Friedrich I., Herzog von Württemberg

Friedrich I of Württemberg was born on 19 August 1557 in Montbéliard and died on 29 January 1608 in Stuttgart. He was Count of Montbéliard from 1558 and Duke of Württemberg from 1593 until his death. His father, Georg I, had married Barbara, the 19-year-old daughter of the Hessian landgrave Philipp, late in life. Their first son, Ulrich, died in infancy. Friedrich, their second son, was born in 1557, but his father died before Friedrich reached the age of one. He therefore grew up under the care of his family. In 1580, Emperor Rudolf II granted him his investiture. Friedrich was regarded as a difficult and despotic ruler, yet he left a lasting mark on his territories. During his roughly four decades of rule, he consolidated Lutheranism, promoted education among broad sections of the population, expanded and modernized Montbéliard, and advanced agriculture and the earliest forms of industrial development. He was also a learned and well-informed patron of the arts and literature. From his youth, Friedrich was a committed supporter of Lutheranism. He strengthened its position in the County of Montbéliard and throughout his other territories. At a religious colloquy held in Montbéliard from 21 to 29 March 1586, he acted as mediator between Calvinists and Lutherans. Lutheranism was eventually declared the state religion. Friedrich thereby became, as summus episcopus, the head of the church, with rights and duties in many respects comparable to those of a bishop. He paid particular attention to education. He supervised both Montbéliard’s French school and the city’s academic college, later known as the “old college.” Gifted students could subsequently receive scholarships to continue their studies at the University of Tübingen. In foreign affairs, Friedrich was close to the French Protestants. As a friend of Henry of Navarre, the future King Henry IV, he opposed the forces of the Catholic Duke of Guise and supported the Protestant cause in France. Friedrich also intervened actively in economic affairs. He favored guilds and craft corporations and granted special privileges to certain professions. As a result, among other developments, the number of sheep-breeding farms increased considerably. In his territories he expanded agriculture, encouraged livestock breeding, and promoted the cultivation of previously unused land. Paper was produced and ores were mined as well. His sons Johann Friedrich and, later, Ludwig Friedrich further developed the mining industry. The resulting growth in raw-material extraction supported the prosperity of the ironworks at Audincourt and Chagey. Friedrich was a travel-minded prince who visited numerous European countries. His journey to Italy in 1599, undertaken with his favored architect Heinrich Schickhardt, was especially consequential. It prompted extensive changes in Montbéliard. Schickhardt renewed the city’s fortifications, expanded its territory with the “New Town” district, and created several public fountains. A second tower was built at the castle; it later became known as Friedrich’s Tower. Other projects included the Hôtel Bailly and a new wing for the agricultural market building. Friedrich also had the bridge in neighboring Voujeaucourt rebuilt and commissioned a new bridge in Sochaux. The most important building of his reign, however, was the Church of Saint Martin in central Montbéliard. Constructed in the late Renaissance style, it was regarded as the finest Protestant church in the country. One episode connected Friedrich with England and William Shakespeare’s comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor. At the time, Friedrich was still Count of Montbéliard and already heir to the Duchy of Württemberg. During a journey through English towns in 1592, he repeatedly appealed to Queen Elizabeth to admit him to the Order of the Garter. Only after he had become duke and his achievements had received wider recognition did the queen agree. Friedrich was deliberately not informed in time about his admission, however, and was therefore unable to attend the investiture in the spring of 1597. The comedy, written in connection with that ceremony, contained allusions to his first visit and his later absence from Windsor. These jokes passed from an early private performance into the first folio edition of Shakespeare’s works, but were later removed from public performances. Friedrich’s lavish lifestyle placed a heavy burden on his finances. The cost of supporting his large family, maintaining a luxurious court, staging splendid festivities and hunts, undertaking numerous foreign journeys, making expensive acquisitions, and carrying out major building projects drained the treasury, as did substantial loans to Henry IV and to French Protestants. Friedrich initially took out loans; later he even encouraged the search for the philosopher’s stone, a widespread but ultimately unsuccessful idea of the period that further worsened his financial position. After the death of his cousin Ludwig III, Friedrich became the reigning Duke of Württemberg in 1593. In 1599, he ordered the foundation of the new city of Freudenstadt. He intended it to become the capital of the duchy and to lie closer to Montbéliard than Stuttgart. His death prevented the plan from being realized. Friedrich died in Stuttgart in January 1608 from a cerebral circulatory disorder. Friedrich had been married since 1581 to Sibylle, a daughter of Prince Joachim Ernst of Anhalt. The couple had fifteen children. Their eldest surviving son, Johann Friedrich, became Duke of Württemberg. Ludwig Friedrich likewise became Duke of Württemberg and Count of Montbéliard; Julius Friedrich became Duke of Württemberg-Juliusburg; and Friedrich Achilles became Duke of Württemberg-Neuenstadt. Their other sons were Georg Friedrich, Joachim Friedrich, Philipp Friedrich, and Magnus, who fell in the Battle of Wimpfen in 1622. Their daughters included Sibylle Elisabeth, who married the Saxon Elector Johann Georg I, as well as Eva Christina, Agnes, Barbara, Augusta, and Anna. Through the agreement of 7 June 1617, Friedrich’s sons Johann Friedrich and Friedrich Achilles established the junior Württemberg-Neuenstadt line.