Josias I, Count of Waldeck-Eisenberg

Count Josias I of Waldeck-Eisenberg (; 18 March 1554 – 6 August 1588) was a German nobleman who was Count of Waldeck-Eisenberg from 1578 until his death.

In the ten years of his short reign, Josias began the long overdue reform of the state administration, including the regulation of the churches, which aimed to strengthen the internal affairs of the state and thus achieve a clear independence of the county and a separation from Hesse. To solve the problems of the time, however, a longer reign of Josias would have been necessary, as well as a like-minded attitude of the other counts of Waldeck. Among them he took the leading position.

Biography

Josias was born at Eisenberg Castle on 18 March 1554 as the sixth child of Count Wolrad II 'the Scholar' of Waldeck-Eisenberg and Countess Anastasia Günthera of Schwarzburg-Blankenburg. Josias' two older brothers, Francis and Henry William, died at a young age. Because of the Protestant orientation, however, there were differences of opinion, as a result of which some of the renowned professors left the school in 1586 and moved to the Calvinist-oriented Academia Nassauensis in Herborn. Josias, on the other hand, oriented himself towards orthodox Lutheranism. In order to strengthen his desire for independence, Josias had appointed qualified civil servants who no longer acted in the interests of Hesse but in the interests of the county.

Josias could not finish his work. He died suddenly and unexpectedly on 6 August 1588 to Countess Marie of Barby and Mühlingen (Magdeburg, 8 April 1563 – , 19/29 December 1619 to Countess Elisabeth of Nassau-Siegen (Dillenburg Castle, 8 November 1584 – , 26 July 1661). Juliane (11 April 1587 – Erbach Palace, 28 February 1622), married in Erbach on 2 March 1606 to Count Louis I of Erbach (Erbach, 3 September 1579 – Erbach, 12 April 1643). Count Wolrad IV (Eisenberg Castle, 7 July 1588 – Arolsen, 6 October 1640), succeeded his father as Count of Waldeck-Eisenberg in 1588. Married in Durlach on 8 September 1607 to Margravine Anne of Baden-Hochberg (Hochberg, 13 November 1587 – 11 March 1649).

Ancestors

Literature