John Casimir of the Palatinate-Simmern

John Casimir, ca. 1590

John Casimir of the Palatinate-Simmern (German: Johann Casimir von Pfalz-Simmern) (7 March, 1543 – 16 January [O.S. 6 January] 1592) was a German prince and a younger son of Elector Frederick III, 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. From 1583–1592 he acted as regent for his nephew, Elector Frederick IV.

Career

Pfalzgraf John Casimir was born in Simmern as the third son of Frederick III, Count Palatine of the Rhine, and Marie of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, of the Simmern middle electoral line of the House of Wittelsbach. In 1564 John Casimir suggested himself as a bridegroom for Elizabeth I of England and sent her his portrait via the Scottish courtier Sir James Melville. Elizabeth, however, showed no interest in him. On November 26, 1568 he was engaged to the 16-year-old Lutheran Elisabeth of Saxony, a daughter of Augustus, Elector of Saxony and his first wife Anne of Denmark. The wedding took place in Heidelberg on June 6, 1570. The marriage was political, as John Casimir wanted to link Calvinism to Saxony through the marriage. Elisabeth 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. Elisabeth gave birth to six children, three of which were stillborn; the other three were daughters. She died in prison on April 2, 1590.

John Casimir as depicted in a contemporary reference work

From March, 1571 Johann Casimir resided in Kaiserslautern 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. His son, Louis VI, inherited the main part of the Electoral Palatinate including Heidelberg, 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 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. Many professors of theology, including Zacharias Ursinus, left the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg and were welcomed in the Kurpfalz-Lautern by Johann Casimir who built the Collegium Casimirianum as a substitute university for them in 1578.

John Casimir was in regular contact with Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester 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 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. 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 for his nephew Elector Frederick IV.

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 in 1595.

References

• (German) Der Kalvinismus in der Kurpfalz
• Hume, Martin (1904): The Courtships of Queen Elizabeth Eveleigh Nash & Grayson
• Jenkins, Elizabeth (2002): Elizabeth and Leicester The Phoenix Press ISBN 1842125605
• Rosenberg, Eleanor (1958): Leicester: Patron of Letters Columbia University Press

Further reading

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