Josias II, Count of Waldeck-Wildungen

Josias II, Count of Waldeck (31 July 1636 – 29 July 1669 on Crete) was the second son of the Count Philip VII of Waldeck-Wildungen and his wife Anna Catherine of Sayn-Wittgenstein. He was a Major General in the army of Brunswick-Lüneburg. His elder brother Christian Louis (1635–1706) was the ruling Count of Waldeck-Wildungen; Josias II was from 1660 co-ruler in the district of Wildungen, later in the district of Wetterburg.

Life[]

Josias II of Waldeck served in the army of Elector Frederick William of Brandenburg, where he was Colonel of the Infantry. In 1655 and 1656, he fought in Warsaw as a major general. After that he served in the Swedish army in 1663 and participated in the Turkish War as a major in the imperial army. He was wounded by an arrow before Pécs.

When Duke George William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg inherited the Principality of Lüneburg, he appointed Josias as major general and put him in command of the much enlarged army of the principality. In late autumn 1668, Josias marched against the Turks with 3300 men, to defend possessions of the Republic of Venice. During the Siege of Candia, he was injured by shrapnel on 6 July 1669. On 29 July, he died of his injuries. He was initially buried in the St. Catherine's Church in Candia. His body was later transferred to Wildungen.

Marriage and issue[]

On 26 January 1660, Josias married Countess Wilhelmine Christine (bap. 10 June 1629 – 22 January 1707), a daughter of Count William of Nassau-Siegen in Hilchenbach. They had seven children:

• Eleonore Louise (9 July 1661 – 25 August 1661).
• Wilhelm Philipp (27 September 1662 – 29 December 1662).
• Charlotte Dorothea (9 October 1663 – 10 December 1664).
• Charlotte Johanna (13 December 1664 – 1 February 1699), married on 2 December 1690 to John Ernest IV, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.
• Sophie Wilhelmine (24 September 1666 – 13 February 1668).
• Maximilian Frederick (25 April 1668 – September 1668).
• Wilhelm Gustav (25 April 1668 – 21 May 1669), twin with Maximilian.

References[]

• Bernhard von Poten (1896), "Waldeck, Josias Graf", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB) (in German), 40, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 676–677

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