Count John I 'the Pious' of Waldeck-Landau (1521 or 1522 – 9 April 1567), , was since 1539 Count of . He was the founder of the younger cadet branch of Waldeck-Landau.
Biography
Philip was born in 1521 or 1522 as the second son of Count Philip III of Waldeck-Eisenberg and his second wife Duchess Anne of Cleves. Since 1537 John studied with his elder brother in Marburg.
With the cooperation of Landgrave Philip I of Hesse, the division of the County of Waldeck was arranged by treaty on 22 November 1538. One part was awarded to the two sons of the first marriage, and Wolrad II, the other to the sons of the second marriage, Philip V, John I and . A year later, after the death of his father, John succeeded him in Landau.
Although by 1529 the Protestant faith was widespread in most parts of the County of Waldeck, the churches and some influential citizens still remained Catholic, especially in Korbach, where the Counts of Waldeck did not manage to eliminate the religious differences. In May 1543 they brought in the Protestant Reformer , who completed the Reformation in the County of Waldeck.
The two leaders of the Schmalkaldic League, Elector John Frederick I of Saxony and Landgrave Philip I of Hesse, formed an army in the middle of 1546. The Counts of Waldeck responded to the landgrave's call for support. Emperor Charles V emerged victorious from the Schmalkaldic War on 24 April 1547 at the Battle of Mühlberg. Of the Counts of Waldeck, only Count Samuel, son of Count Philip IV of Waldeck-Wildungen, had participated; but the other Counts of Waldeck also had to come to Kassel to sign the reconciliation treaty, which the Emperor presented on 16 July 1547 to the surrendering landgrave. The subjects and servants of Hesse were also ordered to sign the treaty. John had already signed it, his relatives followed. But the Emperor did not accept the reconciliation in the case of the Counts of Waldeck. For him they were not subjects of Hesse, but Imperial Counts and therefore immediately subordinate to him. Therefore he summoned them under threat of the imperial ban to the Diet of Augsburg in 1548, so that they would answer for their participation in the army of the Schmalkaldic League and reconcile with him. What on the one hand had the character of a humiliation for the counts, on the other hand weakened the landgraves of Hesse and their territorial claims to the County of Waldeck. Waldeck was thus explicitly immediate.
John travelled to Augsburg with his brother Philip V, who as a Catholic clergyman had been on the side of the Protestants, and his halfbrother Wolrad II, as well as with Samuel, who had not been summoned at all. Arriving in Augsburg on 14 April 1548, weeks passed by during which the Counts of Waldeck sought – and finally found – advocates. At the end of May, however, the Emperor declared that an apology was not enough for him. Philip and John had to pay him 5,000 guilders, Wolrad even 8,000, because he had turned against the Emperor in word and deed more than the other counts, so it was said. They were forced to waive substantial financial claims. On 22 June 1548 the Emperor drew up the pardon charter. On 12 August the Emperor also issued a letter of protection for Countess Dowager Anne and for Wolrad, Philip and John. However, the counts did not give up Protestantism.
At the Imperial Diet, the Emperor issued the Interim – an Imperial law – to bridge the time until a general church council, which would have to include the Protestants in the Catholic Church. There was fierce resistance because it subjected the Protestants to the authority of bishops and the Pope again. The Emperor withdrew it in 1552.
The weakening of Hesse as a result of the five-year imprisonment of Landgrave Philip I in the Netherlands and the high debts after the Schmalkaldic War caused the estates of the realm of Waldeck to turn away from Hesse. Confessionally the county was united, but administratively it was not. On 22 June 1549 the Reichskammergericht in Speyer decided that Hesse could not exempt Waldeck from its obligations towards the Emperor and the Empire and that the Counts of Waldeck, as immediate counts, had to pay the imperial taxes themselves. However, the collection of taxes from the estates of the realm was difficult and forced the long overdue improvement of the administration of the county.
In 1553, John I visited his uncle, Bishop Francis of Münster. His uncle asked him to mediate in a dispute between the Münster city council and the guilds. After this dispute had been resolved, Francis repealed the privileges he had granted to the Baptists after the Münster Rebellion. John I is mentioned in this decree.