Egon VIII of Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg
Egon VIII of Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg was Imperial Count of Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg and Bavarian Field-marshal, and an important military leader in the Thirty Years' War.Life and career
Egon came from the noble house of Fürstenberg. His father was Frederick IV of Fürstenberg, and his mother was Elizabeth of Sulz.
Presumably the third son of the couple, Egon held several church offices. He was Chorbishop of Magdeburg and Strasbourg, treasurer and prebendary, Provost at St. Gereon in Cologne and of Archduke Leopold, Bishop of Passau and Strasbourg, Council and the governor in the autonomous Cathedral district of Rouffach.
By imperial letters patent of 9 September 1619, he was made a warlord of the Catholic League during the Thirty Years War. In 1631, Egon of Fürstenberg enforced the Edict of Restitution in Franconia and Württemberg. Together with Johann von Aldringen, he waged war on Württemberg after the Peace of Cherasco, which forced the Duke of Württemberg to submit to the emperor and to distance himself from the decisions of the Leipzig convention. On 14 September 1631, during the siege of Leipzig, he commanded the right wing of the imperial troops led by General Tilly.Marriage and descendants
Egon married Anna Maria of Hohenzollern-Hechingen, the daughter of Georg of Hohenzollern-Hechingen. They had seven sons and four daughters:
- Eleonore.
- Elisabeth, married Ferdinand Count of Lynden and Reckheim.
- Ferdinand Frederick Egon, Imperial Reichshofrat and colonel.
- Leopold Ludwig Egon, died before the age of 15 at Dietenhofen in the imperial service.
- Franz Egon, bishop of Strasbourg.
- Herman Egon, Prince of Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg from 1664.
- Johann Egon.
- Wilhelm Egon, bishop of Strasbourg as a successor to his brother Franz Egon.
- Ernst Egon.
- Maria Franziska, married Wolfgang William, Count Palatine of Neuburg, and after his death Leopold Wilhelm, Margrave of Baden-Baden.
- Anna Maria, married Ferdinand Karl, Count of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort.
