The Hessian War (german: Hessenkrieg), in its wider sense sometimes also called the Hessian Wars (''Hessenkriege''), was a drawn out conflict that took place between 1567 and 1648, sometimes pursued through diplomatic means, sometimes by military force, between branches of the princely
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, ...
, particularly between the
Landgraviate of Hesse-Cassel
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 ...
and 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 ...
. It was triggered by a division of inheritance following the death of the last
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 all
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 ...
,
Philip I Philip(p) I may refer to:
* Philip I of Macedon (7th century BC)
* Philip I Philadelphus (between 124 and 109 BC–83 or 75 BC)
* Philip the Arab (c. 204–249), Roman Emperor
* Philip I of France (1052–1108)
* Philip I (archbishop of Cologne) (1 ...
in 1567.
The real conflict, which lasted almost 80 years and spanned three generations, escalated in the 1620s, when the line of
Hesse-Marburg
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Marburg (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Marburg) was a German landgraviate, and independent principality, within the Holy Roman Empire, that existed between 1458 and 1500, and between 1567 and 1604/1650.
It consisted o ...
died out, and peaked after 1645 in the Hessian War proper. This open warfare began with the Siege of
Marburg
Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approximate ...
in 1645 and ended in April 1648 (but before the
Treaty of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia (german: Westfälischer Friede, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought peac ...
which was concluded later that year and ended 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 ...
)
with victory going to Hesse-Cassel. In the aftermath,
Upper Hesse
The term Upper Hesse (german: Provinz Oberhessen) originally referred to the southern possessions of the Landgraviate of Hesse, which were initially geographically separated from the more northerly Lower Hesse by the .
Later, it became the name of ...
was divided and parts of its territory went to the now stronger Hesse-Cassel.
At a European level the Hessian War must be viewed in the larger context of the Thirty Years' War, in which the
reformed Hesse-Cassel sided with the
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
Swedish party, whilst Hesse-Darmstadt, despite its Lutheran confession joined the
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
-
Imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imperial, Nebraska
* Imperial, Pennsylvania
* Imperial, Texa ...
alliance. In the course of the war, Hessian
mercenaries
A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...
fought both in the main Hessian lands as well as in
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 ...
(
Prince-Bishopric of Münster
The Prince-Bishopric of Münster (german: Fürstbistum Münster; Bistum Münster, Hochstift Münster) was a large ecclesiastical principality in the Holy Roman Empire, located in the northern part of today's North Rhine-Westphalia and western Low ...
and
Paderborn
Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for t ...
), in
Upper Guelders {{unreferenced, date=November 2011
Upper Guelders or Spanish Guelders was one of the four quarters in the Imperial Duchy of Guelders. In the Dutch Revolt, it was the only quarter that did not secede from the Habsburg monarchy to become part of the ...
, on the
Lower Rhine
The Lower Rhine (german: Niederrhein; kilometres 660 to 1,033 of the river Rhine) flows from Bonn, Germany, to the North Sea at Hook of Holland, Netherlands (including the Nederrijn or "Nether Rhine" within the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta); al ...
(
Electorate of Cologne
The Electorate of Cologne (german: Kurfürstentum Köln), sometimes referred to as Electoral Cologne (german: Kurköln, links=no), was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that existed from the 10th to the early 19th century. ...
), in the
Duchy of Brunswick
The Duchy of Brunswick (german: Herzogtum Braunschweig) was a historical German state. Its capital city, capital was the city of Braunschweig, Brunswick ().
It was established as the successor state of the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel ...
and other places.
This conflict should not be confused with the campaign by Landgrave
Philip I of Hesse
Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse (13 November 1504 – 31 March 1567), nicknamed (in English: "the Magnanimous"), was a German nobleman and champion of the Protestant Reformation, notable for being one of the most important of the early Protesta ...
, supported by Prince-Elector
John of Saxony against the two Franconian prince-bishoprics of
Würzburg
Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River.
Würzburg is ...
and
Bamberg
Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castle. C ...
in 1528, which is also referred to as the "Hessian War".
Overview of the belligerents
Course of the war
Cause and opening phase
![Philippe-1er-de-hesse](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Philippe-1er-de-hesse.jpg)
The cause of the conflict was the division of
inheritance
Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, Title (property), titles, debts, entitlements, Privilege (law), privileges, rights, and Law of obligations, obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ ...
following the death of Phillip the Magnanimous in 1567. According to an old
house law
House law or House laws (''Hausgesetze'') are rules that govern a royal family or dynasty in matters of eligibility for succession to a throne, membership in a dynasty, exercise of a regency, or entitlement to dynastic rank, titles and styles. ...
in the House of Hesse, he had mandated in his
will
Will may refer to:
Common meanings
* Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death
* Will (philosophy), or willpower
* Will (sociology)
* Will, volition (psychology)
* Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will
...
a division of the landgraviate amongst his four sons, whereby the inheritance of Hessian territory was as follows:
# His eldest son,
William
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
, was given the
Lower Principality in the north of Hesse (subsequently referred to as
Hesse-Cassel
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 ...
) with the city of
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 ...
, in all about half of the territory of Hesse.
# His second son,
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 ( ...
, was given
Upper Hesse
The term Upper Hesse (german: Provinz Oberhessen) originally referred to the southern possessions of the Landgraviate of Hesse, which were initially geographically separated from the more northerly Lower Hesse by the .
Later, it became the name of ...
in the centre of Hesse (subsequently referred to as
Hesse-Marburg
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Marburg (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Marburg) was a German landgraviate, and independent principality, within the Holy Roman Empire, that existed between 1458 and 1500, and between 1567 and 1604/1650.
It consisted o ...
) with the town of
Marburg
Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approximate ...
and the fortress of
Giessen
Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univers ...
, about a quarter of Hesse itself.
# His third son,
Philip (the Younger), was given the
Lower County of Katzenelnbogen in the west of Hesse (subsequently referred to as
Hesse-Rheinfels Hesse-Rheinfels was created as a cadet line of Hesse for Philip II, Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinfels (1541–1583), landgrave from 1567 until 1583, and as a cadet line of Hesse-Kassel for Ernest, Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinfels (1623–1693), landgrave fro ...
) with
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 ...
and
Katzenelnbogen, roughly just over one eight of the territory of Hesse.
# His youngest son,
George
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...
, was given the
Upper County of Katzenelnbogen in the south of Hesse (subsequently referred to as
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 ...
) with the town of
Darmstadt
Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...
, rather less than an eight of Hesse.
When the Rheinfels line died out in 1583 Hessen-Rheinfels was divided amongst the three remaining brothers of Philip II.
The dispute over the Marburg inheritance and the Thirty Years' War
Marburg Inheritance Dispute (from 1604)
![LudwigIVHessMarb](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/LudwigIVHessMarb.JPG)
In 1604, Landgrave
Louis IV of Hesse-Marburg
Landgrave Louis IV of Hesse-Marburg (27 May 1537 – 9 October 1604) was the son of Landgrave Philip I of Hesse and his wife Christine of Saxony. After the death of his father in 1567, Hesse was divided among his sons and Louis received Hesse-Mar ...
died without issue at his
castle in Marburg. His will envisaged that Hesse-Marburg would be divided equally between the sons of his late brothers, William in Cassel and George in Darmstadt, on the condition, that the whole of Hesse-Marburg continued to follow the
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 ...
confession.
There was initially a dispute over whether each of the two remaining lines of the family should receive exactly half the territory or whether it should be split according to the number of nephews in each case. Darmstadt would have benefited from the latter interpretation, because George of Hesse-Darmstadt had produced more sons (
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 ( ...
,
Philip (III) and
Frederick Frederick may refer to:
People
* Frederick (given name), the name
Nobility
Anhalt-Harzgerode
*Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670)
Austria
* Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198
* Frederick ...
) than William of Hesse-Cassel with just one heir,
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 ...
. Following an action for annulment by Hesse-Darmstadt, the matter was decided in favour of Hesse-Cassel by the
Aulic Council
The Aulic Council ( la, Consilium Aulicum, german: Reichshofrat, literally meaning Court Council of the Empire) was one of the two supreme courts of the Holy Roman Empire, the other being the Imperial Chamber Court. It had not only concurrent juri ...
(''Reichshofrat''), and Hesse-Marburg was divided in half.
In 1605, the dispute over the Marburg inheritance flared up again after Landgrave Maurice of Hesse-Cassel, whose beliefs since his accession in 1592 increasingly moved towards the
Calvinistic confession of his wife,
Juliane of Nassau-Siegen, enacted several Calvinist-oriented laws in his domain and in the same year, converted to Calvinism himself. In the wake of this, many Lutheran priests moved to Hesse-Darmstadt and the Lutheran theologians of the
University of Marburg
The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...
went to the ' in Giessen, which, in 1607 also achieved the status of a university. Because, Maurice, by his conversion to Calvinism had ended the Lutheran unity of Hesse-Marburg, he fell foul of the will of his uncle, thus forfeiting his claim to his portion of Hesse-Marburg in the view of Hesse-Darmstadt.
Darmstadt was at this point in time neither politically nor militarily strong enough to be able to pursue its claim to the whole of Hesse-Marburg.
The rise of Hesse-Darmstadt to the ''Hauptakkord'' (1618–1627)
![Schlacht bei Hoechst 1622 unbekannt](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Schlacht_bei_Hoechst_1622_unbekannt.jpg)
During the Thirty Years' War, or more precisely
War over Electoral Palatine, Louis V of Hesse-Darmstadt initially remained neutral but, despite the fact that his state embraced the Lutheran confession, he increasingly sided with the Roman Catholic emperor, whilst the Calvinist Hesse-Cassel fought with the
Protestant Union
The Protestant Union (german: Protestantische Union), also known as the Evangelical Union, Union of Auhausen, German Union or the Protestant Action Party, was a coalition of Protestant German states. It was formed on 14 May 1608 by Frederick I ...
. After the Protestant Duke
Christian of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel had invaded Upper Hesse in 1621, Louis V openly allied himself with the emperor in the hope of receiving military support.
This gamble l paid off in the medium term: in 1621 the imperial Field Marshal
Ambrosio Spinola
Ambrogio Spinola Doria, 1st Marquess of Los Balbases and 1st Duke of Sesto (1569-25 September 1630) was an Italian ''condottiero'' and nobleman of the Republic of Genoa, who served as a Spanish general and won a number of important battles. He i ...
occupied the
Wetterau
The Wetterau is a fertile undulating tract, watered by the Wetter, a tributary of the Nidda River, in the western German state of Hesse, between the hilly province Oberhessen and the north-western Taunus mountains.
Bettina von Arnim writes of ...
. In reply, the commander of the Protestant army,
Ernst von Mansfeld
Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld (german: Peter Ernst Graf von Mansfeld; c. 158029 November 1626), or simply Ernst von Mansfeld, was a German military commander who, despite being a Catholic, fought for the Protestants during the early years of the ...
, counter-attacked the
Darmstadt upper county on orders of
Prince-Elector
The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
From the 13th century onwards, the prince ...
Frederick of the Palatinate. In doing so he succeeded in taking Louis V of Hesse-Darmstadt and his son,
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
, prisoner. In exchange for the release of the
hostage
A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or ref ...
s he was given the fortress of
Rüsselsheim.
During his withdrawal from Russelsheim, however, Mansfeld was defeated on 10 June 1622 in the battle on the
Lorsch
Lorsch is a town in the Bergstraße district in Hessen, Germany, 60 km south of Frankfurt. Lorsch is well known for the Lorsch Abbey, which has been named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Geography
Location
Lorsch lies about 5 km wes ...
Heath by imperial general,
Tilly Tilly may refer to:
Places France
* Tilly, Eure, in the Eure ''département''
* Tilly, Indre, in the Indre ''département''
* Tilly, Yvelines, in the Yvelines ''département''
Elsewhere
* Tilly, Belgium, a village in the municipality of Viller ...
. A few weeks earlier, on 27 April 1622 in the
Battle of Mingolsheim
The Battle of Mingolsheim (german: Schlacht bei Mingolsheim) was fought on 27 April 1622, near the German village of Wiesloch, south of Heidelberg (and south of Wiesloch), between a Protestant army under General von Mansfeld and the M ...
, Mansfeld had triumphed against Tilly, but achieved no great advantage from his victory. In the meantime, Tilly had grown in strength following his victory at the
Battle of Wimpfen
The Battle of Wimpfen was a battle in the Palatinate campaign period of the Thirty Years' War on 6 May 1622 near Wimpfen.
The combined forces of the Catholic League and the Spanish Empire under Marshal Tilly and Gonzalo de Córdoba defeated ...
on 6 May 1622. Tilly defeated Mansfeld on 20 June 1622, as well as Duke Christian of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in the Hessian region at
Höchst am Main in the
Battle of Höchst
The Battle of Höchst (20 June 1622) was fought between a Catholic League army led by Johan Tzerclaes, Count of Tilly and a Protestant army commanded by Christian the Younger, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, close to the town of Höchst, today ...
, as a result of which the Protestant side was significantly weakened. Tilly advanced again against Hesse-Cassel and occupied all of Lower Hesse as far as the city of Cassel. As a result, he enforced the
Aulic Council
The Aulic Council ( la, Consilium Aulicum, german: Reichshofrat, literally meaning Court Council of the Empire) was one of the two supreme courts of the Holy Roman Empire, the other being the Imperial Chamber Court. It had not only concurrent juri ...
's judgement of 11 April 1623, that the entire heritage of Hesse-Marburg (including all tax revenue from it, retroactively) should go to the Darmstadt line. Tilly also occupied several Lower Hessian offices as a security.
Even the former county of Katzenelenbogen was seized from Darmstadt. Landgrave Louis V died during the campaign. His son, George II, took over the reins of power in Darmstadt and continued the fight against Cassel.
Because of military defeats and abject government by Landgrave Maurice of Hesse-Cassel, the Lower Hess estates openly rebelled against him and forced his abdication in 1627. The House of Cassel also lost
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 ...
(the so-called ''Rotenburger Quart'') thanks to Maurice's division of his inheritance. Thus weakened, Maurice's son and heir, William V, was forced to accept the judgment of the Aulic Council in 1623 and cede the disputed territories.
On 24 September 1627 a
settlement
Settlement may refer to:
*Human settlement, a community where people live
*Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building
* Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction
*Settlement (fin ...
was reached, the so-called ''Hauptakkord''. The whole of Upper Hesse, the Lower County of Katzenelnbogen and the Barony of
Schmalkalden
Schmalkalden () is a town in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district, in the southwest of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is on the southern slope of the Thuringian Forest at the Schmalkalde river, a tributary to the Werra. , the town had a popula ...
, a Hessian
exclave
An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...
in Thuringia, went to Hesse-Darmstadt. In addition, Hesse-Cassel and Hesse-Darmstadt were granted the same level of precedence in the German Empire. In return, Hesse-Cassel was given back the territories in Lower Hesse that had been held as a security.
Following the
Edict of Restitution
The Edict of Restitution was proclaimed by Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor in Vienna, on 6 March 1629, eleven years into the Thirty Years' War. Following Catholic military successes, Ferdinand hoped to restore control of land to that specifie ...
of 1629 Hesse-Cassel was also given the
Imperial Abbey of Hersfeld, which had been under Lower Hessian rule since 1604.
The rise of Hesse-Cassel in the Swedish War (1630–1634)
After the total defeat of the House of Hesse-Cassel had been averted by the ''Hauptakkord'', in 1627 William V began secretly waiver, to build a new mercenary army, under the cover of his apparent renunciation.
The turning point for Hesse-Cassel in the Thirty Years' War came in October 1630 when William V became the first German Protestant prince to ally himself with
King Gustavus II Adolphus of Sweden (also a great-grandson of Philip I and thus a cousin of William V). After the alliance was formally sealed on 22 August 1631 in the Treaty of
Werben (in the wake of the
Battle of Werben
The Battle of Werben was a battle of the Thirty Years' War, fought on 7 August 1631 ( N.S.),Henrik O. Lunde: A Warrior Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of Sweden as a Military Superpower 1611-1721, 2014, p.109. between the Swedish Empire and the Holy ...
), Hesse-Cassel placed its army in the service of the Swedish king.
In return, Gustavus Adolphus held out the prospect to Cassel that they could expand their territory by conquest.
With the political and military support of the Protestant alliance under the leadership of the Swedish king and thanks to the skillful leadership of William V, who himself went to war as a general, in the period that followed the Lower Hessian troops achieved considerable military success. As a start, they succeeded in driving the imperial occupiers out of Hesse-Cassel. On 24 August 1631,
Hersfeld was conquered and, on 9 September 1631, the town of
Fritzlar
Fritzlar () is a small town (pop. 15,000) in the Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse, Germany, north of Frankfurt, with a storied history.
The town has a medieval center ringed by a wall with numerous watch towers. Thirty-eight meters (125& ...
that belonged to 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 ...
. The imperial troops were further weakened by their defeat in the
Battle of Breitenfeld and came under pressure. By mounting diversionary attacks on Mainz positions in the
Taunus
The Taunus is a mountain range in Hesse, Germany, located north of Frankfurt. The tallest peak in the range is '' Großer Feldberg'' at 878 m; other notable peaks are ''Kleiner Feldberg'' (825 m) and '' Altkönig'' (798 m).
The Taunus range span ...
, Hesse-Cassel supported the Swedish advance on
Erfurt
Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...
,
Würzburg
Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River.
Würzburg is ...
and
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 ...
to
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
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 (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...
.
The hopes of Lower Hesse to recover their lost territories in Upper Hesse, as a reward for their support of Sweden, were not, however, fulfilled. After George II of Hesse-Darmstadt had concluded negotiations with the Swedish king, he succeeded in gaining recognition of the neutrality of Hesse-Darmstadt at the Treaty of Höchst on 29 November 1631, in exchange for giving up the fortress of Rüsselsheim, so that Darmstadt was able to keep its territories in Upper Hesse. Instead, on 28 February 1632, Gustavus Adolphus granted Hesse-Cassel several other areas outside of Hesse that the Lower Hessian troops had conquered earlier on Swedish orders (including the
Fulda Abbey
The Abbey of Fulda (German ''Kloster Fulda'', Latin ''Abbatia Fuldensis''), from 1221 the Princely Abbey of Fulda (''Fürstabtei Fulda'') and from 1752 the Prince-Bishopric of Fulda (''Fürstbistum Fulda''), was a Benedictine abbey and ecclesiastic ...
, the
Bishopric of Paderborn
The Prince-Bishopric of Paderborn (german: Fürstbistum Paderborn; Hochstift Paderborn) was an ecclesiastical principality (Hochstift) of the Holy Roman Empire from 1281 to 1802.
History
The Diocese of Paderborn was founded in 799 by Pope ...
and
Corvey Abbey
The Princely Abbey of Corvey (german: link=no, Fürststift Corvey or Fürstabtei Corvey) is a former Benedictine abbey and ecclesiastical principality now in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was one of the half-dozen self-ruling '' princely ...
) or intended to capture (the
Bishopric of Münster
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...
, later substituted by the Swedish Chancellor
Oxenstierna
Oxenstierna ( , ) is a Swedish noble family, originally from Småland in southern Sweden which can be traced up to the middle of the 14th century. The Oxenstierna family held vast estates in Södermanland and Uppland during the late Middle Ages a ...
for parts of the
Duchy of Westphalia
The Duchy of Westphalia (german: Herzogtum Westfalen) was a historic territory in the Holy Roman Empire, which existed from 1102 to 1803. It was located in the greater region of Westphalia, originally one of the three main regions in the Germa ...
and
Vest Recklinghausen
Vest Recklinghausen was an ecclesiastical territory in the Holy Roman Empire, located in the center of today's North Rhine-Westphalia. The rivers Emscher and Lippe formed the border with the County of Mark and Essen Abbey in the south, and to the ...
).
Advance by the Emperor on Hesse-Cassel from 1634
After the
Battle of Lützen in November 1632, in which the Swedish-Protestant side suffered great losses and King Gustavus Adolphus was killed, the fortunes of war turned against the Protestants, including Hesse-Cassel. Following their defeat in the
Battle of Nördlingen in September 1634 the Protestant Alliance crumbled. The Calvinist Hesse-Cassel could not comply with the
Treaty of Prague of 1635 as a result of excessive demands from Darmstadt, which insisted on the annexation of the whole of Hesse-Cassel. Later it fought once again on the Swedish and French side against the Emperor and the
Imperial Prince
Prince of the Holy Roman Empire ( la, princeps imperii, german: Reichsfürst, cf. ''Fürst'') was a title attributed to a hereditary ruler, nobleman or prelate recognised as such by the Holy Roman Emperor.
Definition
Originally, possessors o ...
s because of the uncompromising politics of the imperial court. On the opposing side, Hesse-Darmstadt had given up its neutrality and fought openly again for the Emperor. Both sides scored successes. For example, Darmstadt won the
County of Isenburg-Büdingen and the
Electoral Palatine
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 ...
Amt
Amt is a type of administrative division governing a group of municipalities, today only in Germany, but formerly also common in other countries of Northern Europe. Its size and functions differ by country and the term is roughly equivalent to ...
of Caub. On 13 June 1636, Cassel ended a nine-month blockade of the fortress 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 ...
with a victory over the imperial army commander,
Lamboy. But neither side won a decisive victory.
In response to his victory over the imperial troops in Hanau and his alliance with France, William V of Hesse-Cassel was
outlawed
An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so that anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them ...
on 19 August 1636 by the
electors at
Regensburg
Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...
. His adversary from Darmstadt was appointed administrator over all of Hesse. However, because of the military stalemate, the ban was initially ineffective.
Because even after more than two decades, no end to the confrontation was in sight and the whole of Hesse was suffering badly from the consequences of the war, more so than almost any other region in Germany, in February 1637 the ''Landstände'', or knightly estates, from all parts of Hesse organized a ''
Landtag
A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non- ...
'' to seek a
mediation
Mediation is a structured, interactive process where an impartial third party neutral assists disputing parties in resolving conflict through the use of specialized communication and negotiation techniques. All participants in mediation are ...
between their lords.
But this arbitration parliament was not successful because, in parallel, the newly elected Emperor
Ferdinand III, also King of
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
, had already sent several regiments of Croatian troops to Lower Hesse to the enforce the ban against William V. During their campaign the Croats devastated large parts of Lower Hesse and also threatened to take Cassel. In this situation, William V fled with his family and a large part of his army to
East Frisia
East Frisia or East Friesland (german: Ostfriesland; ; stq, Aastfräislound) is a historic region in the northwest of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West Frisia ...
, where he was granted refuge by
Ulrich II of East Frisia following mediation by the states-general. There, in the encampment at
Leer, he died from disease on 21 September 1637.
Resurgence of Hesse-Cassel in the Swedish-Prussian War (from 1637)
![Amelia Elisabeth Landgräfin von Hessen-Kassel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Amelia_Elisabeth_Landgr%C3%A4fin_von_Hessen-Kassel.jpg)
Because William's son,
William VI was only eight years old at the time of his father's death, William V appointed his wife
Amalie Elisabeth in his will as a guardian for his under-age heir and thus as regent of Hesse-Cassel. In a coup, she had the Emperor and Darmstadt pay homage to her infant son who was not subject to the ban. Elisabeth Amalie proved a skilful tactician, who succeeded in spite of her extremely difficult starting position in consolidating the position of Hesse-Cassel. First she agreed an apparent truce with the Emperor and so kept Cassel from being conquered by the Imperial Croatian forces. Then she built a powerful army again based on the cadre of troops that her husband had taken to Frisia. Furthermore, in 1639 at
Dorsten
Dorsten (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Dössen'') is a town in the district of Recklinghausen (district), Recklinghausen in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and has a population of about 75,000.
Dorsten is situated on the western rim of ...
, she concluded an alliance with France, represented by
Cardinal Richelieu
Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...
, and Sweden.
In 1639, with her new allies behind her, Amalie Elisabeth's troops moved in greater strength against the
Electorate of Cologne
The Electorate of Cologne (german: Kurfürstentum Köln), sometimes referred to as Electoral Cologne (german: Kurköln, links=no), was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that existed from the 10th to the early 19th century. ...
in order to defend the already conquered electoral territories (promised by Sweden in return for giving up Upper Hesse), especially in the area of
Vest Recklinghausen
Vest Recklinghausen was an ecclesiastical territory in the Holy Roman Empire, located in the center of today's North Rhine-Westphalia. The rivers Emscher and Lippe formed the border with the County of Mark and Essen Abbey in the south, and to the ...
, and to capture other domains besides. In 1641 Hesse-Cassel lost the town of
Dorsten
Dorsten (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Dössen'') is a town in the district of Recklinghausen (district), Recklinghausen in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and has a population of about 75,000.
Dorsten is situated on the western rim of ...
in Vest Recklinghausen, which they had seized in 1633, to troops of the Imperial Army and Electorate of Cologne after
a siege lasting several weeks. This was the most important Hessian position on the right bank of Lower Rhine. But after the imperial forces partially withdrew to fight in other regions (especially
Wolfenbüttel
Wolfenbüttel (; nds, Wulfenbüddel) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the largest c ...
), Hesse-Kassel embarked on a campaign in the electoral lands on the left bank of the Rhine. At the
Battle of Kempen
The Battle of Kempen was a battle during the Thirty Years' War in Kempen, Westphalia on 17 January 1642. It resulted in the victory of a French-Weimar-Hessian army under the French Comte de Guébriant and the Hessian ''Generalleutnant'' Kasp ...
Hesse-Cassel, with the support of French-Weimaran troops, dealt the Imperial forces a heavy defeat. In the wake of this defeat, large areas in the north of the Electorate, including the
Duchy of Berg
Berg was a state—originally a county, later a duchy—in the Rhineland of Germany. Its capital was Düsseldorf. It existed as a distinct political entity from the early 12th to the 19th centuries.
The name of the county lives on in the modern ...
, and even parts of the neutral
Duchy of Jülich
The Duchy of Jülich (german: Herzogtum Jülich; nl, Hertogdom Gulik; french: Duché de Juliers) comprised a state within the Holy Roman Empire from the 11th to the 18th centuries. The duchy lay west of the Rhine river and was bordered by th ...
fell under the occupation of Hesse-Cassel.
The Hessian War in its narrower sense (1645–1648)
Inspired by military and diplomatic successes in the Rhineland and Westphalia, Landgravine Amalia Elisabeth of Hesse-Cassel felt strong enough to take up the fight for the Marburg inheritance in 1644. She had the ''Hauptakkord'' treaty of 1627, in which Hesse-Cassel had forfeited Upper Hesse, invalidated by a subsequent legal ruling and, at the end of 1645, sent her battle-hardened troops led by
Johann von Geyso towards Marburg. After a short siege of Marburg and Butzbach and their surrender, the majority of Upper Hesse fell again under the rule of Kassel in early 1646.
In 1647, an imperial army under the command of General
Melander, who once stood in Cassel service until 1640, succeeded in recovering the town of Marburg - but not its castle. But because the town of Darmstadt and the Upper County was attacked in turn by French troops under the command of Marshal
Turenne
Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne (11 September 161127 July 1675), commonly known as Turenne , was a French general and one of only six Marshals to have been promoted Marshal General of France. The most illustrious member of the ...
shortly thereafter, this success was short-lived. By the end of 1647, troops from Cassel had re-occupied the majority of Lower and Upper Hesse and the Lower County of Katzenelnbogen. In early 1648, Melander's troops withdrew from Marburg.
The Hessian War was finally permanently settled by negotiations, that took place in parallel with the
Westphalian Peace Congress mediated by Duke
Ernest of Saxe-Gotha and which resulted in a unification and peace treaty that was sealed in April 1648, ahead of the Treaty of Westphalia itself. Before the Westphalian Peace Treaty, Cassel fought one last time against the imperial side, winning the
Battle of Wevelinghoven
The Battle of Wevelinghoven (german: Schlacht bei Wevelinghoven) or Battle of Grevenbroich (''Schlacht bei Grevenbroich'') was one of the final battles of the Thirty Years' War. It took place on 14 June 1648 between troops of Holy Roman Empire a ...
in the Rhineland, together with other Protestant troops. Darmstadt, however, was not involved in this battle.
Under the Unification Treaty between Cassel and Darmstadt, Upper Hesse was permanently divided. Darmstadt had to give up a significant part of Upper Hesse to Cassel, not least Marburg and other occupied territories, including the
Lower County of Katzenelnbogen and the
Barony of Schmalkalden.
References
[Weber (see Literature)]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hessian War
17th-century conflicts
Military history of Germany
1620s in the Holy Roman Empire
1630s in the Holy Roman Empire
1640s in the Holy Roman Empire
Thirty Years' War
Hesse-Kassel
Hesse-Darmstadt
Wars of succession involving the states and peoples of Europe
Religion-based wars
Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt
Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel