Charles William (9 November 1735 – 17 May 1803) was Prince of Nassau-Usingen from 1775 until his death. From 1797 until his death, he was also titular Prince of Nassau-Saarbrücken, however, Nassau-Saarbrücken was occupied by France during that period. He was born in

Usingen Usingen () is a small town in the Hochtaunuskreis in Hessen, Germany. Until 1972, this residential and school town was the seat of the former district of Usingen. Coat of arms The earliest seal whose appearance is known – there had been earlier ...

, the eldest son of Prince

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 ''* ...

of Nassau-Usingen and his wife, Christina Wilhelmina, the daughter of Duke John William III of Saxe-Eisenach. In 1770, Charles William became

Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...

in the Dutch army. In 1789, he was promoted to

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

and in 1790 to

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

of the Walloon regiment and captain of the

grenadier A grenadier ( , ; derived from the word ''grenade'') was historically an assault-specialist soldier who threw hand grenades in siege operation battles. The distinct combat function of the grenadier was established in the mid-17th century, when ...

s. In 1775, he succeeded his father as Prince of Nassau-Usingen. In 1783, he concluded a treaty of inheritance with the princes of Nassau-Saarbrücken,

Nassau-Weilburg The House of Nassau-Weilburg, a branch of the House of Nassau, ruled a division of the County of Nassau, which was a state in what is now Germany, then part of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1344 to 1806. On 17 July 1806, upon the dissolution of t ...

and Nassau-Dietz (i.e., Orange-Nassau), in which it was agreed that the Nassau lands were indivisible and that mutual succession among the various branches based on

primogeniture Primogeniture () is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn Legitimacy (family law), legitimate child to inheritance, inherit all or most of their parent's estate (law), estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some childre ...

would be observed. In 1797, Prince Henry Louis of Nassau-Saarbrücken died childless and Charles William inherited his principality. However, under the

Treaty of Lunéville The Treaty of Lunéville (or Peace of Lunéville) was signed in the Treaty House of Lunéville on 9 February 1801. The signatory parties were the French Republic and Emperor Francis II, who signed on his own behalf as ruler of the hereditary do ...

, the territories on the left bank of the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

were lost to France. The

Reichsdeputationshauptschluss The ' (formally the ', or "Principal Conclusion of the Extraordinary Imperial Delegation"), sometimes referred to in English as the Final Recess or the Imperial Recess of 1803, was a resolution passed by the ' (Imperial Diet) of the Holy Roman Em ...

of 1803 compensated Charles William with territories taken from the

Electorate of Mainz The Electorate of Mainz ( or '; ), previously known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the Holy Roman Empire. In the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, the Archbishop-Elec ...

, the

Electorate of Cologne The Electorate of Cologne (), sometimes referred to as Electoral Cologne (), was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that existed from the 10th to the early 19th century. It consisted of the Hochstift—the temporal posses ...

Electorate of the Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate was a Imperial State, constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire until it was annexed by the Electorate of Baden in 1803. From the end of the 13th century, its ruler was one of the Prince-electors who elected the Holy ...

and

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

. Charles William died later that year. Since he had no male heir, he was succeeded by his younger brother Frederick Augustus.

Marriage and issue

Charles William married Countess Caroline Felizitas of Leiningen-Dagsburg, the daughter of Christian Karl Reinhard of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg-Heidesheim. Charles William and Carolina Felicitas had four children: * Prince Karl Wilhelm (1761–1763) * Caroline (1762–1823), who married

Prince Frederick of Hesse-Kassel Prince Frederick of Hesse-Kassel (11 September 1747 – 20 May 1837) was a younger member of the ruling dynasty of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel) and a Danish general. He was born as the youngest son of Hereditary Prince ...

(1747–1837), the son of Landgrave Frederick II and Princess Mary of Great Britain and the founder of the

cadet branch A cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets (realm, titles, fiefs, property and incom ...

Hesse-Kassel-Rumpenheim. * Princess Luise (1763–1845) * Prince NN of Nassau-Usingen (1768 – died in infancy)

Ancestry

References

* Ernst Joachim: '' Karl Wilhelm von Nassau-Usingen''. In:

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB; ) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences between 1875 and 1912 in 56 volumes, printed in Lei ...

(ADB). Band 15, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1882, S. 315. 1735 births 1803 deaths 18th-century German people Princes of Nassau {{Germany-noble-stub