Frederick III of the Palatinate

Frederick III of Simmern, the Pious, Elector Palatine of the Rhine was a ruler from the House of Wittelsbach, specifically the cadet branch of Palatinate-Simmern-Sponheim. He was a son of John II of Simmern and inherited the Palatinate from the childless Elector Palatine Otto Henry (Ottheinrich) in 1559. He was a devout convert to Calvinism and made the Reformed confession the official religion of his domain by overseeing the composition and promulgation of the Heidelberg Catechism. His support of Calvinism gave the German Reformed movement a foothold within the Holy Roman Empire.