Philibert, Margrave of Baden-Baden

Who was Philibert, Margrave of Baden-Baden?

Margrave Philibert of Baden ruled the Margraviate of Baden-Baden from 1554 to 1569. Philibert was the son of the Margrave Bernhard III, Margrave of Baden-Baden and Franziska of Luxembourg.

Philibert spent part of his youth at the court of Duke William IV of Bavaria in Munich. William, who later became his father-in-law, was known for his strict Catholic perspective and brought the Jesuits to Bavaria. Margrave Philibert was a supporter of Protestantism and converted to it, undeterred by his father-in-law. In 1555 he took part in the negotiations that resulted in the Peace of Augsburg. In 1565 he wanted to come to the aid of the Huguenots in France with 1,500 men. Emperor Maximilian II, however, told him not to do so and Philibert acquiesced.

In 1566, Philibert served in the Imperial army, fighting in Hungary against Sultan Suleiman I. In 1569 he even fought against the Huguenots. He fought on the side of King Charles IX of France, the son in law of Emperor Maximilian II.

Philibert was killed on 3 October 1569 in the Battle of Moncontour against the Huguenots, which the French king won. According to his friend, Heinrich von Stein, he left the battlefield alive and was then pursued by the Huguenots to a castle on the Spanish border, where they caught up with him and killed him. He left a 10 year old son, Philip who succeeded him as Margrave Philip II. Philip II had an older sister Jakobea and two younger sisters. Philibert's uncle Albert V brought the siblings to Munich and raised them there.