Christoph, Duke of Württemberg

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Christoph
Christoph of Württemberg, c. 1560s
Duke of Württemberg
Reign	6 November 1550 – 28 December 1568
Predecessor	Ulrich
Successor	Louis III
Born	(1515-05-12)12 May 1515 Bad Urach
Died	28 December 1568(1568-12-28) (aged 53) Stuttgart
Spouse	Anna Maria of Brandenburg-Ansbach ​ ​ (m. 1544)​
Issue among others…	Eberhard, Hereditary Duke of Wüttemberg Hedwig, Landgravine of Hesse-Marburg Elisabeth, Countess Palatine of Veldenz-Lauterecken Sabine, Landgravine of Hesse-kassel Emilie, Countess Palatine of Simmern-Sponheim Eleonore, Landgravine of Hesse-Darmstadt Louis III, Duke of Württemberg Maximilian Ulrich Dorothea Maria, Countess Palatine of Sulzbach Anna, Duchess of Legnica Sophie, Duchess of Saxe-Weimar
House	Württemberg
Father	Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg
Mother	Sabina of Bavaria
Religion	Lutheran (after 1535) Roman Catholic (until 1535)

Christoph of Württemberg (12 May 1515 – 28 December 1568), ruled as Duke of Württemberg from 1550 until his death in 1568.

Born in 1515, Christoph was the son of Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg and Sabina of Bavaria.^[1] In November 1515, only months after his birth, his mother fled to the court of her parents in Munich. Young Christoph stayed in Stuttgart with his elder sister Anna and his father, Duke Ulrich. When the Swabian League mobilized troops against Ulrich, he brought them to Castle Hohentübingen. In 1519 Württemberg came under Austrian rule after the castle surrendered and Duke Ulrich was banished.

Christoph was sent to the court of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I in Innsbruck where he grew up and was able to gain political experience under Habsburg tutelage. Maximilian's successor Charles V took him on his travels through Europe.

Meanwhile, his father Ulrich had regained Württemberg from the Austrians in 1534 and Christoph was sent to the French court, where he became embroiled in France's wars against the Habsburgs. At the end of the 1530s, Christoph converted to Protestantism. In 1542, the Treaty of Reichenweier installed him as the governor of the Württemberg region of Montbéliard.

On succeeding his father in 1550, Christoph was forced to make high payments to avoid charges of treason by Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I.

In subsequent years, he re-organized the entire administration of the church and state. He also reformed and supported the educational system. Christoph gave Amandenhof castle near Urach to Hans von Ungnad who used it as the seat of the South Slavic Bible Institute.^[2]

Christoph went to great efforts to boost Württemberg's profile. For example, he reconstructed the Altes Schloss in Stuttgart and hosted many celebrations.

In 1544, Christoph married Anna Maria, daughter of George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach.^[1] They had:

• Eberhard (7 January 1545 – 2 May 1568)
• Hedwig (15 May 1547 – 4 March 1590) – married Louis IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Marburg
• Elisabeth (3 March 1548 – 28 February 1592) – married (1) Georg Ernst (1511–1583), Count von Henneberg-Schleusingen; (2) Georg Gustav (1564–1634), Count Palatine of Veldenz-Lauterecken
• Sabine (2 July 1549 – 17 August 1581) – married William IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel
• Emilie (19 August 1550 – 4 June 1589) – married Reichard (1521–1598), Count Palatine of Simmern-Sponheim
• Eleonore (22 March 1552 – 12 January 1618) – married Joachim Ernest, Prince of Anhalt; (2) George I, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt
• Ludwig I (1 January 1554 – 8 August 1593) – succeeded as Duke of Württemberg^[1]
• Maximilian (27 August 1556 – 17 March 1557)
• Ulrich (May 1558 – 7 July 1558)
• Dorothea Maria (3 September 1559 – 23 March 1639) – married Otto Heinrich, Count Palatine of Sulzbach
• Anna (12 June 1561 – 7 July 1616) – married (1) Duke John George of Oława; (2) Duke Frederick IV of Legnica
• Sophie (20 November 1563 – 21 July 1590) – married Friedrich Wilhelm I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar

• Breyer, Mirko (1952). O starim i rijetkim jugoslavenskim knjigama: bibliografsko-bibliofilski prikaz. Izdavački zavod Jugoslavenske akademije znanosti i umjetnosti.
• Hohkamp, Michaela (2007). "Sisters, Aunts, and Cousins: Familial Architectures and the Political Field in Early Modern Europe". In Sabean, David Warren; Teuscher, Simon; Mathieu, Jon (eds.). Kinship in Europe: Approaches to Long-Term Development (1300-1900). Berghahn books. pp. 91–104.