Charles Frederick (22 November 1728 – 10 June 1811) was

Margrave Margrave was originally the Middle Ages, medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or a monarchy, kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain Feudal ...

, Elector and later Grand Duke of Baden (initially only Margrave of Baden-Durlach) from 1738 until his death.

Biography

Born at

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

, he was the son of Hereditary Prince Frederick of Baden-Durlach and Amalia of Nassau-Dietz (13 October 1710 – 17 September 1777), daughter of Johan Willem Friso of Nassau-Dietz. He succeeded his grandfather as Margrave of Baden-Durlach in 1738 and ruled personally from 1746 until 1771, when he inherited

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...

from the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

line of his family. This made him the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

ruler of a state that was overwhelmingly Catholic; however, the Imperial Diet permitted this because the

Elector of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony ( or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356 to 1806 initially centred on Wittenberg that came to include areas around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. It was a ...

had converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

from

Lutheranism Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

and had been permitted to retain control of the Protestant body of the Imperial Diet. Upon inheriting the latter margraviate, the original land of Baden was reunited. He was regarded as a good example of an enlightened despot, supporting schools, universities, jurisprudence, the civil service, the economy, culture, and urban development. He outlawed

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

in 1767, and

serfdom Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery. It developed du ...

in 1783. He was elected a Royal Fellow of the Royal Society in 1747. In 1803, Charles Frederick became Elector of Baden, and in 1806, the first Grand Duke of Baden. Through the politics of minister Sigismund Freiherr von Reitzenstein, Baden acquired the

Bishopric of Constance The Prince-Bishopric of Constance () was a small Hochstift, ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire from the mid-12th century until its German Mediatisation, secularisation in 1802–1803. In his dual capacity as prince and as bisho ...

, and the territories of the

Bishopric of Basel The Prince-Bishopric of Basel () was an Hochstift, ecclesiastical principality within the Holy Roman Empire, ruled from 1032 by prince-bishops with their seat at Basel, and from 1528 until 1792 at Porrentruy, and thereafter at Schliengen. As an ...

, the Bishopric of Strassburg, and the Bishopric of Speyer that lay on the right bank of the Rhine, in addition to Breisgau and Ortenau. In 1806, Baden joined the

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

. Together with his architect, Friedrich Weinbrenner, Charles Frederick was responsible for the construction of the handsome suite of classical buildings that distinguish Karlsruhe. He died there in 1811, and was one of the few German rulers to die during the

Napoleonic era The Napoleonic era is a period in the history of France and history of Europe, Europe. It is generally classified as including the fourth and final stage of the French Revolution, the first being the National Assembly (French Revoluti ...

Marriages and children

1 konventionsthaler Karl Friedrich - 1766

Charles Frederick married Caroline Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt, daughter of Louis VIII of Hesse-Darmstadt, on 28 January 1751. They had five children: * Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden (14 February 1755 – 16 December 1801); his son,

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 ''* ...

, succeeded Charles Frederick as Grand Duke upon the latter's death in 1811. *Prince Frederick of Baden (29 August 1756 – 28 May 1817); married on 9 December 1791 Louise of Nassau-Usingen (16 August 1776 – 19 February 1829), the daughter of Duke Frederick of Nassau-Usingen. * Prince Louis of Baden (9 February 1763 – 30 March 1830); had three illegitimate children by Katharina Werner, created Countess of Gondelsheim and Langenstein in 1818. Louis succeeded his nephew Charles as Louis I, 3rd Grand Duke in 1818. * Stillborn son (29 July 1764 – 29 July 1764). *Princess Louise Auguste of Baden (8 January 1767 – 11 January 1767). Charles Frederick married Louise Caroline, Baroness Geyer of Geyersberg as his second wife on 24 November 1787. She was the daughter of Lt. Col. Louis Henry Philipp, Baron Geyer of Geyersberg and Maximiliana Christiane, Countess of Sponeck. This was a

morganatic marriage Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spou ...

, and the children born of it were not eligible to succeed. Louise was created Baroness of Hochberg at the time of her marriage and Countess of Hochberg in 1796; both titles were also borne by them. They had five children: * Prince Leopold of Baden (29 August 1790 – 24 April 1852); later succeeded as HRH Leopold I, Grand Duke of Baden. Married on 25 July 1819 in

his half-grandniece, HRH Princess Sophie of Sweden (21 May 1801 – 6 July 1865), eldest daughter of the former King

Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden Gustav IV Adolf or Gustav IV Adolph (1 November 1778 – 7 February 1837) was List of Swedish monarchs, King of Sweden from 1792 until he Coup of 1809, was deposed in a coup in 1809. He was also the last Swedish monarch to be the ruler of Fin ...

and

Frederica of Baden Frederica of Baden (Frederica Dorothea Wilhelmina; 12 March 1781 – 25 September 1826) was List of Swedish royal consorts, Queen of Sweden from 1797 to 1809 as the Queen consort, consort of King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden, Gustav IV Adolf. Life ...

. * Prince William of Baden (8 April 1792 – 11 October 1859). *Prince Frederick Alexander of Baden (10 June 1793 – 18 June 1793). * Princess Amalie of Baden (26 January 1795 – 14 September 1869); married on 19 April 1818 Charles Egon II of Fürstenberg (28 October 1796 – 22 October 1854); their daughter, Princess Pauline von Fürstenberg, was the mother of Princess Margarethe of Hohenlohe-Öhringen (b. Slawentzitz, 27 December 1865 – d. Dresden, 13 June 1940), who was the second wife of Wilhelm, Count of Hohenau (himself the son of Prince Albert of Prussia). *Prince Maximilian of Baden (8 December 1796 – 6 March 1882). By 1817, the descendants of Charles Frederick by his first wife were dying out. To prevent Baden from being inherited by the next heir (his brother-in-law King

Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria Maximilian I Joseph (; 27 May 1756 – 13 October 1825) was Duke of Zweibrücken from 1795 to 1799, prince-elector of Bavaria (as Maximilian IV Joseph) from 1799 to 1806, then King of Bavaria (as Maximilian I Joseph) from 1806 to 1825. He was ...

), the reigning Grand Duke,

(grandson of the first Grand Duke), changed the succession law to give the Hochberg family full dynastic rights in Baden. They thus became Princes and Princesses of Baden with the style '' Grand Ducal Highness'', like their elder half-siblings. Their succession rights were reinforced when Baden was granted a constitution in 1818, and recognised by

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

and the Great Powers in the Treaty of Frankfurt, 1819. Leopold's descendants ruled the Grand Duchy of Baden until 1918. The current pretenders to the throne of Baden are descendants of Leopold. Leopold, the eldest son from the second marriage, succeeded as Grand Duke in 1830.

Biography

Marriages and children

Ancestry

References

Further reading