Background

Philip I of Hesse was born as the eldest son of William II, Landgrave of Hesse and William the Second's wife, Anna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The early years of Philip I were marked by a considerable unrest. The father of Philip I, William II, had died when Philip I was only four years old. The reason for the death of Philip the First's father was syphilis.

The death of Philip's father led to a series of events which plunged Philip I of Hesse into the political controversy over its Regency. The noblemen of Hesse took temporary reigns and had separated Philip I from his mother, Anna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. His mother had to struggle with the noblemen of Hesse over the reign over Hesse. In 1514, Philip's mom had succeeded in her fights over the reign and became the regent on Philip the First's behalf. Philip I and his mother, Anna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, had reunited in 1514 after a period of separation.

Although Philip's mom won over the noblemen of Hesse, the struggles over authority had continued. An end has come to all the struggles over authority to Philip I and his mother after Philip I had been proclaimed as the Landgrave of Hesse in 1518. His actual assumption of power began in the year of 1519.

In the month of March of 1518, the Emperor Maximilian I proclaimed Philip I to be of age. Although he retained the Hesse province in his name, there were a lot of counselors around him advising him how to rule the Hesse province.

The event that changed the life of Philip I of Hesse was his initial meeting with Martin Luther. Philip's initial meeting with Martin Luther was in 1521 when Philip I was only 17 years old, and before he got the Landgrave title. Philip met with Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms in Worms, Germany. Little did Philip I know how would his meeting with Martin Luther impact his life.

Education

Although Philip I belonged to the noble family and lived at the royal court, he didn't receive any formal education at all. It was the practice of the royal courts of the Middle Ages that the parents would tutor their children. That was not the case with Philip I and his mother, who always gave him the cold shoulder and didn't care about him. The only positive thing that Philip's mother did was fighting for Philip's regency over Hesse. Some historians think that she didn't fight over the regency because of Philip, but because of herself.

Despite the fact Philip I was never formally educated and was illiterate, he became a great soldier and a politician with vision and strategy.

Career

Philip I of Hesse, grew quickly as a statesman, and soon started to find a way to build his own power as a ruler. hilip embracedProtestantism in 1524 after an individual meeting with the scholar Philipp Melanchthon. He then stifled the German Peasants' War by overcoming Thomas Müntzer at the Battle of Frankenhausen. As ahead of schedule as the spring of 1526, he looked to keep the race of the Catholic Archduke Ferdinand as Holy Roman Emperor. At the Diet of Speyer around the same time, Philip straightforwardly championed the Protestant cause, rendering it feasible for Protestant evangelists to engender their perspectives while the Diet was in session, and, similar to his adherents, transparently dismissing common Roman Catholic ministerial uses.

Reformation in Hesse:

In spite of the fact that there was no solid mainstream development for Protestantism in Hesse, Philip resolved to arrange the congregation there as indicated by Protestant standards. In this he was supported not just by his chancellor, the humanist Johann Feige, and his chaplain,Adam Krafft, additionally by the ex-Franciscan François Lambert of Avignon, a staunch foe of the confidence he had cleared out. The cloisters and religious establishments were disintegrated and their property was connected to altruistic and educational purposes. The University of Marburg was established in the late spring of 1527 to be, a school for Protestant scholars.

Philip succeeded in blackmailing the costs for his weapon from the sees ofWürzburg, Bamberg, and Mainz. Political conditions were in any case extremely unfavorable to Philip, who may effectively be accused of exasperating the peace of the realm, and at the Second Diet of Speyer, in the spring of 1529, he was freely overlooked by Emperor Charles V. By the by, he took a dynamic part in joining the Protestant agents, and in addition in setting up the observed Protestation at Speyer. Before leaving the city he succeeded in framing, on 22 April 1529, a mystery understanding between Saxony, Hesse, Nuremberg, Strasburg, andUlm.

In 1531 Philip was fruitful in finishing the reason for which he had so since quite a while ago worked by securing the attachment of the Protestant forces to the Schmalkaldic League, which was to ensure their religious and mainstream interests against obstruction from the Emperor. The landgrave and his associate, John, Elector of Saxony, got to be perceived pioneers of this union of German sovereigns and urban communities. Philip was altogether persuaded that the Protestant cause relied on upon debilitating the force of the Habsburg rulers both at home and abroad. Philip was untiring in his endeavors to draw new partners into the group against Charles V and the Archduke Ferdinand I of Austria.

The advances of Philip, however he declined to do anything biased to the Protestant cause, were invited by the Emperor. Taking after Bucer's recommendation, the landgrave now continued to step with the trust of setting up religious peace between the Roman Catholics and Protestants. Philip was effective in securing the authorization of the Emperor to build up a college at Marburg, and consequently for the concession of an absolution, he consented to remain by Charles against every one of his foes, aside from Protestantism and the Schmalkaldic League; to make no collusions with France, England, or the duke of Cleves; and to keep the affirmation of these forces into the Schmalkaldic League.

• Acceptance of the Protestantism

There were two sides of the medal of the reason why Philip I accepted the Protestant Reformation: one being political side, the other one being the religious side. Speaking of the political reasons for embracing Reformation, Philip I and his family were at odds with the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, and his Habsburg family. Philip I saw an opportunity in Reformation for increasing the territorial independence from Charles V, so he had urged a Protestant alliance in his early years.

In the year of 1524, Philip I of Hesse formed the Torgau League between Frederick the Wise's territory of Saxony, and between his Hesse region. Philip I did so to oppose Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor until Charles' defeat at the emperor's hands in 1547.

Alongside the political dimension of accepting the Reform, there was a religious aspect of Philip I accepting the Reform. As of 1524, Philip I began to correspond with the theologian from Wittenberg, Philipp Melanchthon. Melanchthon was the one responsible for leading the Landgrave of Hesse, Philip I, to accept the Evangelical Reform.

Achievements

• The fact that Philip was dynamic in reestablishing request inside his domains, new pioneers, for example, Maurice of Saxony and Christopher of Württemberg—had gone to the fore. Philip no more fancied to expecting the authority of the Protestant party. Every one of his energies was currently coordinated toward finding a premise of understanding amongst Protestants and Roman Catholics.

Works

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  • Philip | landgrave of Hesse | Britannica.com

    (Landgrave (Landgraf) of Hesse (1509–67), one of the great...)

Religion

Philip I accepted the Protestant religion in 1524, after meeting with the theologian Philipp Melanchthon. Although the religious motivations of Philip I are beyond the question, he approached the theology of Protestantism carefully from the perspective of a diplomat who sought mediating positions in the arguings between the Protestant Reformers. It was the combination of Philip's moderate religion and statesmanship that saw him form the Protestant alliance belonging to the Schmalkaldic League.

Before he had accepted the Protestant Reform, Philip I was not religious and he didn't have anyone to explain to him what religion is. Thanks to his meeting with Martin Luther in 1521, Philip I was introduced to the Protestantism.

Politics

Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse got his Landgrave title in 1524. After his mothers' regency over Hesse, he had succeeded in bringing order to the complicated administration system of the Hesse state. His skillful management helped him a lot to free Hesse state out of the isolation from foreign affairs. In 1525, Philip I scored his first political triumph after he had suppressed the German Peasants' War in the neighbor imperial regions Fulda and Hersfeld. After suppressing the peasant revolt in Fulda and Hersfeld, Philip I moved onward to Thuringia and had defeated one of the initiators of the peasant revolt, Thomas Müntzer. By this political victory over Thomas Müntzer, Philip I saved central Germany from destruction.

Views

Philip I looked at the world from the perspective of a diplomat, warrior, and theologist. He saw that the Holy Roman Empire is evil, and he wanted to prevent the further spreading of Catholicism to Germany, but at the same time, he spread the Reform through Germany.

Personality

He was described as an intelligent and brave man. He was brave enough to confront the mighty Emperor of The Holy Roman Empire, Charles V. Philip I was very energetic speaker of the Reform. He was a self-reliant politician.

Physical Characteristics: Little is known on how did Philip I look. All that is known is that he had black hair, small and rounded black eyes, and a crooked nose. It is said that his physical trademarks were his short mustache and a short goatee.

Interests

• talking to theologists

• Sport & Clubs

  horse riding

Connections

Philip was married for two times. His first marriage was with the unattractive and an alcoholic woman named Christine of Saxony. During his marriage with her he commited a lot of adultery but had remained in the marriage with her. While he was in the marriage with Christine of Saxony, he also married Margarethe von der Saale, which made Philip I a bigamist.

From his bigamous marriage, Philip had many of children.From his marriage with Christine of Saxony, Philip I had ten children. With his second wife, Margarethe von der Saale had nine children.

Some of the children of Philip I of Hesse who had survived after adulthood are Agnes of Hesse, Anna of Hesse, William IV of Hesse-Kassel, Barbara of Hesse, Louis IV of Hesse-Marburg, Elisabeth of Hess, Philip II of Hesse-Rheinfels, Christine of Hesse, George I of Hesse-Darmstadt, Margretha, Countess zu Dietz.

Father:

William II, Landgrave of Hesse

Mother:

Anna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Spouse:

Christine of Saxony

Spouse:

Margarethe von der Saale

References

• Attitudes of Martin Bucer Toward the Bigamy of Philip of Hesse
  2002