William III "the Younger", Landgrave of Hesse (8 September 1471 – 17 February 1500) ruled on the part of the county known as Upper Hesse, with residence in
Marburg.
William was the son of Landgrave
Henry III from the
House of Hesse and his wife Anna of
Katzenelnbogen
Katzenelnbogen () is the name of a castle and small town in the district of Rhein-Lahn-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Katzenelnbogen is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") Aar-Einrich.
History
Katzenelnboge ...
. When his father died in 1483, William was still a minor, and therefore had his uncle Archbishop Herman IV of
Cologne, and Hans Hofman of Dörnberg acted as
guardian
Guardian usually refers to:
* Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another
* ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper
(The) Guardian(s) may also refer to:
Places
* Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...
until 1489.
With the rich revenues of the country could William could purchase in 1492 half the barony of
Eppstein (including the so-called
Ländchen ('little country')
[State Archive in Marburg cartulary 14, No. 5, f. 12-21v and the State Archive in Marburg cartulary 21, No. 34 Bl 153-176V]
/ref>) and in 1493 part of Klingenberg am Main.
In 1498 he married Elisabeth
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist
Ships
* HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships
* ''Elisabeth'' (sc ...
, the daughter of Elector Palatine Philip
Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...
.
William died young after he fell from a horse while hunting, and left no legitimate offspring. His holdings fell to his cousin William II, so that all of the Landgraviate of Hesse was again united in one hand (plus the County of Katzenelnbogen).
, -
References
*
Footnotes
{{Authority control
House of Hesse
Landgraves of Hesse
1471 births
1500 deaths