Christian Frederick Charles Alexander (; 24 February 1736 – 5 January 1806) was the last

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 ...

of the two

Franconia Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franco ...

n principalities,

Bayreuth Bayreuth ( or ; High Franconian German, Upper Franconian: Bareid, ) is a Town#Germany, town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains. The town's roots date back to 11 ...

and

Ansbach Ansbach ( , ; ) is a city in the Germany, German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk, administrative region of Mittelfranken, Middle Franconia. Ansbach is southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the river Fränk ...

, which he sold to the King of

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

, a fellow member of the

House of Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, ; , ; ) is a formerly royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) German dynasty whose members were variously princes, Prince-elector, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern Castle, Hohenzollern, Margraviate of Bran ...

Life

His parents were Charles William Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, and Friederike Luise of Prussia, daughter of King

Frederick William I of Prussia Frederick William I (; 14 August 1688 – 31 May 1740), known as the Soldier King (), was King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg from 1713 until his death in 1740, as well as Prince of Neuchâtel. Born in Berlin, he was raised by the Hugu ...

, sister of

Frederick II of Prussia Frederick II (; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was the monarch of Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786. He was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled ''King in Prussia'', declaring himself '' King of Prussia'' after annexing Royal Prus ...

, a granddaughter of the British King George I and niece of the reigning British King George II (who would die aged 76 and leave his grandson, Charles's second cousin, as King George III, when Charles was 24). After the sudden death of his elder brother Carl Frederick August on 9 May 1737, "Alexander", as he later called himself, became Crown Prince of the principality. From 1748 to 1759, he studied at

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

. As the young "Count of Sayn" (the county of

Sayn-Altenkirchen Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn-Altenkirchen (sometimes called Sayn-Altenkirchen) was a German county located in what is now Rhineland-Palatinate, near the river Sieg. When Count William III of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn died in 1623 without clear heirs, the ...

in the Westerwald having been absorbed into the

Principality of Ansbach The Principality or Margraviate of (Brandenburg) Ansbach ( or ) was a principality in the Holy Roman Empire centered on the Franconian city of Ansbach. The ruling Hohenzollern princes of the land were known as margraves, as their ancestors were ...

in 1741) he travelled to

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

and

Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

. On 22 November 1754, in

Coburg Coburg ( , ) is a Town#Germany, town located on the Itz (river), Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Ernestine duchies, Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only ...

, Alexander married Princess Frederica Caroline of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1735–1791), daughter of Franz Josias, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and Anne Sophia, Princess of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. On 3 August 1757, Alexander became the Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach. The ''

Residenz ''Residenz'' () is a German word for "domicile", now obsolete except in the formal sense of an official residence. A related term, ''Residenzstadt'', denotes a city where a sovereign ruler resided, and thus carries a similar meaning to the contemp ...

'' of the principality was at Ansbach, but Alexander preferred his hunting estate and country seat in Triesdorf. Here, he renovated the "White Castle" for his mistress Hippolyte Clairon, the "Red Castle" for himself, and built the ''Villa Sandrina'' for another mistress, "Fräulein Kurz", and the "Round Villa" (''Villa Rotunda'') for his mistress (and later wife) Elizabeth, Baroness Craven. In 1758, Alexander founded the

porcelain Porcelain (), also called china, is a ceramic material made by heating Industrial mineral, raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to oth ...

factory in Ansbach and made ventures into agriculture by importing sheep. In 1769, he acquired the principality of

pursuant to the ''Haus- und Reichsgesetze'' laws of the

. In 1780, Alexander founded his own bank, the ''Hochfürstlich-Brandenburg-Anspach-Bayreuthische Hofbanco'', out of which later came the ''Bayerische Hypotheken- und Wechselbank'' ("Bavarian Mortgage and Change Bank", today absorbed into the ''

HypoVereinsbank HypoVereinsbank (HVB), legally registered since late 2008 as UniCredit Bank GmbH, is a significant bank in Germany headquartered in Munich. It has been part of the Milan-based UniCredit group since 2005, and fully owned by it since 2008. As a ...

''). He evidently wanted to avoid supporting the Jewish banking houses that were then overseeing his financial affairs, and to keep as much of his revenue as possible in his own hands by setting himself up as a private banker.

American Revolutionary War

One of Alexander's enterprises earned income from hiring auxiliary troops to King George III of Great Britain for the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. He had nominal command over the "Frankish Army" of 1,644 mercenaries, of whom only some 1,183 returned to their homeland in 1783. The Margrave leased further troops to Holland. With these incomes, he paid down the principality's debts, which amounted to 5,000,000

guilder Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' (" gold penny"). This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Rom ...

s at the time he inherited the throne (1757). By the time of his abdication 34 years later, the principality's debt stood at only 1,500,000 guilders.

The end of the Margraviate

On 16 January 1791, Alexander sold his Margraviate to

. The contract was arranged by

Karl August von Hardenberg Karl August Fürst von Hardenberg (31 May 1750, in Essenrode- Lehre – 26 November 1822, in Genoa) was a Prussian statesman and Chief Minister of Prussia. While during his late career he acquiesced to reactionary policies, earlier in his care ...

, who had been Acting Minister in Ansbach since 1790. Under the terms of the contract, Prussia paid the Margrave as compensation an annual stipend of 300,000 guilders. On 2 December, in

Bordeaux, France Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, he signed his formal

abdication Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the Order of succession, succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of ...

as Margrave.

After abdication

Alexander's first wife, Frederica Caroline, died on 18 February 1791 in Unterschwaningen, where she had lived since separating from her husband. On 19 May of the same year, Alexander left Triesdorf for England. On 13 October or 30 October 1791, in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, Alexander married Elizabeth Craven, Baroness Craven (1750–1828), the daughter of the

Earl of Berkeley The title Baron Berkeley originated as a feudal title and was subsequently created twice in the Peerage of England by writ. It was first granted by writ to Thomas de Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley (1245–1321), 6th feudal Baron Berkeley, in 12 ...

and the widow of the

William Craven, 6th Baron Craven William Craven, 6th Baron Craven (11 September 1738 – 26 September 1791) was an English nobility, English nobleman and a landowner. Biography William Craven was the son of Revd John Craven, Vicar of Stanton Lacy, Shropshire (1708–1752) ...

, who had died shortly before. Alexander sailed to England as a private citizen with his new wife, and there the couple dedicated themselves to breeding horses. By December 1791, he had found a property near the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

, Brandenburgh House at

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

, and in 1798, he acquired the Benham Park estate at Speen near Newbury in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

. On 5 January 1806, aged 69, Alexander died after a short illness caused by

lung The lungs are the primary Organ (biology), organs of the respiratory system in many animals, including humans. In mammals and most other tetrapods, two lungs are located near the Vertebral column, backbone on either side of the heart. Their ...

disease. Today, a memorial in St Mary's Church in Speen, simply records "In Memory of the Margrave of Anspach, who died at Benham 5th January 1806". The Franconian region over which Alexander had ruled changed hands many times. On 15 December 1805, in the first

Treaty of Schönbrunn The Treaty of Schönbrunn (; ), sometimes known as the Peace of Schönbrunn or the Treaty of Vienna, was signed between France and Austria at Schönbrunn Palace near Vienna on 14 October 1809. The treaty ended the Fifth Coalition during the N ...

, Prussia ceded the

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in exchange for the

Electorate of Hanover The Electorate of Hanover ( or simply ''Kurhannover'') was an Prince-elector, electorate of the Holy Roman Empire located in northwestern Germany that arose from the Principality of Calenberg. Although formally known as the Electorate of Brun ...

; in 1806, Ansbach was acquired by the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria ( ; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingd ...

in exchange for the

Duchy of Berg Berg () was a state—originally a county, later a duchy—in the Rhineland of Germany. Its capital was Düsseldorf. It existed as a distinct political entity from the early 12th to the 19th centuries. It was a member state of the Holy Roman Emp ...

, and soon afterwards the Prussian defeat at

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

on 14 October 1806 resulted in the

Principality of Bayreuth The Principality of Bayreuth () or Margraviate of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (''Markgraftum Brandenburg-Bayreuth'') was an immediate territory of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a Franconian branch of the Hohenzollern dynasty. Since Burgrave Frederi ...

also being ceded to the French in the

Treaty of Tilsit The Treaties of Tilsit (), also collectively known as the Peace of Tilsit (; ), were two peace treaties signed by French Emperor Napoleon in the town of Tilsit in July 1807 in the aftermath of his victory at Friedland, at the end of the War o ...

of July 1807.Thiers, M. A. ''History of the Consulate and the Empire of France under Napoleon.'' Translated by D. F. Campbell. Henry Colburn, London, 1847. Vol. 6, p. 190; Vol. 7, p. 357.
Naval Intelligence Division. ''Germany: History and Administration.'' Admiralty, London, 1944. Volume II, pages 118-119. In 1810, Bayreuth was acquired by Bavaria. In 1871, Bavaria became part of the new

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

under the King of Prussia, but retained its internal independence, and it continues as a Land of the present-day

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Arms

Ancestors

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

Christian Friedrich Karl Alexander Markgraf von Brandenburg-Ansbach
at Thepeerage.com

at Exulanten.com

at Freundetriesdorf.de

at Berkshirehistory.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach 1736 births 1806 deaths German allies of the British Army during the American Revolution Fellows of the Royal Society Margraves of Bayreuth Margraves of Brandenburg-Ansbach Monarchs who abdicated People from Ansbach People from Hammersmith People from Speen, Berkshire Soldiers of the Imperial Circles