Hesse-Wanfried

The mini-state Hesse-Wanfried existed from about 1700 to 1731. It was a principality (Landgraviate) of the Holy Roman Empire in the area of the today's Land of Hesse. Governed by a cadet line of the House of Hesse under the sovereignty of the land of Hesse-Kassel.

History

Maurice the Learned (1572–1632) was Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel from 1592 until 1627 when he abdicated in favour of his son William V (1602–1637), his younger sons receiving apanages which created several cadet lines of the house (Hesse-Rotenburg, Hesse-Eschwege and Hesse-Rheinfels), of which, with amalgamation, that of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg survived till 1834.^[1]

In 1627 Ernest (1623–1693), a younger son of Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel), received Rheinfels and lower Katzenelnbogen as his inheritance, and some years later, on the deaths of two of his brothers, Frederick, Landgrave of Hesse-Eschwege (1617–1655) and Herman IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg (1607–1658), he added Eschwege, Rotenburg, Wanfried and other districts to his possessions. Ernest, who was a convert to the Roman Catholic Church, was a great traveller and a voluminous writer. About 1700 his two sons, William (d. 1725) and Charles (or Karl) (d. 1711), divided their territories, and founded the families of Hesse-Rotenburg and Hesse-Wanfried.^[2] The latter family died out in 1755, when William's grandson, Constantine (d. 1778), reunited the lands except Rheinfels, which had been acquired by Hesse-Kassel in 1735, and ruled them as Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg.^[3]

The governing Landgraves of Hesse-Wanfried

• Charles, Landgrave of Hesse-Wanfried-(Rheinfels) (1649–1711); sovereign ~1700–1711
• William II, Landgrave of Hesse-Wanfried-Rheinfels (1671–1731); sovereign 1711–1731.^[4]

Notes

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Anonymous (1911). "Hesse-Cassel". In Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Britannica 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 410. 
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Anonymous (1911). "Hesse-Rotenburg". In Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Britannica 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 413. 

Further reading

• Kessler, P L. "European Kingdoms: Central Europe: Landgraves of Hessen-Rheinfels (-Rotenburg) AD 1567 - 1869". The history files (Kessler Associates Printhouse). Retrieved January 2011.  External link in |publisher= (help)
• Marek, Miroslav (17 March 2008). "Landgraves of Hesse family". http://genealogy.euweb.cz/. Retrieved 28 January 2011. 

Landgraves of Hesse-Rotenburg The generations start from the children of Herman, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg and his brother Ernest, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg 1st Generation William 2nd Generation Ernest Leopold 3rd Generation Joseph, Hereditary Prince Landgrave Franciscus Alexander Constantine 4th Generation Landgrave Ernest Charles Emmanuel Landgrave Alois Landgrave Christian Landgrave Charles Landgrave Ernest 5th Generation Victor Amadeus