The mini-state Hesse-Wanfried existed from about 1700 to 1731. It was a principality (

Landgraviate 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 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 ...

in the area of the today's Land 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 ...

. Governed by a cadet line of the House of Hesse under the sovereignty of the land 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 ...

History

Maurice the Learned (1572–1632) was Landgrave of

from 1592 until 1627 when he abdicated in 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 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 ...

), 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 ...

(or Hesse-Cassel), 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,

Frederick, Landgrave of Hesse-Eschwege Landgrave Frederick of Hesse-Eschwege (9 May 1617 – 24 September 1655) was from 1632 until his death Landgrave of the apanage of Hesse-Eschwege, which stood under the suzerainty of Hesse-Kassel. Background Frederick was born in Kassel. As ...

(1617–1655) and

Herman IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg Landgrave Hermann IV of Hesse-Rotenburg (15 August 1607 in Kassel – 25 March 1658 in Rotenburg an der Fulda), was the first Landgrave of the semi-independent Landgraviate of Hesse-Rotenburg. He was the fourth son of the Landgrave Maurice o ...

(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. Ernest, who was a convert to the Roman Catholic Church, was a great traveller and a voluminous writer. About 1700 his two sons,

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 ...

(d. 1725) and Charles (or Karl) (d. 1711), divided their territories, and founded the families of Hesse-Rotenburg and Hesse-Wanfried. The latter family died out in 1755, when William's grandson,

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I *Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine given name ...

(d. 1778), reunited the lands except Rheinfels, which had been acquired by Hesse-Kassel in 1735, and ruled them as Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg.

The governing Landgraves of Hesse-Wanfried

Charles, Landgrave of Hesse-Wanfried Charles of Hesse-Wanfried (born: 19 July 1649 at Rheinfels Castle; died: 3 March 1711 in Schwalbach), was a Landgrave of Hesse-Wanfried. He was the second son of Landgrave Ernest of Hesse-Rheinfels and Maria Eleonore of Solms-Lich. Life After ...

-(Rheinfels) (1649–1711); sovereign ~1700–1711 *

William II, Landgrave of Hesse-Wanfried-Rheinfels William II, Landgrave of Hesse-Wanfried-Rheinfels (also known as ''William the Younger''; born: 25 August 1671 in Langenschwalbach; died: 1 April 1731 in Paris, and also buried there) was a son of the Landgrave Charles of Hesse-Wanfried (1649–1 ...

(1671–1731); sovereign 1711–1731William died childless and the lands passed to his second cousin Constantine, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg (d. 1778) * Christian, Landgrave of Hesse-Wanfried-Rheinfels (1689–1755); sovereign 1731–1755

Notes

References

* *

History

The governing Landgraves of Hesse-Wanfried

Notes

References

Further reading