born Nov. 13, 1504, Marburg, Hesse
died March 31, 1567, Kassel, Ger.
German nobleman, landgrave of Hesse, and champion of the Reformation .
His skillful management made Hesse a sovereign state. Won to the cause of Schmalkaldic League . However, his folly in contracting a bigamous second marriage damaged his reputation. After the emperor crushed the league, Philip was imprisoned (1547–52). Long imprisonment undermined his influence and his health, though he finally saw Lutheranism gain a position of legal equality with Catholicism in the Peace of Augsburg (1555). In the year of his death, he divided Hesse among his four sons.