Philip III of Falkenstein

Probable tombstone of Philip in the Marienstiftskirche, Lich

Philip III of Falkenstein (German: Philipp III. von Falkenstein, 1257 - 9 February 1322), Lord of Falkenstein, Münzenberg and Lich was a member of the Lich line of the Falkenstein dynasty, son of Werner I of Falkenstein, Lord of Münzenberg and Falkenstein, who founded the Lich line, and his wife Mechtild of Diez (1238 - 3 December 1288).

Ancestry

Philip III was a member of the Bolanden-Falkenstein family, which were originally based at Falkenstein Castle, in Donnersbergkreis in the Palatinate and had held part of the Münzenberg Inheritance in Wetterau since 1255.

Lordship

Before 1295, his father Werner I had moved his seat away from Münzenburg to the nearby town of Lich after he had inherited another part of the Münzenberg Inheritance. Philip had a large water castle built at Lich, in order to protect the spot where the Lange Hessen road crossed the Wetter river. While in the service of the German King Albert I, the king promoted Lich to the rank of town by a charter of 10 March 1300 - it had already been referred to as "oppidum nostrum" (our town) in 1297. In 1313, Emperor Henry VII promoted Königstein im Taunus to town rank as well, which had formerly belonged to the Nürings and had been part of the Falkensteins' domains since 1255.

A long-running conflict with Ulrich I of Hanau over the Münzenburg Inheritance and especially the Jewish tax of Assenheim and Münzenberg was brought to an end in 1304 with an arbitration in Philip's favour.

Family

Philip married, first, in 1287, Mechthild of Eppstein (1269 - 1303), daughter of Gottfried IV of Eppstein and Mathilde of Isenburg. They had the following children:

He married, secondly, in 1303, Luckard(e) of Isenburg (died 11 October 1309), an illegitimate daughter of Ludwig I of Isenburg von Cleeburg, Burggrave of Gelnhausen, with whom he had the following children:

He married thirdly, on 11 October 1309, Mechtild of Hesse (1267 - after 1332), widow of Gottfried VI of Ziegenhain, daughter of Landgrave Henry I of Hesse and Adelheid of Brunswick, who was a descendant of Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia.[1]

Most of the tombs of the Lich line of the Falkenstein family are located in the Marienstiftskirche in Lich.

References

  1. ↑ Genealogical website of Bernd Josef Jansen, published on http://www.berndjosefjansen.de/jansen2/jansen2-0055.htm, accessed on 29 November 2015

Bibliography

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