The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt) was a State of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse between the four sons of

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") ...

Philip I. The residence of the landgraves was in Darmstadt, hence the name. As a result 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 Fre ...

, the landgraviate was elevated to the

Grand Duchy of Hesse The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine (german: link=no, Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein) was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Grand Duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 18 ...

following the Empire's dissolution in 1806.

Geography

The landgraviate comprised the southern Starkenburg territory with the Darmstadt residence and the northern province of Upper Hesse with Alsfeld,

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 unive ...

, Grünberg, the northwestern ''

hinterland Hinterland is a German word meaning "the land behind" (a city, a port, or similar). Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associate ...

'' estates around Gladenbach, Biedenkopf and Battenberg as well as the exclave of Vöhl in Lower Hesse.

History

The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt came into existence in 1567, when George, youngest of the four sons of Landgrave Philip I "the Magnanimous", received the Hessian lands in the former upper

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 ...

. His eldest brother William IV received the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, while the second son Louis IV obtained

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 ...

, and the third Philipp II became Landgrave of

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 fr ...

Hessian War

The Hesse-Rheinfels line became extinct on Philip's death in 1583. When, in 1604, the childless Landgrave Louis IV of Hesse-Marburg died at

Marburg Castle The Marburger Schloss (or ''Marburg castle''), also known as Landgrafenschloss Marburg, is a castle in Marburg, Hesse, Germany, located on top of Schlossberg (287 m NAP). Built in the 11th century as a fort, it became the first residence ...

, a succession dispute to his lands, along with the sectarian differences between

Calvinist 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 C ...

Hesse-Kassel and

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 ...

Hesse-Darmstadt, led to a bitter, decades-long rivalry. Because the University of Marburg had become Calvinist under the rule of Landgrave

Maurice 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 ...

, his cousin Louis V of Hesse-Darmstadt founded the Lutheran University of Giessen in 1607. The inheritance conflict was continued in the broader contest of the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of batt ...

, in which Hesse-Kassel sided with the Protestant estates and Hesse-Darmstadt sided with the Habsburg emperor. The

Hesse-Homburg Hesse-Homburg was formed into a separate landgraviate in 1622 by the landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt; it was to be ruled by his son, although it did not become independent of Hesse-Darmstadt until 1668. It was briefly divided into Hesse-Homburg and ...

and

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 re ...

estates seceded from the opponents in 1622 and 1627. Though Hesse-Darmstadt and Hesse-Kassel reached an agreement in 1627, the quarrels rekindled, resulting ''inter alia'' in the Siege of Dorsten and culminating in a series of open battles from 1645, when the Kassel Landgravine Amalie Elisabeth besieged Marburg. The conflict was finally settled on the eve of the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, more than eighty years after the division of the estates. Large parts of the disputed Upper Hesse territory including Marburg fell to the elder Kassel line, while Hesse-Darmstadt retained

and Biedenkopf.

18th-19th centuries

In 1736, the Landgraves of Hesse-Darmstadt inherited the estates of the extinct Counts of Hanau-Lichtenberg, again contested by their Kassel cousins. Hesse-Darmstadt gained a great deal of territory by the secularizations and mediatizations authorized by the '' Reichsdeputationshauptschluss'' of 1803. Most notable was the acquisition 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 Germ ...

, formerly owned by the Prince-Archbishop of Cologne, as well as territories from the Prince-Archbishop of Mainz and the Prince-Bishop of Worms. In 1806, upon the dissolution of the

and the dispossession of his cousin, Elector William I of Hesse-Kassel, Landgrave

Louis X Louis X may refer to: * Louis X of France, "the Quarreller" (1289–1316). * Louis X, Duke of Bavaria (1495–1545) * Louis I, Grand Duke of Hesse Louis I, Grand Duke of Hesse (14 June 1753 in Prenzlau – 6 April 1830 in Darmstadt) was '' ...

joined the Napoleonic

Confederation of the Rhine The Confederated States of the Rhine, simply known as the Confederation of the Rhine, also known as Napoleonic Germany, was a confederation of German client states established at the behest of Napoleon some months after he defeated Austria a ...

and took the title of

Grand Duke of Hesse The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine (german: link=no, Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein) was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Grand Duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 ...

Gallery

file:Flag of Hesse-Darmstadt Reiment during the Seven Years War (1756-1763).svg, Military regiment banner used during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...

file:Arms of the house of Hesse-Darmstadt (2).svg, Coat of arms (1736)

Bibliography

Piotr Napierała Piotr Marek Napierała (born May 18, 1982) is a Polish historian, born in Poznań. Napierała deals with early modern history, especially with political culture of the British, French and German Enlightenment, and its opponents. He studied ...

, ''Hesja-Darmstadt w XVIII stuleciu. Wielcy władcy małego państwa'', Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM, Poznań 2009.

External links

Map of Hesse in 1789 - Northern Part

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hesse-Darmstadt, Landgraviate of 1567 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1806 disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire States and territories established in 1567 States and territories disestablished in 1806 Darmstadt Early Modern history of Germany Counties of the Holy Roman Empire Upper Rhenish Circle Former countries Former monarchies of Europe