Charles Louis, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

: ''Karl Ludwig Herzog von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck''; 18 September 1690 – 22 September 1774) was a Lieutenant General in the

Prussian Army The Royal Prussian Army (1701–1919, german: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power. The Prussian Army had its roots in the co ...

and Governor of Reval (

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

) in the

Governorate of Estonia The Governorate of Estonia, also known as the Governorate of Esthonia (Pre-reformed rus, Эстля́ндская губе́рнія, r=Estlyandskaya guberniya); et, Eestimaa kubermang was a governorate in the Baltic region, along with th ...

Life

Charles Louis was born as the second son of

Frederick Louis, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck Frederick Louis, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck (german: Friedrich Ludwig Herzog von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck; 6 April 1653 – 7 March 1728) was a Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck and field marshal of the Pruss ...

(1653-1728) and his wife, Princess Louise Charlotte of

Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg The House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg () was a branch of the dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg of the House of Oldenburg. The line descended from Alexander, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg. Like all of the secondary ...

(1658-1740).

Biography

In 1723, he converted to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

. Charles Louis became the titular Duke of

Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck The House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck (Schleswig-Holstein-Beck or Beck for short) was a line of the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg branch of the House of Oldenburg. It consisted of August Philipp, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Be ...

in 1757 after his nephew Colonel

Frederick William III Frederick William III (german: Friedrich Wilhelm III.; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, wh ...

died in the Battle of Prague without leaving a male heir. He was appointed

field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

by Czar

Peter III of Russia Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

in 1762, but he refused because of his age.

Marriage and issue

In 1730 he married

Countess Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility.L. G. Pine, Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty'' ...

Anna Karolina Orzelska Anna Karolina Orzelska (23 November 1707 – 27 September 1769) was a Polish ''szlachcianka'' (noblewoman) and an adventuress. Born as an illegitimate daughter of August II the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, by Henriette Rénard ...

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

Electorate of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony (German: or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356–1806. It was centered around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. In the Golden Bull of 1356, Emperor Charles ...

. She was an

illegitimate daughter Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...

August II the Strong Augustus II; german: August der Starke; lt, Augustas II; in Saxony also known as Frederick Augustus I – Friedrich August I (12 May 16701 February 1733), most commonly known as Augustus the Strong, was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as Ki ...

, Prince-Elector of Saxony and King of Poland and Grand-Duke of Lithuania, by his French mistress Henriette Rénard. Anna sought divorce after just three years of what proved to be an unhappy arranged marriage. They had one son: * Duke Karl Frederick (b. Dresden, 5 January 1732 - d. Strassburg, 21 February 1772), General Major of the

Saxon Army The Royal Saxon Army (german: Königlich Sächsische Armee) was the military force of the Electorate (1682–1807) and later the Kingdom of Saxony (1807–1918). A regular Saxon army was first established in 1682 and it continued to exist until the ...

; Karl never married and did not have issue

Death

Charles Louis died in 1774 in

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

. He was succeeded by

Peter August Peter August is a fictional character from '' General Hospital'', an American soap opera on the ABC network, portrayed by Wes Ramsey. Peter is introduced as a media publisher in 2017, and is soon revealed to be the previously unknown son of Ces ...

of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck.

Ancestry

References

External links

Short biography
1690 births 1774 deaths 18th-century German military personnel Converts to Roman Catholicism from Lutheranism Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck Nobility from Königsberg People from Tallinn People from the Governorate of Estonia Lieutenant generals of Prussia Baltic nobility Baltic-German people Military personnel from Königsberg {{Germany-duke-stub