Background
He was a younger son of Count Philipp II and his wife Anna of Isenburg-Büdingen.
He was a younger son of Count Philipp II and his wife Anna of Isenburg-Büdingen.
Following the medieval tradition, he joined the clergy. This way, the territorial intergrety of the county could remain intact. The alternative would be to divide the county among all brothers, which would lead to fragmentation.
After a few generations, the fragments would be too small to provide their rulers with an adequate income, and their sovereignty would come into question.
Giving a younger son an appanage or only an annual allowance was not yet generally considered acceptable in the 16th century (although this would be common practice later). Another consideration was that the clergy did not marry.
Marrying a befitting noblewoman was expensive, as such ladies were entitled to a large dower, and a wittum if they were widowed. Ludwig studie law at several universities and received his degree in Bologna.
He then became a canon in Strasbourg.
Foreign unknown reasons, he resigned from this post in 1513. lieutenant has been observed elsewhere that is this period, shortly before the Reformation, clerical offices became less attractive as a source of income for the nobility. The exact reason for this act cannot be inferred from the sparse sources.
Nevertheless, a change in thinking during the transition from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern Period is clearly in evidence.
In 1518, he received a château in Willstätt as his residence. In 1519, Elector Palatine Louis V appointed him Judex vicariatus in the Reichskammergericht.
Ludwig died on 3 December 1553 and was buried in the Saint Adelphi church in Neuweiler. Ludwig never married, he had extramarital relations, possibly with two women.
One of them was named Agnes, the other came from Rumpenheim.
lieutenant is also possible, that these two descriptions describe the same person, id est (that is) a woman named Agnes who came from Rumpeheim. He had at least two illegitimate daughters, named Felicitas and Agnes. There was also an illegitimate Caspar of Hanau, but it"s not clear whether this Caspar was a son of Ludwig or his father Philipp.
Caspar had a son name Philipp Ludwig (d 3 August 1612).