Philipp III. von Falkenstein

Philip III of Falkenstein (, 1257 – 9 February 1322), Lord of Falkenstein, Münzenberg and Lich, Hesse was a member of the Lich line of the Falkenstein dynasty, son of , Lord of Münzenberg and Falkenstein, who founded the Lich line, and his wife Mechtild of (1238 – 3 December 1288). Ancestry Philip III was a member of the -Falkenstein family, which were originally based at , in Donnersbergkreis in the Palatinate and had held part of the Münzenberg Inheritance in Wetterau since 1255. Lordship Before 1295, his father Werner I had moved his seat away from Münzenburg to the nearby town of Lich after he had inherited another part of the Münzenberg Inheritance. Philip had a large water castle built at Lich, in order to protect the spot where the road crossed the Wetter river. While in the service of the German King Albert I, the king promoted Lich to the rank of town by a charter of 10 March 1300 – it had already been referred to as "oppidum nostrum" (our town) in 1297. In 1313, Emperor Henry VII promoted Königstein im Taunus to town rank as well, which had formerly belonged to the and had been part of the Falkensteins' domains since 1255. A long-running conflict with Ulrich I of Hanau over the Münzenburg Inheritance and especially the Jewish tax of and Münzenberg was brought to an end in 1304 with an arbitration in Philip's favour.