Johann Casimir

Johann Casimir, (March 7, 1543 – January 16, 1592), born in Simmern, Germany, the third son of Frederic III (Friedrich), Count Palatine of the Rhine, and was a member of the Simmern middle electoral line of The House of Wittelsbach.

Related Topics:
March 7 - 1543 - January 16 - 1592 - Simmern - Wittelsbach

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On 26 November 1568 he was engaged to the 16 year old Elizabeth (1552-1590), daughter of Kurfürsten August of Saxony. Due to the young age of Elizabeth, the wedding was pushed back to the summer of 1570. The marriage was political, as Johann Casimir wanted to link Calvinism to Saxony through the marriage. Elizabeth was Lutheran. Elizabeth had several still-born children (see below for further details). Their marriage was not a good one, and not just due to their religious differences. He ordered her under house arrest and refused her daily walks in the sun. Elizabeth finally went back to Saxony April 2, 1590, and did not even return for her husband's funeral.

Related Topics:
Saxony - Calvinism

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Beginning in March, 1571 Pfalzgraf Johann Casimir resided in Kaiserslautern for a decade.

Related Topics:
Pfalzgraf - Kaiserslautern

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When his father Friedrich III died in 1576, he ordered in his will that the Kurpfalz was to remain Calvinist. His son Ludwig VI inherited the main part of the Kurpfalz including Heidelberg, and Johann Casimir inherited a smaller part of the Pfalz, which became the independent principality Pfalz-Lautern of the Kurpfalz (the Principality of Pfalz Lautern essentially consisted of the city of Kaiserslautern and surrounding area.) Johann 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. Many theological professors left the university in Heidelberg and were welcomed in the Kurpfalz-Lautern by Johann Casimir who built a spare university "Collegium Casimirianum" for them in 1578.

Related Topics:
Calvinist - Heidelberg - Kaiserslautern - Lutheran - Lutheranism

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In 1576, Johann Casimir entered France leading four thousand troops. Due to this campaign, he was made "duché d?Étampes" by Henry III of France for a few months, in 1576-1577. This was a theoretical position, as he never actually visited it.

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He was 'verweser of the Kurpfalz' from 1583 to 1592.

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He was known as "Jäger aus Kurpfalz" (the hunter of kurpfalz).

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