William I "the Elder" of Hesse-Rotenburg (15 May 1648, in

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 ...

– 20 November 1725, in

Langenschwalbach Bad Schwalbach (called Langenschwalbach until 1927) is the district seat of Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. Geography Geographic location Bad Schwalbach is a spa town some 20 km northwest of Wiesbaden. It lies at 289 to 465&nbs ...

) was from 1683 until his death Landgrave of

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 ...

. He was a son of Ernest I of Hesse-Rotenburg-Rheinfels and his wife, Countess Maria Eleonore of Solms-Lich. William was nicknamed ''the Elder'' to distinguish him from his nephew, William of Hesse-Wanfried.

Life

After his father's death in 1693, William ruled one half of the Rotenburg Quarter, the quarter 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 ...

which 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 ...

had distributed as

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...

s among the sons of his second wife, Juliane. He officially resided in

Rotenburg an der Fulda Rotenburg an der Fulda (officially ''Rotenburg a.d. Fulda'') is a town in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany lying, as the name says, on the river Fulda (river), Fulda. Geography Location The town lies south of the S ...

, but he often stayed in

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 ...

area. His descendants ruled the Rotenburg Quarter; his 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 ...

reunited all the parts of the Quarter. William's dominions included the lower part of the

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 109 ...

and the

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

and castles of

Burg 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 Mi ...

, Reichenberg and Hohenstein as well as shares of Umstadt and Vierherren an der Lahn. He swapped the district and city of

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 ...

with his brother

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

for the district and city of Rotenburg. He also held the dominions of

Falkenberg Falkenberg is a locality and the seat of Falkenberg Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 27,813 inhabitants in 2019 (out of a municipal total of about 45,000). It is located at the mouth of river Ätran. The name consists of the Swedish ...

Cornberg Cornberg is a municipality in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany. It is the district's smallest municipality. Geography Location The community lies between the towns of Bad Hersfeld to the south and Eschwege to the ...

and

and he received a share of the Hessian toll on the Rhine and custom duties on wine, agriculture and wool and the toll at

Boppard Boppard (), formerly also spelled Boppart, is a town and municipality (since the 1976 inclusion of 9 neighbouring villages, ''Ortsbezirken'') in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, lying in the Rhine Gorge, a UNE ...

. William died in 1725 and was buried in the Catholic Church of St. Elizabeth in Langenschwalbach.

Marriage and issue

William married on 3 March 1669 in

Rochefort Rochefort () may refer to: Places France * Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, in the Charente-Maritime department ** Arsenal de Rochefort, a former naval base and dockyard * Rochefort, Savoie in the Savoie department * Rochefort-du-Gard, in the Ga ...

Countess Maria Anna of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort (1652–1688), sister of

Maximilian Karl, Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort Maximilian Karl, Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort (14 July 1656 – 26 December 1718) was an Austrian military officer and the first Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort. Life Maximilian Karl Albert was the fourth child and the firs ...

. Anna died in 1688 and was buried in the Franciscan monastery in Boppard. With her, he had eight children, including his successor, Ernest II Leopold: * Eleonore (born: November 26, 1674) * Maria Eleonore (born: 25 September 1675) married Eustace Theodore, Count Palatine of Sulzbach * Elisabeth Catherine Felicitas (born: 14 February 1677) married firstly

Francis Alexander Francis Alexander (February 3, 1800 – March 27, 1880) was an American portrait-painter. Biography Alexander was born in Windham county Connecticut in February 1800. Brought up on a farm, he taught himself the use of colors, and in 1820 we ...

, Prince of

Nassau-Hadamar Nassau-Hadamar is the name of two side lines of the Ottonian main line of the House of Nassau. The older line of the counts of Nassau-Hadamar existed from 1303 to 1394; the younger line existed from 1607 to 1711 and received the hereditary title o ...

; married secondly Count Anton Ferdinand of

Attems The House of Attems (Attimis in Italian) is the name of an ancient and illustrious Friulian parliamentary family that held the titles of princes, counts and barons. The family, from the native castle of Attimis, branched off into Italy and Austri ...

* Sophie (born: 4 April 1678) * Maria Amelie Wilhelmine (born: August 6, 1679) * Johanna (born: 12 September 1680), abbess * Ernestine (born: 23 October 1681) married Roberto, Conde de la Cerda de Villalonga * Ernest II Leopold (born: 25 June 1684), Landgrave of

married Eleonore Maria Anna, Countess of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort {{DEFAULTSORT:William 01 Hesse Rotenburg House of Hesse 1648 births 1725 deaths Landgraves of Hesse-Rotenburg