Frederick William I, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (28 March 1675 – 31 July 1713) was the reigning
Duke of Mecklenburg
This list of dukes and grand dukes of Mecklenburg dates from the origins of the German princely state of Mecklenburg's royal house in the High Middle Ages to the monarchy's abolition at the end of World War I. Strictly speaking, Mecklenburg's p ...
in the
Mecklenburg-Schwerin portion of the duchy of Mecklenburg from 1692 until 1713.
Frederick William was the eldest son of Prince
Frederick, Duke of Mecklenburg-Grabow, and Christine Wilhelmine of Hesse-Homburg (1653–1722). He was a nephew of the childless Duke Christian Ludwig I of Mecklenburg. Frederick Wiliam succeeded his uncle on 21 June 1692 as regent of the Schwerin portion of the duchy of Mecklenburg. After the extinction of the Mecklenburg-Güstrow line of the dynasty with the death of Duke
Gustav Adolph in 1695, Frederick William became embroiled in a violent succession dispute with his uncle
Adolf Frederick II that escalated quickly. It brought the country to the brink of civil war and was settled only through the intervention of foreign powers. The king of Denmark and Norway,
Frederick IV, gave up the inheritance request for the
Mecklenburg-Güstrow
Mecklenburg-Güstrow was a state of the Holy Roman Empire in Northern Germany, that existed on three occasions ruled by the House of Mecklenburg at Güstrow.
History
A first short-lived predecessor existed after the death of Henry IV, Duke of M ...
principality in exchange for the Duke's support for Denmark-Norway in the
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swed ...
. The dispute was ended in 1701 by the Hamburg Compromise. Mecklenburg was again split into two parts with limited autonomy. The two sub-principalities,
Mecklenburg-Strelitz
The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a duchy in northern Germany consisting of the eastern fifth of the historic Mecklenburg region, roughly corresponding with the present-day Mecklenburg-Strelitz district (the former Lordship of Stargard), ...
and Mecklenburg-Schwerin, existed until 1918. The Compromise also introduced the right of succession of the first-born to the dynasty.
In 1708, Frederick William introduced the "Consumption and Tax Statute" to overcome the fiscal consequences of the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...
and the
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swed ...
. In addition to the taxation of knights and the clergy, this law included the abolition of serfdom, freeing farmers from dependence on their landlords. The former peasants could lease their land and forced labor was to be replaced by work for a salary. This created a sharp conflict between the duke and the landed estates.
Frederick William married
Sophie Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel
Sophie Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel (16 July 1678, Kassel – 30 May 1749, Bützow) was a princess of Hesse-Kassel and by marriage Duchess of Mecklenburg.
Life
Sophie Charlotte was a daughter of Count Charles of Hesse-Kassel (1654 to 1730) fro ...
on 2 January 1704 in
Kassel. She was a daughter of Count
Charles I of Hesse-Kassel. The couple had no children.
Frederick William had numerous mistresses, with whom he had at least nine children, including:
* Charles Louis von Mecklenburg auf Zibühl, Lübzin and Karcheez (a son with Sophie Magdalene of Plüskow, died 1703)
* Margaretha Dorothea Gredler (died 1744 in
Dömitz
Dömitz () is a municipality in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Elbe, 25 km southwest of Ludwigslust, and 37 km northwest of Wittenberge
Wittenberg ...
)
A lady named Frederika Wilhelmina was born in 1702 in
Boitzenburg and died 1748 in
Schwerin
Schwerin (; Mecklenburgian Low German: ''Swerin''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the capital and second-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as well as of the region of Mecklenburg, after Rostock. It ...
. In 1719, she married Hermann Christian von Wolffradt (died in 1723 in
Dömitz
Dömitz () is a municipality in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Elbe, 25 km southwest of Ludwigslust, and 37 km northwest of Wittenberge
Wittenberg ...
). She was a
mistress
Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to:
Romance and relationships
* Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a ...
of Duke
Karl Leopold of Mecklenburg. Whether she was an illegitimate daughter of Frederick William is a point of controversy in the historical literature.
Frederick William died in
Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...
on 31 July 1713 on his return from
Schlangenbad. His wife Sofia Charlotte took up her
dower
Dower is a provision accorded traditionally by a husband or his family, to a wife for her support should she become widowed. It was settled on the bride (being gifted into trust) by agreement at the time of the wedding, or as provided by law. ...
in
Bützow
Bützow is a town in the district of Rostock in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in north-eastern Germany, centered on Bützower See.
History
The town was first mentioned in 1171. From 1815 to 1918 Bützow was part of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schw ...
, where she died. She was buried beside her husband in the crypt of the newly built
Schelfkirche St. Nikolai in Schwerin.
Friedrich Wigger
Friedrich Wigger (17 June 1825 - 24 September 1886) was a north German archivist. During the second half of the nineteenth century he served as archivist in charge of the "Großherzogliche Geheime und Hauptarchiv Schwerin in Mecklenburg", the ...
: ''genealogies of the Grand Ducal House of Mecklenburg.'' In: Annals of the Association for Mecklenburg History and Archaeology 50 (1885), p. 111ff
digitized
)
References
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frederick William 01 of Mecklenburg
House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
1675 births
1713 deaths