Prince George Louis of Hessen-Darmstadt (1669 – 13 September 1705) was a

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

in the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n army. He is known for his career in

Habsburg Spain Habsburg Spain is a contemporary historiographical term referring to the huge extent of territories (including modern-day Spain, a piece of south-east France, eventually Portugal, and many other lands outside of the Iberian Peninsula) ruled be ...

, as

Viceroy of Catalonia This is a list of Spanish viceroys (also called lieutenants) of the Principality of Catalonia from 1479 to 1713. *1479–1493: Enrique de Aragón *1493–1495: Juan de Lanuza y Garabito *1495–1496: Juan Fernández de Heredia *149 ...

(1698–1701), head of the Austrian army in the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

(1701–1705) and governor of

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

in 1704. He was killed during the Siege of Barcelona the following year. He was known in Spanish as Jorge de Darmstadt and in

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

as Jordi Darmstadt.

Early life

Born in

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 ...

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

, Germany in 1669,Profile: Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt
/ref> George Louis of Hesse-Darmstadt was the third son of

Louis VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt Louis VI of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Ludwig) (25 January 1630 – 24 April 1678) was Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt from 1661 to 1678. He was the eldest of three sons of the Landgrave George II of Hesse-Darmstadt and Sophia Eleonore of Saxony. M ...

. After the early death of his father, he was raised by his mother Elisabeth Dorothea of Sachsen-Gotha. In 1686 he undertook a "

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...

" through France and Switzerland. As youngest son, he had little chance of becoming Landgrave, and therefore he was destined for a military career.

Military career

First he fought against the

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic o ...

under

Prince Eugene of Savoy Prince Eugene Francis of Savoy–Carignano, (18 October 1663 – 21 April 1736) better known as Prince Eugene, was a Generalfeldmarschall, field marshal in the army of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty during the 17th a ...

. He was present at the

Battle of Mohacs A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

. Then he joined

William III of Orange William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from the ...

in the Irish campaign. After his return he converted to Catholicism and became ''

Generalfeldwachtmeister ''Generalfeldwachtmeister'' is a historical military rank of general officer level in the armies of the German and Scandinavian countries, corresponding to the rank of ''maréchal de camp'' in France. A Generalfeldwachtmeister ranked above a brig ...

'' (equivalent to

major-general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

) in the Austrian Army in 1692, at the age of 23. Then he fought against the French in the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...

. In 1695 he was sent by the Emperor to Spain at the head of an army-unit of 2,000 German soldiers to help defend

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

against superior French army and navy forces. In 1697 he defended

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

which was under siege by

Vendôme Vendôme (, ) is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Departments of France, department of Loir-et-Cher, France. It is also the department's third-biggest Communes of France, commune with 15,856 inhabitants (2019). It is one of the ...

by land and admiral D’Estrées by sea. Finally the city surrendered after a siege of 52 days. This was ordered from Madrid and against the will of prince George Louis.

Later life

After the war he was honoured in Spain and made a knight in 1697 of the

Order of the Golden Fleece The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece ( es, Insigne Orden del Toisón de Oro, german: Orden vom Goldenen Vlies) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in 1430, to celebrate his marriage ...

. After the withdrawal of the French, he became

, being recorded in the Spanish official records as Jorge de Darmstadt. He learned some Catalan and initiated some reforms, making him quite popular in the region. In 1699 he was appointed ''General der Kavallerie'' (General of Cavalry). But in 1700 King

Carlos II Charles II of Spain (''Spanish: Carlos II,'' 6 November 1661 – 1 November 1700), known as the Bewitched (''Spanish: El Hechizado''), was the last Habsburg ruler of the Spanish Empire. Best remembered for his physical disabilities and the War of ...

died and was succeeded as king by the French

Philip V Philip V may refer to: * Philip V of Macedon (221–179 BC) * Philip V of France (1293–1322) * Philip II of Spain, also Philip V, Duke of Burgundy (1526–1598) * Philip V of Spain Philip V ( es, Felipe; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was ...

. Prince George Louis was replaced in 1701 by a pro-Bourbon Viceroy:

Luis Antonio Tomás Fernández de Portocarrero Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...

, and he returned to Austria. There, he was ordered by the 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 ...

to negotiate an alliance with England and Portugal to support the claims to the Spanish throne of Leopold's son, the

Archduke Charles Archduke Charles Louis John Joseph Laurentius of Austria, Duke of Teschen (german: link=no, Erzherzog Karl Ludwig Johann Josef Lorenz von Österreich, Herzog von Teschen; 5 September 177130 April 1847) was an Austrian field-marshal, the third s ...

. After the start of the

he was appointed the head of the Austrian troops supporting

's cause in Spain. In January 1704, Admiral Sir George Rooke with Prince George on board sailed from Lisbon for Barcelona, hoping it would declare for

. This proved false and the fleet returned to Lisbon after a brush with French naval forces heading to Toulon. On 31 July upon the suggestion of Prince George and under his command, 1,800 Dutch and English Marines were landed near

, took the fortress along with Sir George Rooke, Admiral of the Fleet (1702-1704) and defended it successfully against a Spanish-French siege, holding off repeated attacks. Following the arrival of Allied reinforcements and supplies, enabling Prince George to take the offensive, the siege was abandoned in April 1705. He left Gibraltar and took command of the conquest of Barcelona and was killed on 13 September, storming the citadel of Montjuich. His body was embalmed and buried in the Església dels Josepets de

Gràcia Gràcia () is a district of the city of Barcelona, Spain. It comprises the neighborhoods of Vila de Gràcia, Vallcarca i els Penitents, El Coll, La Salut and Camp d'en Grassot i Gràcia Nova. Gràcia is bordered by the districts of Eixample to th ...

. His heart was sent in 1711 to

, where it remains in the Stadtkirche today. He is known by the Catalans as ''Príncep Jordi'' (Prince George). A street in Barcelona was named after him: ''Carrer del Príncep Jordi''.

Ancestors

References

External links