Born in London, Edward was the son of
Christopher II, Margrave of Baden-Rodemachern and Swedish Princess
Cecilia Vasa. He received his name from
Queen Elizabeth I of England, who was his godmother. He spent his first year at
Hampton Court Palace, England. When his father died in 1575, he became the Margrave of Baden-Rodemachern. His guardian,
Duke William V of Bavaria, gave him a
Catholic upbringing and in 1584 he converted from
Lutheranism to Catholicism, as his mother had already done. The strife between Catholics and Protestants divided Edward's family, and on 18 November 1589 he hosted a colloquy in the Town Hall at Baden to discuss the relative claims of Catholicism (represented by
Johann Pistorius), Lutheranism (represented by Andreä and
Jacob Heerbrand), and
Calvinism, represented by Schyrius, but it caused only a hardening of viewpoints. On 13 March 1591 in
Brussels, he made a non-church marriage with
Maria van der Eicken (1569 – 21 April 1636), daughter of Joost van der Eycken, the Governor of
Breda, which he regularised only on 14 May 1593, after she had borne him a daughter. They ultimately had four children but due in part to his wife's lesser antecedents they were never recognised as his heirs by
Ernest Frederick, Margrave of Baden-Durlach, who succeeded him. In 1587, he visited his relatives in Sweden, and accompanied his cousin
Sigismund III Vasa, King of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (and also later King of Sweden) to Poland and in 1588 was appointed by him to head the Polish customs and mines. The same year, he inherited
Baden-Baden, reuniting it with Baden-Rodemachern. However, he treated the Lutherans harshly and squandered the resources of the territory, and his marriage and children were not approved of by his relatives.) Edward inherited debts from his parents and aggravated them. After losing his margravate, he lived in various castles and attempted to raise money by coining money,
alchemy and
black magic, bringing
Paul Pestalozzi of Clavella and
Mascarello of Chio from Padua to assist him, and succeeded in causing pain to Ernest Frederick by sticking pins in a wax effigy. He is also reported as having sought to have Ernest Frederick killed by poisoning. He also supposedly seduced and caused the death of the daughter of his castellan at the
Yburg, which is now ruined and haunted by her ghost. In 1597, he was sent to Germany to recruit mercenaries on behalf of the Government of Spain. In 1598, he participated in his cousin Sigismund's attempt to regain Sweden from his uncle
Charles IX and in the
Battle of Stångebro. Edward was captured and briefly imprisoned by the Danes. He died in 1600 at
Castle Kastellaun as a result of falling down a stone staircase, possibly while drunk. == Children ==