Frederick III James of Hesse-Homburg (19 May 1673, in

Cölln Cölln () was the Twin cities, twin city of Old Berlin (Alt-Berlin) from the 13th century to the 18th century. Cölln was located on the Fischerinsel, Fisher Island section of Spree Island, opposite Altberlin on the western bank of the River ...

– 8 June 1746, in

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...

) was a Landgrave of

Hesse-Homburg Hesse-Homburg was a state of the Holy Roman Empire and a sovereign member of the German Confederation, which consisted of the lordship of Homburg at the foot of the Taunus, which was then known as ''Die Höhe'' ("the Heights"). The reigning princ ...

Life

Frederick III James was the second son of Landgrave Frederick II of Hesse-Homburg (1633–1708), the famous ''Prince of Homburg'', from his marriage with Louise Elisabeth (1646–1690), daughter of the Duke

Jacob of Courland Jacob Kettler (; ; 28 October 1610 – 1 January 1682) was Duke of Courland and Semigallia from 1642 to 1682. Under his rule, Courland and Semigallia became more independent of its Polish suzerain, reached its peak in wealth, and even engaged ...

(1610–1662). He received a thorough education in the culturally and spiritually progressive atmosphere of the Electoral Court in Berlin, where his father served as commander of the Brandenburg troops,. After his confirmation in 1687, he joined the

Knight academy Knight academies were first established in Western European states in the late 16th century. They prepared aristocratic youth for state and military service. It added to the hitherto rudimentary education of the aristocratic youth natural science, ...

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel (district), Wolfenbüttel Distri ...

. Later, he joined a

Cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

Regiment in

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

. In 1690, he was

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in the

Dutch States Army The Dutch States Army () was the army of the Dutch Republic. It was usually called this, because it was formally the army of the States-General of the Netherlands, the sovereign power of that federal republic. This army was brought to such a size ...

; in 1692, he was

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

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

cavalry regiment. He kept being promoted: to

Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

in 1701, to Major General in 1704 and after

Battle of Blenheim The Battle of Blenheim (; ; ) fought on , was a major battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. The overwhelming Allied victory ensured the safety of Vienna from the Franco-Bavarian army, thus preventing the collapse of the reconstituted G ...

on 13 August 1704, to

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 norma ...

. He remained in the Dutch service until the

Peace of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaty, peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vac ...

, and then took up government in

Bad Homburg Bad Homburg vor der Höhe (, ) is the district town of the Hochtaunuskreis, Hesse, Germany, on the southern slope of the Taunus mountains. Bad Homburg is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. The town's official name is ''Bad Homburg ...

. Frederick III could not contribute much to the administration of his territory while he was in Dutch service. Worth mentioning, however, is the foundation in 1721 of the orphanage in Homburg, which still exists as a "Landgraviate Foundation". The archives of the Foundation were transferred to the Bad Homburg city archives in August 2010. Frederick's tolerant religious policies permitted the publication in Homburg of the book ("A religious herbs-and-flower garden, or the universal song-book") by

Christoph Schütz Christoph Schütz (6 November 1689 in Umstadt, Germany4 January 1750 in Bad Homburg, Germany) was a pietist writer and a songbook publisher. Schütz's book, ''Die Güldene Rose. . . von der Wiederbringung Aller Dinge'' (The Golden Rose . . . on ...

. After the public debt in

had grown considerably, Frederick was forced by an imperial

debit commission A debit commission (German: ''Debitkommissionen'') (from the Latin ''debere'' "to owe") was in the Holy Roman Empire a means to resolve the problems of over-indebted states. These states were usually, but not always, immediate Imperial States. I ...

to again take service in The Netherlands in 1738. He was

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of the Belgian city of

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

, then from 1741 governor of

Breda Breda ( , , , ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. ...

. In 1742, he was promoted to

General of the Cavalry General of the Cavalry () was a General officer rank in the cavalry in various states of which the modern states of German and Austria are successors or in other armies which used the German model. Artillery officers of equivalent rank were called ...

. He died in 1746, as governor of 's-Hertogenbosch and was buried in the

crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

of Bad Homburg Castle. Since none of his children survived him, he was succeeded as the Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg by Frederick IV, the son of his younger brother Casimir William.

Marriages and Issue

Butzbach Butzbach () is a town in the Wetteraukreis district in Hessen, Germany. It is located approximately 16 km south of Gießen and 35 km north of Frankfurt am Main. In 2007, the town hosted the 47th Hessentag state festival from 1 to 10 Jun ...

on 14 February 1700, Frederick III married firstly Elisabeth Dorothea of Hesse-Darmstadt (Darmstadt, 24 April 1676 - Homburg, 9 September 1721); she was the daughter of

Louis VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt Louis VI of Hesse-Darmstadt () (25 January 1630 – 24 April 1678) was Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt from 1661 to 1678. He was the eldest of three sons of the Landgrave George II of Hesse-Darmstadt and Sophia Eleonore of Saxony. Marriage and ch ...

. They had ten children: #Stillborn daughter (Homburg, 27 November 1700). #Fredericka Dorothea Sophia Ernestine (Groningen, 29 September 1701 - Homburg, 11 March 1704). #Frederick William Louis (Groningen, 1 November 1702 - Groningen, 19 August 1703). #Louise Wilhelmine Eleonore Franziska (Homburg, 2 December 1703 - Homburg, 20 August 1704). # Louis John William Gruno, Hereditary Prince of Hesse-Homburg (Homburg, 15 January 1705 - Berlin 13 October 1745), Russian

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

, married on 3 February 1738 to Princess Anastasia Trubezkaya (14 October 1700 - St. Petersburg, 27 November 1755). # John Charles William Ernest Louis (Homburg, 24 August 1706 - Fellin, 10 May 1728). #Ernestine Louise Dorothea Charlotte (Homburg, 29 January 1707 - Homburg, 19 December 1707). #Stillborn son (Homburg, 17 February 1713). #Stillborn child (Homburg, 1716?). #Frederick Ulrich Louis (Homburg, 2 September 1721 - Homburg, 16 November 1721). In

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...

on 17 October 1728 Frederick III married secondly

Christiane Charlotte of Nassau-Ottweiler Christiane Charlotte of Nassau-Ottweiler (2 September 1685 – 6 November 1761) was a Countess of Nassau-Ottweiler by birth and by marriage successively Countess of Nassau-Saarbrücken and countess of Hesse-Homburg. Life Christiane Charlotte ...

(Ottweiler, 2 September 1685 - Homburg, 6 November 1761), widow of Count Charles Louis of Nassau-Saarbrücken. They had no children.

Ancestry

Notes

References

* Johann Caspar Bluntschli
''Deutsches Staatswörterbuch'', p. 180
* Johann I. von Gerning
''Die Lahn- und Main-Gegenden von Embs bis Frankfurt'', p. 155
* Carl Eduard Vehse
''Geschichte der deutschen Höfe seit der Reformation'', p. 453
h1>

External links

Homepage des Kinderheims The Landgraviate Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frederick 03 Hesse Homburg Landgraves of Hesse House of Hesse-Homburg 1673 births 1746 deaths 17th-century German people 18th-century German nobility