Frederick III, Elector Palatine

Frederick III
Frederick III, Elector Palatine
Elector Palatine
Reign12 February 1559 – 26 October 1576
PredecessorOtto Henry
SuccessorLouis VI
Born(1515-02-14)14 February 1515
Simmern
Died26 October 1576(1576-10-26) (aged 61)
Heidelberg
Burial
Heiliggeistkirche, Heidelberg
SpouseMarie of Brandenburg-Kulmbach
Amalia of Neuenahr
IssueAlberta
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
HouseHouse of Wittelsbach
FatherJohn II of Simmern
MotherBeatrice of Baden
ReligionReformed

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.