Name Simon Count | ||
Spouse(s) Anne Catherine of Nassau-Wiesbaden-IdsteinMaria Magdalena of Waldeck-Wildungen Mother Elizabeth of Schauenburg and Holstein Died 26 March 1627(1627-03-26) (aged 39)Detmold | ||
Count Simon VII of Lippe (30 December 1587 at Brake Castle near Lemgo – 26 March 1627 in Detmold) was a ruler of the Reformed county of Lippe-Detmold.
Contents
Life
He was the second-eldest son of Count Simon VI of Lippe and his wife Elizabeth of Schauenburg and Holstein.
In 1601, Simon and his older brother Bernard travelled to Kassel, where they studied at the court school. After Bernard's untimely death in 1602, Simon returned to Brake, where his father introduced him systematically to the business of government. When his father died in 1613, he took up government. In 1617, he managed to end a bitter dispute his late father had had with the city of Lemgo. Simon VI had tried to enforce Calvinism throughout the county, but the citizens of Lemgo preferred Lutheranism. The Treaty of Röhrentrup allowed Lutheranism in Lemgo and gave the city the right of High justice, which the city then used to organize witch trials.
Simon VII remained neutral during the Thirty Years' War, in an attempt to spare his small country as much as possible. The country suffered nevertheless, when foreign soldiers were billeted in the county.
Marriage and issue
Simon VII married Countess Anna Catherine of Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein (1590-1622) in 1607. They had the following children:
- in 1648 to Countess Ernestine of Isenburg-Büdingen-Birstein (1614-1665)
- in 1666 to Countess Amalia of Lippe-Brake (1629-1676)
After Anna Catherine's death, he married Countess Maria Magdalena of Waldeck-Wildungen (1606-1671), daughter of Christian, Count of Waldeck, in 1623 and had three more children: