The County of Hanau-Münzenberg was a territory within the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
. It emerged when the
County of Hanau
The County of Hanau was a territory within the Holy Roman Empire, evolved out of the Lordship of Hanau in 1429. From 1456 to 1642 and from 1685 to 1712 it was divided into the County of Hanau-Münzenberg and the County of Hanau-Lichtenberg. ...
was divided in 1458, the other part being the county of
Hanau-Lichtenberg
The County of Hanau-Lichtenberg was a territory in the Holy Roman Empire. It emerged between 1456 and 1480 from a part of the County of Hanau and one half of the Barony of Lichtenberg. Following the extinction of the counts of Hanau-Lichtenberg in ...
. Due to common heirs, both counties were merged from 1642 to 1685 and from 1712 to 1736. In 1736 the last member of the
House of Hanau
Hanau is a town in Germany and Lichtenberg is a village in Alsace, now France. This list of rulers of Hanau or Hanau-Lichtenberg covers the lords and later counts that ruled the area from the 14th through the 18th centuries (see also Lichtenberg ...
died and the
Landgrave
Landgrave (german: Landgraf, nl, landgraaf, sv, lantgreve, french: landgrave; la, comes magnus, ', ', ', ', ') was a noble title used in the Holy Roman Empire, and later on in its former territories. The German titles of ', ' ("margrave"), a ...
of
Hessen-Kassel
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Kassel), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, was a state in the Holy Roman Empire that was imperial immediacy, directly subject to the Emperor. The state was created i ...
inherited the county.
Geography
![Comitatus hanau](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Comitatus_hanau.jpg)
The county of Hanau-Münzenberg was positioned to the north of the river
Main
Main may refer to:
Geography
* Main River (disambiguation)
**Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany
* Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province
*"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries
...
stretching from the West of
Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
eastwards through the valley of the river
Kinzig to
Schlüchtern
Schlüchtern is a town in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hessen, Germany. It is located on the river Kinzig, approximately 30 km southwest of Fulda. Schlüchtern has a population close to 16,000.
Location
Schlüchtern is located in the '' Ber ...
and into the
Spessart
Spessart is a ''Mittelgebirge'', a range of low wooded mountains, in the States of Bavaria and Hesse in Germany. It is bordered by the Vogelsberg, Rhön and Odenwald. The highest elevation is the Geiersberg at 586 metres above sea level.
Etymo ...
mountains to
Partenstein
Partenstein is a community in the Main-Spessart district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') in Bavaria, Germany and the seat of the ''Verwaltungsgemeinschaft'' (Administrative Community) of Partenstein. Partenstein ...
. Capital was the town of
Hanau
Hanau () is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main and is part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Its Hanau Hauptbahnhof, station is a ...
. The counts had also castles in
Windecken
Nidderau () is a town in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated approximately 12 km north of Hanau, and 20 km northeast of Frankfurt. Nidderau was created in the merger of the municipality of Heldenbergen with the tow ...
(disused after the 16th century) and
Steinau an der Straße
Steinau an der Straße is a town of around 10,000 inhabitants in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated on the river Kinzig, southwest of Fulda. The name ''Steinau'' refers to stones in the river; ''an der Straße,'' meaning ...
.
For the following years population counts of Hanau-Münzenberg do exist:
* 1632: 5,140 families
* 1707: 6,706 families
* 1754: 48,000 inhabitants
History
Emergence
![Philipp I](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Philipp_I._von_Hanau-M%C3%BCnzenberg2.jpg)
In 1452, after a reign of only one year, Count
Reinhard III of Hanau
Count Reinhard III of Hanau (22 April 1412 – 20 April 1452 in Heidelberg) was Count of Hanau from 1451 until his death. He was the son of Count Reinhard II of Hanau and his wife, Catherine of Nassau-Beilstein.
Reign
In 1434, when his fat ...
(1412–1452) died. The heir was his son,
Philip I (the Younger) (1449–1500), only four years old. For the sake of the continuity of the dynasty after years of political fighting, his relatives and other important decision-makers in the county agreed not to turn to the 1375
primogenitur
Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...
statute of the family – one of the oldest in Germany – but to separate the administrative
district of Babenhausen from the county of Hanau and let the heir's uncle and brother of the deceased,
Philip I (the Elder) (1417–1480), have it in his own right as a county. This arrangement of 1458 allowed him to have a befitting marriage and offspring entitled to inherit, and so increased the chances of survival of the comital house. This created the Line of Hanau-Lichtenberg. Later on – to distinguish the "old" county from Hanau-Lichtenberg – the part of the county which stayed with Philip I (the Younger) was called ''Hanau-Münzenberg''.
The History of Hanau-Münzenberg is dominated by a large series of guardianships for counts still minor when inheriting the county from their fathers: Without interruption this happened during six accessions between 1512 and 1638. Always the counts died in their late 20th or 30th leaving behind a minor as successor. Most probably the reason was a hereditary disease. The effect of this was that the politics of expansion which on the long term dominated the success of the
Lordship of Hanau and later the county of Hanau came to a halt when Philip I (the Younger) died in 1500.
First Reformation
Slowly but early Hanau-Münzenberg participated in the
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
, to be exact: its
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
version. The reformation was introduced gradually during the reign of
Philipp II: when church staff retired, their successor would be a Lutheran. As early as 1523, the pastor Adolf Arborgast was included in the chapter of the St. Mary's Church in Hanau, the central church of the county. When he was appointed, he explained that he wanted to spend little effort on vespers and the daily mass, but would instead concentrate on his
sermon
A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. El ...
s and putting forward the
Gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
. The real reformer of Hanau was his successor Philipp Neunheller MA; during his time in office, the new faith gained more and more ground. The Catholic faith was never officially banned. The number of Catholic priests steadily decreased, as they were not replaced when they retired.
Also under the reign of Philipp II started the project to replace the
mediaeval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
fortifications of the town of Hanau by the latest in
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
-fortification available. This investment became necessary due to the introduction of modern artillery the mediaeval fortification could not withstand. The new walls were placed outside the mediaeval ones and included a settlement, "Vorstadt", which had developed outside the gates.
Second Reformation
![Philipp ludwig ii](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Philipp_ludwig_ii.jpg)
When
Philipp Ludwig I died in 1580 another guardianship had to be installed for the benefit of his successor,
Philipp Ludwig II, still a minor. Guardians became the Counts
John VI, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg
Count John VI of Nassau-Dillenburg (22 November 1536 – 8 October 1606) was the second son of William the Rich and the younger brother of William the Silent. He has a special place in the history of the Netherlands because he is the male-lin ...
(1536–1606),
Louis I, Count of Sayn-Wittgenstein 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 (d ...
(1568–1607) and
Philipp IV, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg
Philipp IV of Hanau-Lichtenberg (20 September 1514, in Babenhausen – 19 February 1590, in Lichtenberg) was from 1538 to 1590 the reigning Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg. Before his accession he had already conducted government business on behalf o ...
(1514–1590), who was replaced in 1585 by his son, Count
Philipp V of Hanau-Lichtenberg (1541–1599). The dominating figure in this constellation became the Count of Nassau. Additionally Philipp Ludwig's widowed mother, Countess
Magdalene of Waldeck-Wildungen
Countess Magdalene of Waldeck-Wildungen (1558 – 9 September 1599), german: Magdalena Gräfin zu Waldeck-Wildungen, was a countess from the House of Waldeck and through marriage successively Countess of Hanau-Münzenberg and Countess ...
, remarried on 9 December 1581 Count
John VII, the Middle, of Nassau-Siegen (1561–1623), the son of Count John IV. In consequence Philipp Ludwig II and his younger brother, Count
Albrecht, joined the Nassau-Dillenburg court, a centre of the
Reformation movement in Germany and closely tied to the
Electorate of the Palatinate
The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) or the Palatinate (), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate (), was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of ...
of the Rhine. The new ideas he encountered here greatly influenced his life and policies. By using his rights under the
Cuius regio, eius religio
() is a Latin phrase which literally means "whose realm, their religion" – meaning that the religion of the ruler was to dictate the religion of those ruled. This legal principle marked a major development in the collective (if not individual ...
rule, he changed the
confession
A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of persons – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information th ...
of his county to
Calvinism
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...
in 1593. He succeeded with this nearly everywhere in his sphere of influence, except in a few villages in the district Bornheimerberg, which surrounded
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
and the
condominiums shared with the
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
archbishop-
elector of Mainz
The Elector of Mainz was one of the seven Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. As both the Archbishop of Mainz and the ruling prince of the Electorate of Mainz, the Elector of Mainz held a powerful position during the Middle Ages. The Archb ...
. The villages in the vicinity of Frankfurt had strong ties to this (mainly) Lutheran city and a majority of the villagers just went to Lutheran services in "foreign" Frankfurt territory. Also in the
condominiums Philipp Ludwig II shared with Mainz he couldn't change anything — whether his subjects had become Lutheran during the reformation or had remained Roman Catholic.
With his marriage in 1596 to
Katharina Belgica, third daughter of
William the Silent
William the Silent (24 April 153310 July 1584), also known as William the Taciturn (translated from nl, Willem de Zwijger), or, more commonly in the Netherlands, William of Orange ( nl, Willem van Oranje), was the main leader of the Dutch Re ...
, he gained a personal connection to one of the leading personalities of
Calvinism
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...
in Europe.
Modernisation
The introduction of Calvinism and the location of the County of Hanau-Münzenberg, at only half a
day's journey
A day's journey in pre-modern literature, including the Bible, ancient geographers and ethnographers such as Herodotus, is a measurement of distance.
In the Bible, it is not as precisely defined as other Biblical measurements of distance; the dis ...
away from Frankfurt with its trade fairs, made Hanau an attractive place to settle for
Calvinist refugees from France and later from the
Southern Netherlands
The Southern Netherlands, also called the Catholic Netherlands, were the parts of the Low Countries belonging to the Holy Roman Empire which were at first largely controlled by Habsburg Spain (Spanish Netherlands, 1556–1714) and later by the A ...
. They were often wealthy traders and were attractive subjects for a ruler in need of tax revenues. In 1597 and 1604, the count and the refugees entered into two treaties which gave them a large degree of self-government and founded the "New Town" of Hanau, south to the historic mediaeval settlement. This proved to be a big success and initiated an economic growth for Hanau which lasted even into the 19th century. Both the towns, "Old Hanau" and "New Hanau" were surrounded by a modern fortification of
baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
style. This proved to be a first class asset in the following
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...
(1618-1648).
Philipp Ludwig II also reinstated a Jewish community in Hanau. Space was allocated for the Jews on the southern fortifications of the historic town, which was no longer needed, due to the new fortifications. This
Ghetto
A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...
was not part of one either town, but placed directly under the administrative control of the county.
Count Philipp Ludwig II also tried to get a university for his county by founding the "Hohe Landesschule" in Hanau. It was modeled on the
Herborn Academy The Herborn Academy ( la, Academia Nassauensis) was a Calvinist institution of higher learning in Herborn from 1584 to 1817. The Academy was a centre of encyclopaedic Ramism and the birthplace of both covenant theology and pansophism. Its faculty ...
, where he had studied himself. Even so, it did not develop into a university but still exists today as a
secondary school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...
.
Thirty Years' War
![Hanau 2 De Merian Hassiae](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Hanau_2_De_Merian_Hassiae.jpg)
The Calvinist county initially joined the forces of the Calvinist
Frederick V Frederick V or Friedrich V may refer to:
*Frederick V, Duke of Swabia (1164–1170)
*Frederick V, Count of Zollern (d.1289)
*Frederick V, Burgrave of Nuremberg (c. 1333–1398), German noble
*Frederick V of Austria (1415–1493), or Frederick III, ...
but had to surrender to the
emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
and the Roman Catholic forces. The reigning count, now
Philipp Moritz, chose to change sides, in order to retain the military command of his capital. He was appointed
Colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
and was expected to provide three
companies
A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...
. In November 1631, Swedish troops occupied Hanau and King
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
Gustavus Adolphus (9 December Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">N.S_19_December.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/now ...
entered the city. Philipp Moritz decided to change sides for the second time. He was a Calvinist and for him choosing between the Roman Catholic Emperor and the Lutheran Swedish king may have been like a choice
between Scylla and Charybdis
Being between Scylla and Charybdis is an idiom deriving from Greek mythology, which has been associated with the proverbial advice "to choose the lesser of two evils". Several other idioms, such as " on the horns of a dilemma", "between the devil ...
. Gustavus Adolphus appointed him to colonel and gave him a Swedish regiment. As a reward for his changing sides, he gave him the
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
of
Orb, the shares the
Electorate of Mainz
The Electorate of Mainz (german: Kurfürstentum Mainz or ', la, Electoratus Moguntinus), previously known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the Holy Roman Empire. In the ...
had held in the former
County of Rieneck
The County of Rieneck was a comital domain within the Holy Roman Empire that lay in what is now northwestern Bavaria (in the west of Lower Franconia). It bore the same name as its original ruling family, the Counts of Rieneck, from whom the count ...
and the districts of
Partenstein
Partenstein is a community in the Main-Spessart district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') in Bavaria, Germany and the seat of the ''Verwaltungsgemeinschaft'' (Administrative Community) of Partenstein. Partenstein ...
, Lohrhaupten, Bieber and
Alzenau
Alzenau (; until 31 December 2006 officially ''Alzenau i.UFr.'') is a town in the north of the Aschaffenburg (district), Aschaffenburg district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') in Bavaria, Germany. Until 1 July 1972 ...
. He gave Philipp Moritz's brothers, Heinrich Ludwig (1609–1632) and Jakob Johann (1612–1636) the town and district of Steinheim, which was also a former possession of Mainz. These possessions were lost when the Catholic side gained the upper hand after the
Battle of Nördlingen in September 1634. Changing sides again would have made Philipp Moritz seem untrustworthy. So he decided to flee to
Metz
Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...
and from there via
Chalon Chalon may refer to:
Culture
* Chalon people, a Native American tribe of California
* Chalon language, an Ohlone language spoken by the Chalon people
Places
* Chalon, Isère, formerly Châlons, in France's Isère ''département''
* Le Chalon, in ...
,
Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...
and
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
to his
Orange-Nassau relatives in
the Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
and
Delft
Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...
. He left his youngest brother, Jakob Johann, as
regent
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
in Hanau, because Jakob Johann was considered politically neutral. Hanau as a well-developed fortress remained occupied by Swedish troops under General
Jakob von Ramsay until 1638, who controlled the surrounding countryside from Hanau. He excluded Jakob Johann from any influence and so the later left the town too.
From September 1635 to June 1636, Hanau was unsuccessfully besieged by imperial troops under General
Guillaume de Lamboy
Guillaume III de Lamboy de Dessener, 1590 to 1659, was a Field Marshal in the Imperial Army, who served in the 1618 to 1648 Thirty Years War, and the 1635 to 1659 Franco-Spanish War.
Born in Kortessem, then in the Spanish Netherlands, now Lim ...
. This siege proved the value of the modern defensive system, which had been constructed only a few years before. Thousands of refugees fled from the surrounding villages into the town.
Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen
Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen (1621/22 – 17 August 1676) was a German author. He is best known for his 1669 picaresque novel ''Simplicius Simplicissimus'' (german: link=no, Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus) and the accompanyi ...
used the occupation of Hanau by the Swedish and the siege as background in his
picaresque novel
The picaresque novel (Spanish: ''picaresca'', from ''pícaro'', for " rogue" or "rascal") is a genre of prose fiction. It depicts the adventures of a roguish, but "appealing hero", usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corrup ...
''
Simplicius Simplicissimus
''Simplicius Simplicissimus'' (german: link=no, Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus Teutsch) is a picaresque novel of the lower Baroque style, written in 1668 by Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen and probably published the same year (althou ...
''. After a nine-month siege, the city was relieved by an army under
Landgrave
Landgrave (german: Landgraf, nl, landgraaf, sv, lantgreve, french: landgrave; la, comes magnus, ', ', ', ', ') was a noble title used in the Holy Roman Empire, and later on in its former territories. The German titles of ', ' ("margrave"), a ...
Wilhelm V of Hesse-Kassel. He was Philipp Moritz's brother-in-law, as he had married Philipp Moritz's sister,
Amalie Elisabeth. A church service was held annually to commemorate the relief. After 1800, this developed into an annual ''Lamboy festival''.
In 1637, Philipp Moritz reconciled with the new Emperor,
Ferdinand III and changed sides again. He returned to Hanau on 17 December 1637. General Ramsay ignored this and interned Philipp Moritz in his own Castle in Hanau. However, on the
Wetterau Association of Imperial Counts Wetterau Association of Imperial Counts was an association of comital families in the Wetterau and surrounding areas. It originated in the late Middle Ages and was formally disbanded when the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in 1806.
400px, Map of ...
, an association predominated by Calvinists, staged a coup against the Swedes and restored Philipp Moritz to power. General Ramsay was arrested and taken to
Dillenburg
Dillenburg, officially Oranienstadt Dillenburg, is a town in Hesse's Gießen (region), Gießen region in Germany. The town was formerly the seat of the old Dillkreis district, which is now part of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis.
The town lies on the German-N ...
, where he died months later from injuries sustained during the action. But also Count Philipp Moritz died only months after gaining power again.
First reunion
Philipp Moritz was succeeded by the last two counts of Hanau-Münzenberg:
Philipp Ludwig III, still a boy nine years old when dying in 1641 and
Johann Ernst, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg
Johann Ernst of Hanau-Münzenberg-Schwarzenfels (13 June 1613 in Schwarzenfels – 12 January 1642 in Hanau), was the last Count of the Hanau-Münzenberg line. He succeeded his grand-nephew Philipp Ludwig III in 1641. When Johann Ernst died i ...
-Schwarzenfels, a cousin, dying childless after less than three months in office. With him the House of Hanau-Münzenberg became extinct.
Policies
![Friedrich Casimir Welcker](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Friedrich_Casimir_Welcker.jpg)
Heir to it was Count
Friedrich Casimir, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg
Friedrich Casimir of Hanau (born 4 August 1623 in Bouxwiller; died 30 March 1685 in Hanau) was a member of the Hanau-Lichtenberg branch of the House of Hanau.
He was the ruling Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg from 1641 and of Hanau-Münzenberg from ...
, then still a minor under the guardianship of
Georg II of Fleckenstein-Dagstuhl
Georg II of Fleckenstein Dagstuhl (2 February 1588 – 31 January 1644) was the last baron of the house of Fleckenstein. He was the eldest son of Philipp Wolfgang of Fleckenstein-Dagstuhl (d. 1618) and his first wife, Anna Alexandria of Rappoltstei ...
. The relation to count Johann Ernst was quite remote and the inheritance endangered in more than one way: The inheritance happened during the final years of
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...
, the feudal Overlords of Hanau-Münzenberg were partly enemy to Hanau and tried to hold back fiefs traditionally held by Hanau-Münzenberg. Further, the county of Hanau-Münzenberg was of Reformed Confession, Friedrich Casimir and the county of Hanau-Lichtenberg were Lutheran. And even to reach the capital of Hanau-Münzenberg, the town of Hanau, proved a problem: Friedrich Casimir could do so only in disguise. The inheritance could finally be secured by two treaties:
* Parties to the first one of 1642 were Friedrich Casimir and the wealthy bourgeoisie of Hanau. The count granted the reformed faith as state religion within Hanau-Münzenberg only reserving Lutheran services for himself and his court. Therefore, the citizens of Hanau – by far the strongest power within the war-devastated county – supported the accession of Friedrich Casimir.
* Parties to the second one of 1643 were Friedrich Casimir and Landgravine Amalie Elisabeth of Hessen-Kassel, née countess of Hanau-Münzenberg, daughter to Philipp Ludwig II, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg. She granted military and diplomatic support against the still resistant overlords. Therefore, Friedrich Casimir granted – should the house of Hanau be without male heirs – the inheritance of Hanau-Münzenberg to the descendants of Amalie Elisabeth. That actually happened in 1736.
These treaties secured the unification of the two Hanau counties under one ruler and saved Hanau-Münzenberg as a unit.
Against the treaty of accession of 1642 Friedrich Casimir tried to enlarge the influence of the Lutherans within Hanau-Münzenberg: During the first twenty years of his reign, the Lutheran services were limited to the chapel of his castle in Hanau. But due to growing numbers from 1658 to 1662 an own church building for the Lutherans was erected in the town against the protest of the reformed majority, the Johanneskirche. Both parties struggled against each other for decades, tried to prevent – unsuccessfully – "mixed marriages" and even fought one another. An additional treaty of 1670 allowed the Lutherans their own church-organisation. This resulted in two parallel churches within the county of Hanau-Münzenberg each one having its own administration. Therefore, a lot of villages in Hanau-Münzenberg had a set of reformed church, school, vicarage and cemetery and another one for the Lutherans. Only the
Enlightenment and the economic crises resulting out of the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
let to the
Hanau Union which ended this double structure in 1818.
Sibylle Christine of Anhalt-Dessau
Sibylle Christine of Anhalt-Dessau (11 July 1603 in Dessau – 21 February 1686 in Hanau), was by birth a member of the House of Ascania and princess of Anhalt-Dessau. Through her two marriages she became Countess of Hanau-Münzenberg and Hanau-L ...
, the widow of Count Philipp Moritz, had received
Steinau Castle as her dowager seat. As widow of a ruling count, she could raise substantial claims against the county. To avoid this, it was decided to marry Friedrich Casimir to the widow, who was 44 years old at the time, almost 20 years older than him. An added advantage of this marriage was that she was a Calvinist which calmed the majority of the population. The marriage with the elderly widow was plagued by differences and remained childless. Shortly before his death, Friedrich Casimir adopted his nephew count
Philipp Reinhard.
Economy
Friedrich Casimir tried to implement
mercantilism
Mercantilism is an economic policy that is designed to maximize the exports and minimize the imports for an economy. It promotes imperialism, colonialism, tariffs and subsidies on traded goods to achieve that goal. The policy aims to reduce a ...
into Hanau-Münzenberg severely devastated by the effects of Thirty Years' War. A leading role in this is claimed for his adviser
Johann Becher. A successful achievement was the foundation of a factory to produce
Faience
Faience or faïence (; ) is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip of a lead glaze, was a major ad ...
, the first in Germany. On the other hand, the count's extravagant initiative to lease
Guiana
The Guianas, sometimes called by the Spanish loan-word ''Guayanas'' (''Las Guayanas''), is a region in north-eastern South America which includes the following three territories:
* French Guiana, an overseas department and region of France
* ...
from the
Dutch West India Company
The Dutch West India Company ( nl, Geoctrooieerde Westindische Compagnie, ''WIC'' or ''GWC''; ; en, Chartered West India Company) was a chartered company of Dutch merchants as well as foreign investors. Among its founders was Willem Usselincx ( ...
was a devastating experiment. These
Hanauish Indies
German attempts at the colonization of the Americas consisted of German Venezuela (german: Klein-Venedig, also german: Welser-Kolonie), Saint Thomas (Brandenburg colony), St. Thomas and Vieques, Puerto Rico, Crab Island in the 16th and 17th cent ...
(''Hanauisch-Indien'') never became a reality but let his county to the rim of bankruptcy. So in 1670 his nearest relatives staged a palace revolution trying to kick Friedrich Casimir out of office. This did not work entirely. But Friedrich Casimir was put under the guardianship of his relatives by emperor
Leopold
Leopold may refer to:
People
* Leopold (given name)
* Leopold (surname)
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
* Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The Simpsons''
* Leopold Bloom, the protagonist o ...
and the count's possibilities to stage new experiments were severely curtailed.
Separated again
![Hanau-Kesselstadt Schloss Philippsruhe 20101209](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Hanau-Kesselstadt_Schloss_Philippsruhe_20101209.jpg)
Friedrich Casimir died in 1685. His inheritance was divided between his two nephews, count Philipp Reinhard, who inherited Hanau-Münzenberg and count
Johann Reinhard III, who inherited Hanau-Lichtenberg. Both were sons of Friedrich Casimir's brother Count
Johann Reinhard II. So Hanau-Münzenberg was on his own again. It was then still in a phase of recovery from the devastations of Thirty Years' War but also some remarkable achievements took place. There was a lot of public building, for government, including
Philippsruhe Castle, and church: In lots of villages a second, Lutheran church was erected and often called ''Reinhardskirche''
(de) after the reigning count.
Second reunion
![Johann Reinhard III of Hanau-Lichtenberg--Johann-Christian Fiedler-f4559233](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Johann_Reinhard_III_of_Hanau-Lichtenberg--Johann-Christian_Fiedler-f4559233.jpg)
When Count Philipp Reinhard died in 1712 Count Johann Reinhard III inherited the county of Hanau-Münzenberg and for the last time, both counties were united into one county of Hanau. With Count Johann Reinhard III the last male member of the Hanau family died in 1736. Hanau-Münzenberg and Hanau-Lichtenberg fell to different heirs: Due to the treaty of succession of 1643 Hanau-Münzenberg was inherited by the
Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Kassel), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, was a state in the Holy Roman Empire that was directly subject to the Emperor. The state was created in 1567 when the Lan ...
, Hanau-Lichtenberg fell to the
Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse betwee ...
because
Countess Charlotte of Hanau-Lichtenberg
Countess Charlotte of Hanau-Lichtenberg, full name: ''Countess Charlotte Christine Magdalene Johanna of Hanau-Lichtenberg'' (2 May 1700, Bouxwiller – 1 July 1726, Darmstadt) was the wife of landgrave Louis VIII of Hesse-Darmstadt.
Biogra ...
, the only daughter of Johann Reinhard III, was married to the heir of Hesse-Darmstadt, reigning as landgrave
Louis VIII
Louis VIII (5 September 1187 – 8 November 1226), nicknamed The Lion (french: Le Lion), was King of France from 1223 to 1226. As prince, he invaded England on 21 May 1216 and was excommunicated by a papal legate on 29 May 1216. On 2 June 1216 ...
later.
Regarding the question if the administrative
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
of
Babenhausen was part of Hanau-Münzenberg or Hanau-Lichtenberg nearly lead into a war of both landgraviates in 1736 and into an extensive lawsuit at the highest courts of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
. The lawsuit ended with a compromise to divide the administrative district of Babenhausen into two equal parts between them in 1762. But it took until 1771 to realize this.
Secundogeniture within the Landgraviate of Hessen-Kassel
![Kuranlage Wilhelmsbad](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Kuranlage_Wilhelmsbad.jpg)
When the inheritance came to Hessen-Kassel technically
Frederick I Frederick I may refer to:
* Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht.
* Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978)
* Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105)
* Frederick I, Count of Zoller ...
was sovereign there. But he had become King of Sweden, and so had placed his younger Brother
William VIII in charge of the Landgraviate. Frederick I waived his inheritance of Hanau-Münzenberg in favour of his younger brother. So Wilhelm VIII became Count of Hanau-Münzenberg in his own right. In 1751 King Frederick died and William VIII succeeded him as Landgrave 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 ...
. The next heir,
Frederick II had secretly become Roman Catholic. When his father received this news finally he was not amused at all: He tried to secure that Frederick II couldn't change the confession of his lands in any thinkable way. One measure he took was to make Hanau-Münzenberg a
secundogeniture
A secundogeniture (from la, secundus "following, second," and "born") was a dependent territory given to a younger son of a princely house and his descendants, creating a cadet branch. This was a special form of inheritance in which the second a ...
of Hesse-Cassel known as
Hesse-Hanau
Hesse-Hanau was a territory in the Holy Roman Empire. It emerged when the former county of Hanau-Münzenberg became a secundogeniture of Hesse-Cassel in 1760. When the reigning count, William IX, also became landgrave of Hesse-Cassel in 1785, th ...
, and transfer it immediately to his grandson,
William IX. William, still a minor when his grandfather died was put under the guardianship of his mother,
Princess Mary of Great Britain
Princess Mary of Great Britain (5 March 1723 – 14 January 1772) was the second-youngest daughter of George II of Great Britain and his wife, Caroline of Ansbach, and Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel as the wife of Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-K ...
, a daughter of King
George II of Great Britain
, house = Hanover
, religion = Protestant
, father = George I of Great Britain
, mother = Sophia Dorothea of Celle
, birth_date = 30 October / 9 November 1683
, birth_place = Herrenhausen Palace,Cannon. or Leine ...
, excluding her Roman Catholic husband. So Hesse-Hanau was governed by Princess Mary from 1760 to 1764 and afterward by her son William IX. Only in 1785 he succeeded in Hessen-Kassel. So for nearly half a century after the acquisition of Hanau-Münzenberg by Hessen-Kassel in 1736 it stayed a separate most of the time. Only from 1786 on the integration into the Landgraviate took place gradually.
Wilhelm IX used his reign in Hesse-Hanau of more than 20 years to develop his own policies. He took to building and developing the economy – most representative for this becoming the amusement facility of
Wilhelmsbad east of Hanau. And he started here with
renting troops to the British Crown. Later on, a contingent of about 2,400 soldiers recruited in Hesse-Hanau served during the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
for King
George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
, an uncle to William IX.
During this time the
brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...
were born in Hanau.
Principality of Hanau
![Hanau-Schaumburg-Wappen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Hanau-Schaumburg-Wappen.png)
The Landgraviate of Hessen-Kassel was elevated an
Electorate
Electorate may refer to:
* The people who are eligible to vote in an election, especially their number e.g. the term ''size of (the) electorate''
* The dominion of a Prince-elector in the Holy Roman Empire until 1806
* An electoral district
An ...
in 1803, William IX became William I, the county of Hesse-Hanau the ''Principality of Hanau''. When the French occupied the lands of William I in 1806 the new principality was put under military rule until 1810 and then became part of the
Grand Duchy of Frankfurt
The Grand Duchy of Frankfurt was a German satellite state of Napoleonic creation. It came into existence in 1810 through the combination of the former territories of the Archbishopric of Mainz along with the Free City of Frankfurt itself.
Histor ...
. In 1813 the principality was restored to William IX. As an administrative unit it existed until 1821 when the territorial structure of the whole state of the
Electorate of Hesse
The Electorate of Hesse (german: Kurfürstentum Hessen), also known as Hesse-Kassel or Kurhessen, was a landgraviate whose prince was given the right to elect the Emperor by Napoleon. When the Holy Roman Empire was abolished in 1806, its prin ...
n was reorganized. The title "''Prince of Hanau''" stayed within the titles of the Elector until 1866 when the Electorate of Hessen was annexed by the
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...
.
[K. Henß: Das Gebiet der Hanauer Union. In: ''Die Hanauer Union'' = Festschrift zur Jahrhundertfeier der evangelisch-unierten Kirchengemeinschaft im Konsistorialbezirk Cassel am 28. Mai 1918. Hanau 1918, pp. 49–51] Today's
Main-Kinzig-Kreis
Main-Kinzig-Kreis is a Kreis (district) in the east of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Wetteraukreis, Vogelsbergkreis, Fulda, Bad Kissingen, Main-Spessart, Aschaffenburg, Offenbach and the district-free cities of Offenbach and Frankfu ...
represents about the area of the former county of Hesse-Hanau.
The last elector,
Frederick William gave the title "''Princess of Hanau''" to his wife ''Gertrude Falkenstein'', a common (and divorced!) he could marry only
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 ...
. Descendants of this marriage bear it as part of their name still: ''Prince / Princess of Hanau in Hořowice''.
See also
*
County of Hanau
The County of Hanau was a territory within the Holy Roman Empire, evolved out of the Lordship of Hanau in 1429. From 1456 to 1642 and from 1685 to 1712 it was divided into the County of Hanau-Münzenberg and the County of Hanau-Lichtenberg. ...
*
Hanau-Lichtenberg
The County of Hanau-Lichtenberg was a territory in the Holy Roman Empire. It emerged between 1456 and 1480 from a part of the County of Hanau and one half of the Barony of Lichtenberg. Following the extinction of the counts of Hanau-Lichtenberg in ...
*
List of rulers of Hanau
Hanau is a town in Germany and Lichtenberg is a village in Alsace, now France. This list of rulers of Hanau or Hanau-Lichtenberg covers the lords and later counts that ruled the area from the 14th through the 18th centuries (see also Lichtenberg ...
*
Zweibrücken-Bitsch
The County of Zweibrücken-Bitsch (, ) was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire that was created between 1286 and 1302 from the eastern part of the County of Zweibrücken and the Barony of Bitche (german: Bitsch) in Lorraine. It continued to exist ...
References
Literature
* Reinhard Dietrich: ''Die Landesverfassung in dem Hanauischen.'' Hanau 1996, . (= ''Hanauer Geschichtsblätter 34'')
* Ernst Julius Zimmermann: ''Hanau Stadt und Land.'' 3. Auflage. Hanau 1919. (Reprint: Hanau 1978, )
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanau-Muenzenberg, County
Hanau-Munzenberg
Munzenberg
Early Modern history of Germany
1450s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire
1458 establishments in Europe