Frederick Magnus I, Count of Solms-Laubach

Frederick Magnus I, Count of Solms-Laubach
Born	1 October 1521
Died	13 January 1561(1561-01-13) (aged 39) Laubach
Noble family	House of Solms
Spouse(s)	Agnes of Wied
Father	Otto of Solms-Laubach
Mother	Anna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Frederick Magnus I, Count of Solms-Laubach (1521 – 13 January 1561 in Laubach) was regent of Solms-Laubach from 1522 to 1548, and the ruling Count of Solms-Laubach from 1548 until his death.

After the early death of his father Otto (1496–1522), Frederick Magnus I took up the government in his father's part of the County of Solms. He chose Laubach Castle as his permanent residence and gradually converted the castle into a palace. After the third division of Solms in 1548, Solms-Laubach became a separate principality, with Frederick Magnus I as its first ruler.

In 1540, Laubach became a fortress and a militia was established. This militia has been preserved to this day as the Laubach festival committee. Frederick Magnus I was a friend of the Reformer Philipp Melanchthon. He introduced the Reformation in Solms-Laubach in 1544. He abolished the inheritance tax and issued a simplified court order, which developed into the Civil Code of Solms. In 1555, he founded a Latin School, with teachers from Wittenberg. He also founded the library of Laubach, which now contains over 90000titles from the 16th century to the present. It is a listed monument and was registered under Heritage Protection Act in 1955.

Frederick Magnus I died in 1561 and was succeeded by his son John George I.

Marriage and issue

In 1545, he married Agnes of Wied (1520 – 1588), daughter of Count John III of Wied and Elisabeth of Nassau-Siegen. They had the following children:

• John George I (6 November 1546 – 19 August 1600)
• Dorothea (26 November 1547–18 September 1585), married 1566 Heinrich XVI Reuss von Plauen zu Gera (29 December 1530 – 6 April 1572)
• Elisabeth (6 March 1549 – 1599), married Louis I, Count of Sayn-Wittgenstein
• Otto (24 June 1550 – 8 February 1612)
• Anna (11 April 1557 – 8 December 1586), married George III, Count of Erbach-Breuberg

Ancestry

Ancestors of Frederick Magnus I, Count of Solms-Laubach

16. Johann V of Solms 8. Kuno of Solms 17. Elisabeth of Cronberg-Rodelheim 4. Philip, Count of Solms-Lich 18. Johann IV, Count of Dhaun 9. Walpurgis of Dhaun 19. Elisabeth of Hanau-Munzenberg 2. Otto of Solms-Laubach 20. Reinhard III, Count of Hanau 10. Philip I, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg 21. Countess Palatine Margaret of Mosbach 5. Adriana of Hanau-Munzenberg 22. John IV, Count of Nassau-Siegen 11. Adriana of Nassau-Siegen 23. Mary of Looz-Heinsberg 1. Frederick Magnus I, Count of Solms-Laubach 24. John IV, Duke of Mecklenburg 12. Henry IV, Duke of Mecklenburg 25. Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg 6. Magnus II of Mecklenburg-Schwerin 26. Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg 13. Dorothea of Brandenburg 27. Elisabeth of Bavaria 3. Anna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin 28. Wartislaw IX, Duke of Pomerania 14. Eric II, Duke of Pomerania 29. Sophia of Saxe-Lauenburg 7. Sophie of Pomerania 30. Bogislaw IX, Duke of Pomerania 15. Sophie of Pomerania 31. Maria of Masovia

External links

• Frederick Magnus I