1564 John Casimir suggested himself as a bridegroom for Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...

 and sent her his portrait via the Scottish courtier Sir James Melville
James Melville of Halhill
Sir James Melville was a Scottish diplomat and memoir writer.Melville was the third son of Sir John Melville, laird of Raith in the county of Fife, who was executed for treason in 1548. One of his brothers was Robert, 1st Baron Melville of Monimail . James Melville in 1549 went to France to become...

. Elizabeth, however, showed no interest in him. On November 26, 1568 he was engaged to the 16-year-old Lutheran Elizabeth of Saxony, a daughter of Augustus, Elector of Saxony
Augustus, Elector of Saxony
Augustus was Elector of Saxony from 1553 to 1586.-First years:Augustus was born in Freiberg, the youngest child and third son of Henry IV, Duke of Saxony, and Catherine of Mecklenburg. He consequently belonged to the Albertine branch of the Wettin family...

 and his first wife Anne of Denmark
Anne of Denmark, Electress of Saxony
Anne of Denmark or Anna was Electress of Saxony and Margravine of Meissen. She was a member of the House of Oldenburg.- Life :...

. The wedding took place in Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...

 on June 6, 1570. The marriage was political, as John Casimir wanted to link Calvinism
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...

 to Saxony through the marriage. Elizabeth had several still-born children. Their marriage was turned out to be unhappy, not only due to religious differences. John Casismir ordered his wife under house arrest and refused her daily walks in the sun. Elizabeth gave birth to six children, three of which were stillborn; the other three were daughters. She died in prison on April 2, 1590.
From March, 1571 Johann Casimir resided in Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern is a city in southwest Germany, located in the Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate forest . The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, and from Luxembourg.Kaiserslautern is home to 99,469 people...

 for a decade. When his father, Frederick III, died in 1576, he ordered in his will that the Electoral Palatinate, or Kurpfalz, was to remain Calvinist
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...

. His son, Louis VI
Louis VI, Elector Palatine
In the history of the Holy Roman Empire, Louis VI, Elector Palatine was an Elector from the Palatinate-Simmern branch of the house of Wittelsbach. He was the first-born son of Frederick III, Elector Palatine and Marie of Brandenburg-Kulmbach...

, inherited the main part of the Electoral Palatinate including Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...

, and John Casimir inherited a smaller part of the Pfalz, which became the independent principality Pfalz-Lautern of the Electoral Palatinate (the Principality of Pfalz Lautern essentially consisted of the city of Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern is a city in southwest Germany, located in the Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate forest . The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, and from Luxembourg.Kaiserslautern is home to 99,469 people...

 and surrounding area.) John Casimir's brother Ludwig, who had been secretly raised by his mother as a Lutheran, did not honor his father's wish and instead supported Lutheranism
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...

. Many professors of theology, including Zacharias Ursinus
Zacharias Ursinus
Zacharias Ursinus was a sixteenth century German Reformed theologian, born Zacharias Baer in Breslau . He became the leading theologian of the Reformed Protestant movement of the Palatinate, serving both at the University of Heidelberg and the College of Wisdom...

, left the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg
Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg
The Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg is a public research university located in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386, it is the oldest university in Germany and was the third university established in the Holy Roman Empire. Heidelberg has been a coeducational institution...

 and were welcomed in the Kurpfalz-Lautern by Johann Casimir who built the Collegium Casimirianum
Casimirianum Neustadt
The Casimirianum in Neustadt an der Haardt was a Reformed academy, which was founded in 1578 by Count Palatine Johann Casimir and named after him. The Casimirianum only endured five years...

 as a substitute university for them in 1578.

John Casimir was in regular contact with Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, KG was an English nobleman and the favourite and close friend of Elizabeth I from her first year on the throne until his death...

 and his nephew Sir Philip Sidney who, as agent for Queen Elizabeth, was sent to the Continent to assist in the formation of a Protestant League. In 1576, John Casimir entered France leading four thousand troops. Due to this campaign, he was made duc d’Étampes by Henry III of France
Henry III of France
Henry III was King of France from 1574 to 1589. As Henry of Valois, he was the first elected monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the dual titles of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575.-Childhood:Henry was born at the Royal Château de Fontainebleau,...

 for a few months, in 1576–1577. This was a theoretical position, as he never actually visited his French duchy. He visited England in 1579 to seek the Queen's financial support for his campaigns on behalf of the United Provinces
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...

. In February 1579 the Earl of Leicester took him to Oxford and he was entertained for three weeks at the English court. From 1583 to 1592 Casimir acted as regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...

 for his nephew Elector Frederick IV
Frederick IV, Elector Palatine
Frederick IV, Elector Palatine of the Rhine , only surviving son of Louis VI, Elector Palatine and Elisabeth of Hesse, called "Frederick the Righteous" .-Life:Born in Amberg, his father died in October 1583 and...

.

Issue

  • Marie (b. July 26, 1576; d. February 22, 1577).
  • Elisabeth (b. May 5, 1578; d. October 27, 1580).
  • Dorothea (b. January 6, 1581; d. September 18, 1631); married John George I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau
    John George I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau
    John George I of Anhalt-Dessau was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the unified principality of Anhalt...

    in 1595.

Further reading

  • Dieter Cunz, Die Regentschaft des Pfalzgrafen Johann Casimir in der Kurpfalz, 1583–1592 (Limburg an der Lahn, Druck der Limburger Vereinsdruckerei, 1934)
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