Frederick was strictly educated in the
Catholic faith at his father's court and at
Cologne, but, influenced by his wife, the pious princess
Maria of Brandenburg, whom he married in 1537, he followed the
Reformation, and in 1546 made a public profession of his faith. He succeeded his father John II as duke of
Simmern on 18 May 1557, and became elector on 12 February 1559, on the death of Otto Henry. Under his predecessor
strict Lutherans like
Tilemann Heshusius,
Melanchthonians, and
Calvinists had found a place in the Palatinate. In the summer of 1559 bitter controversies arose among them. Theses on the
Lord's Supper prepared by the
Heidelberg deacon Wilhelm Klebitz provoked a bitter controversy between him and Heshusius. When efforts at mediation failed Frederick deposed both men on 16 September 1559. To get a clear understanding of the controversy Frederick spent days and nights in theological studies and was thus led more and more to the Reformed confession. A disputation held in June 1560 between the Saxon theologians
Johann Stössel and
Joachim Mörlin and the Heidelbergers
Pierre Boquin,
Thomas Erastus, and Paul Einhorn increased Frederick's dislike for the Lutheran zealots. After the
Naumburg Convention (January 1561) Frederick fully adopted the Reformed dogmas. In March 1561 he invited
Emmanuel Tremellius to Heidelberg, and in September the famous
Zacharius Ursinus. The whole Church was now transformed.
Caspar Olevianus had been there since January 1560. Images of the saints,
vestments, baptismal fonts, and other "idolatrous works," even organs, were ruthlessly removed from the churches. In the celebration of the Lord's Supper the breaking of bread was introduced. The revenues from monasteries and foundations were confiscated and applied to Evangelical church purposes or charity. The
Heidelberg Catechism, prepared by a committee of theologians and ministers likely led by Ursinus, now served as the norm of doctrine and for the instruction of the youth. The church order of 15 November 1563 and the
consistory order of 1564 consolidated the changes. The opposition of ministers inclining to Lutheranism was suppressed by their dismissal. Among the Lutherans, Frederick's measures caused a great sensation. The religious colloquy held at
Maulbronn in April 1564 increased the animosity. In 1565 the
Emperor Maximilian ordered the changes to be annulled. A unanimous decree of the 1566
Diet of Augsburg also demanded the abolition of the changes. Frederick, however, declared in the 14 May session of the Diet that a matter was concerned over which God alone has the rule, and if it was intended to proceed against him, he would find comfort in the promises of his Saviour. The decree was not carried out. After completing the work of reform in the
Rhine Palatinate, Frederick endeavored to continue it in the
Upper Palatinate; but here he was resisted by the zealous Lutheran estates. He continued his work of reform on the Rhine by introducing in 1570 a strict church discipline. Frederick pronounced the sentence of death on the Antitrinitarian
Johann Sylvan based on the opinion signed by Olevianus, Ursinus, and Boquin, on 23 December 1572. In 1562 Frederick gave
Frankenthal as a refuge to the Evangelicals driven from the
Netherlands. He sent his like-minded son
Johann Casimir in 1567 and again in 1576 to
France in aid of the
Huguenots. In 1569 he assisted also
Wolfgang, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken on his way to France. Frederick's last years were troubled by domestic afflictions. As his older son Louis was a strict Lutheran, he could not hope that after his death his work would be carried out in his own spirit. ==Family and children==