Ernest Constantine, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal (8 August 1771 in

Philippsthal Philippsthal (Werra) is a market community in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in eastern Hesse, Germany, right at the boundary with Thuringia. Geography Location Philippsthal lies between the outliers of the Rhön and the Thuringian Forest (ranges) ...

– 25 December 1849 in

Meiningen Meiningen () is a town in the southern part of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in the region of Franconia and has a population of around 25,000 (2021).

) was a member of the

House of Hesse The House of Hesse is a European dynasty, directly descended from the House of Brabant. They ruled the region of Hesse, one branch as prince-electors until 1866, and another branch as grand dukes until 1918. Burke's Royal Families of the World, ...

and Landgrave of

Hesse-Philippsthal This is a list of rulers of Hesse (german: Hessen) during the history of Hesse on west-central Germany. These rulers belonged to a dynasty collectively known as the House of Hesse and the House of Brabant,''Burke's Royal Families of the World ...

from 1816 until his death.

Life

Ernest Constantine was the youngest son of the Landgrave William of Hesse-Philippsthal (1726-1810) from his marriage with Ulrike Eleonora of

Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld This is a list of rulers of Hesse (german: Hessen) during the history of Hesse on west-central Germany. These rulers belonged to a dynasty collectively known as the House of Hesse and the House of Brabant,''Burke's Royal Families of the World ...

(1732-1795), daughter of

William, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld William of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (1 April 1692 – 13 May 1761) was a member of the House of Hesse and was Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld from 1721 to 1761. Life William was a younger son of Landgrave Philip, Landgrave of Hesse ...

. Until 1796 he was an officer in Dutch service. In 1797, he acquired the porcelain manufactory in Volkstedt (a suburb of

Rudolstadt Rudolstadt is a town in the German federal state Thuringia, with the Thuringian Forest to the southwest, and to Jena and Weimar to the north. The former capital of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the town is built along the River Saale inside a wide v ...

), which he sold two years later. In 1808 he became

Grand Chamberlain A chamberlain (Medieval Latin: ''cambellanus'' or ''cambrerius'', with charge of treasury ''camerarius'') is a senior royal official in charge of managing a royal household. Historically, the chamberlain superintends the arrangement of domestic ...

of the

Jérôme Bonaparte Jérôme-Napoléon Bonaparte (born Girolamo Buonaparte; 15 November 1784 – 24 June 1860) was the youngest brother of Napoleon I and reigned as Jerome Napoleon I (formally Hieronymus Napoleon in German), King of Westphalia, between 1807 and 1 ...

, the King of

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

. After the dissolution of the kingdom of Westphalia, Ernst Constantine succeeded his brother

Louis Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...

as Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal in 1816. He also re-entered Dutch service, where he was appointed

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Marriage and issue

Ernest Constantine married Louise (1775-1808), the daughter of Prince Frederick Charles of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1736-1793), on 10 April 1796 in

, with whom he had the five children: * Frederick William (1797-1797) * Ferdinand (1799-1837) * George Gustav (1801-1802) * Charles II (1803-1868), who succeeded him as Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal, married the Duchess Marie of Württemberg (1818-1888) in 1845 * Francis (1805-1861), created Baron of Falkener in 1841, married (

morganatically Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spou ...

) Mary Catharine Kohlmann (1819-1904) Later, he married his niece, Caroline of Hesse-Philippsthal (1793-1872), daughter of his elder brother Prince Charles of Hesse-Philippsthal, on 17 February 1812 in

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

. From his second marriage he had two children: * Victoria (1812-1837) * William Edward (1817-1819)

Ancestors

References

* Johann Samuel Ersch
''Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste in alphabetischer ...'' p. 297 f.
* Otto Wigand
''Wigand's Conversations-lexikon'' p. 633

''Genealogisches Staats-Handbuch'' p. 93
Landgraves of Hesse House of Hesse 1771 births 1849 deaths 18th-century German people {{Germany-noble-stub