He was the son of
Frederick I, Count Palatine of Simmern and
Margaret of Guelders. He and his brothers Stephen and Frederick matriculated in the juristic faculty of the 'Universitas Studii Coloniensis' (the old
university of Cologne). He suffered from a severe illness known as the
Franzosenkrankheit or the
French Disease, a term used at the time to refer to both
syphilis and
yaws – it prevented him from exercising his office, and eventually proved fatal. His bishopric was devastated by the
War of the Succession of Landshut and its territories were altered by the creation of the dukedom of
Palatinate-Neuburg. One of those to whom he delegated his authority was the
inquisitor Heinrich Kramer, to compensate for the lower clergy's lack of energy in prosecuting witches and wizards in
Abensberg. ==References==