Balthasar of Hanau-Münzenberg

German nobleman
The basics

Quick Facts

IntroGerman nobleman
PlacesGermany
wasNoble
Work fieldRoyals
Gender
Male
Birth29 June 1508
Death9 December 1534Hanau (aged 26 years)
Star signCancer
Family
Mother:Catherine of Schwarzburg-Blankenburg
Father:Reinhard IV, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg
The details

Biography

Balthasar of Hanau-Münzenberg (29 June 1508 – 9 December 1534, in Hanau) was a posthumous son of Count Reinhard IV of Hanau-Münzenberg (1473 - 1512) and his wife Countess Catherine of Schwarzburg-Blankenburg (d. 1514).

Life

From 1529, he acted as co-regent for his nephew, Count Philip III, whose father had died young. He continued the construction of fortifications around Hanau, which his brother Philip II had begun. He supplemented the fortresses with a defensive ring according to the latest technical standard of the Renaissance.

Balthasar never married. Like most male members of the Hanau-Münzenberg line, he died young, in 1534, at the age of 26. He was buried in the church of St. Mary in Hanau.

One of Hanau's city gates was decorated with a bust of Balthasar, until the gate was demolished in the 18th century. The bust fell into the hands of the Historical Society of Hanau. It was destroyed when the city was bombed on 19 March 1945. Only drawings of it remain.

Ancestors

Ancestors of Balthasar of Hanau-Münzenberg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8. Reinhard III, Count of Hanau (1412-1452)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4. Philip I, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg (1449-1500)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
9. Countess Palatine Margaret of Mosbach (1432-1457)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2. Reinhard IV, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg (1473-1512)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10. John IV, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg (1410-1475)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5. Adriana of Nassau-Dillenburg (1449-1477)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
11. Maria of Loon-Heinsberg (1424-1502)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1. Philip II, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
12. Henry XXVI of Schwarzburg-Blankenburg (1418-1488)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
6. Günther XXXVIII of Schwarzburg-Blankenburg (1450-1484)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
13. Elisabeth of Cleves (1420-1488)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3. Catherine of Schwarzburg-Blankenburg (1470-1514)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
14. Bruno VIII of Querfurt (1426-1496)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7. Catherine of Querfurt (d. 1521)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
15. Elisabeth of Mansfeld (d. 1482)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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