Frederick III, Elector Palatine

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Frederick III
Frederick III, Elector Palatine
Elector Palatine
Reign	12 February 1559 – 26 October 1576
Predecessor	Otto Henry
Successor	Louis VI
Born	(1515-02-14)14 February 1515 Simmern
Died	26 October 1576(1576-10-26) (aged 61) Heidelberg
Burial	Heiliggeistkirche, Heidelberg
Spouse	Marie of Brandenburg-Kulmbach Amalia of Neuenahr
Issue	Alberta Louis VI, Elector Palatine Elizabeth, Duchess of Saxony Hermann Louis Johann Casimir of Simmern Dorothea Susanne, Duchess of Saxe-Weimar Albert Anne Elizabeth Christopher Charles Cunigunde, Countess of Nassau-Dillenburg
House	House of Wittelsbach
Father	John II of Simmern
Mother	Beatrice of Baden
Religion	Reformed

Frederick III of Simmern, the Pious, Elector Palatine of the Rhine (14 February 1515 – 16 October 1576) was a ruler from the house of Wittelsbach, specifically the cadet branch of Palatinate-Simmern-Sponheim. He was a son of John II of Simmern and inherited the Palatinate from the childless Elector Otto-Henry, Elector Palatine (Ottheinrich) in 1559. He was a devout convert to Calvinism, and made the Reformed confession the official religion of his domain by overseeing the composition and promulgation of the Heidelberg Catechism. His support of Calvinism gave the German Reformed movement a foothold within the Holy Roman Empire.