Hesse-Rheinfels was created as a cadet line of

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

for

Philip II, Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinfels Philip II of Hesse-Rheinfels (1541, Marburg – 1583), also called ''Philip the Younger'', was the first Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinfels. Philip was the third son of Landgrave Philip the Magnanimous and Christine of Saxony (1505–1549). After his ...

(1541–1583), landgrave from 1567 until 1583, and as a cadet line 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 ...

for

Ernest, Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinfels Landgrave Ernest of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg (8 December 1623 – 2 May 1693) was from 1649 to 1658 Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinfels and from 1658 until his death Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg. Because his brothers died young, all later Lan ...

(1623–1693), landgrave from 1627 until 1658.

First creation

Philip was the third son of Philip the Magnanimous,

Landgrave of Hesse The Landgraviate of Hesse (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen) was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed as a single entity from 1264 to 1567, when it was divided among the sons of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. History In the early Mi ...

and

Christine of Saxony Christine of Saxony (25 December 1505 – 15 April 1549) was a German noble, landgravine consort of Hesse by marriage to Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse.Eckhart G. Franz (Hrsg.): Haus Hessen. Biografisches Lexikon. (= Arbeiten der Hessischen Hi ...

(1505–1549). After his father's death in 1567, the Landgraviate of Hesse was divided between the four sons of his first marriage. Philip the younger received a portion of about an eighth of his father's territories, mainly the former Lower

County of Katzenelnbogen The County of Katzenelnbogen was an immediate state of the Holy Roman Empire. Chatti Melibokus is a very old tribe who stayed on a high hill in the Bergstraße region of Hesse (the part that lies south), in Germany. It existed between 109 ...

with its four Ämter Rheinfels (with the city of St. Goar and the residence

Rheinfels Castle Rheinfels Castle (german: Burg Rheinfels) is a castle ruin located above the left (west) bank of the Rhine in Sankt Goar, Germany. It was started in 1245 by Count Diether V of Katzenelnbogen. After expansions, it was the largest fortress in the M ...

) on the left bank of the Rhine, and Braubach, Reichenberg and Hohenstein on the right bank.

Second creation

Maurice Maurice may refer to: People * Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr * Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor *Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and ...

the Learned (1572–1632) was

Landgrave 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 ...

from 1592 until 1627. Maurice turned to Calvinism in 1605, became involved later in the

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 ...

, and, after being forced to cede some of his territories to the Darmstadt line, abdicated in 1627 favour of his son

William V William V may refer to: *William V, Duke of Aquitaine (969–1030) *William V of Montpellier (1075–1121) *William V, Marquess of Montferrat (1191) *William V, Count of Nevers (before 11751181) *William V, Duke of Jülich (1299–1361) *William V, ...

(1602-1637), his younger sons receiving apanages which created several cadet lines of the house (

Hesse-Rotenburg Hesse-Rotenburg is a former German landgraviate created from the landgraviate of Hesse-Cassel in 1627. Its independence ended in 1834 when the estates not bequeathed to princes Victor and Chlodwig of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst were reu ...

, Hesse-Eschwege and Hesse-Rheinfels), of which, with amalgamation, that of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg survived till 1834. In 1627 Ernest (1623–1693), a younger son of

Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel Maurice of Hesse-Kassel (german: Moritz; 25 May 1572 – 15 March 1632), also called Maurice the Learned or Moritz, was the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel) in the Holy Roman Empire from 1592 to 1627. Life Maurice was born in Kassel a ...

, received

Rheinfels Rheinfels Castle (german: Burg Rheinfels) is a castle ruin located above the left (west) bank of the Rhine in Sankt Goar, Germany. It was started in 1245 by Count Diether V of Katzenelnbogen. After expansions, it was the largest fortress in the M ...

and lower Katzenelnbogen as his inheritance, and some years later, on the deaths of two of his brothers, Friedrich, Landgrave of Hesse-Eschwege (1617–1655) and Herman, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg (1607–1658), he added

Eschwege Eschwege (), the district seat of the Werra-Meißner-Kreis, is a town in northeastern Hesse, Germany. In 1971, the town hosted the eleventh ''Hessentag'' state festival. Geography Location The town lies on a broad plain tract of the river Wer ...

Rotenburg Rotenburg may refer to: *Rotenburg (district), Lower Saxony, Germany *Rotenburg an der Wümme, capital of the district *Rotenburg an der Fulda, near Kassel in Hesse *Rothenburg ob der Tauber, in the Franconia region of Bavaria *Hersfeld-Rotenburg, ...

Wanfried Wanfried is a town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in northeasternmost Hesse, Germany. It is classified as a ''Landstadt'', a designation given in Germany to a municipality that is officially a town (''Stadt''), but whose population is below 5,000. It ...

and other districts to his possessions.

List of landgraves

;First creation *

(1541–1583), landgrave 1567–1583 ;Second creation *

1627–1658,

Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg Hesse-Rotenburg is a former German landgraviate created from the landgraviate of Hesse-Cassel in 1627. Its independence ended in 1834 when the estates not bequeathed to princes Victor and Chlodwig of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst were reuni ...

1658–1693.On the death of Herman, his brother, Ernest inherited Herman's lands and amalgamated Herman's title with his own .

Notes

References

* *

First creation

Second creation

List of landgraves

Notes

References

Further reading