Background
Born in Erbach, he was the fourteenth child and sixth (but third surviving) son of George Louis I, Count of Erbach-Erbach and his wife Amalie Katharina, a daughter of Philipp Dietrich, Count of Waldeck-Eisenberg. After the death of his father in 1693, Frederick Charles and his surviving older brothers inherited all the Erbach-Erbach domains. However, because as the last surviving son of sixteen children, he was still a minor, the government of the lands and legal guardianship were held by the oldest brother Philipp Louis, who managed to rule alone even after the majority of his brothers.