Frederick IV Charles Louis William of Hesse-Homburg (15 April 1724 in

Braunfels Braunfels () is a town in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. It is located on the German Timber-Frame Road. Geography Location The climatic spa of Braunfels lies at a height of some 100 m above the Lahn valley. It is 9 km southwes ...

– 7 February 1751 in Bad Homburg), was Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg.

Life

Frederick Charles was born at Castle Braunfels as the first child of Prince Casimir William (1690–1726) and his wife Countess Charlotte Christine (1690–1751), daughter of the Count William Maurice of Solms-Braunfels. His father was a son of Landgrave Frederick II of Hesse-Homburg. Frederick grew up first at Braunfels Castle, and later in

Varel Varel () is a town in the district of Friesland, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the Jade River and the Jade Bight, approximately south of Wilhelmshaven and north of Oldenburg. With a population of 23,984 (2020) it is the bigg ...

. He was educated in a Humanistic-Christian spirit and attended a few semesters at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange as a Protestant institution, it holds the distinction of being the oldest university in the Neth ...

. In 1740, he was introduced to

Frederick the Great 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 Prussia ...

during a visit to

Wesel Wesel () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. It is the capital of the Wesel (district), Wesel district. Geography Wesel is situated at the confluence of the Lippe River and the Rhine. Division of the city Suburbs of Wesel i ...

. At the latter's suggestion, he joined the Prussian army in 1741 and participated in the two

Silesian wars The Silesian Wars () were three wars fought in the mid-18th century between Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia (under King Frederick the Great) and Habsburg monarchy, Habsburg Austria (under Empress Maria Theresa) for control of the Central European ...

. He distinguished himself at the siege of

Brzeg Brzeg (; Latin: ''Alta Ripa'', German: ''Brieg'', Silesian German: ''Brigg'', , ) is a town in southwestern Poland with 34,778 inhabitants (December 2021) and the capital of Brzeg County. It is situated in Silesia in the Opole Voivodeship on t ...

and was promoted to

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 1744, he participated in the offensive in Bohemia and the siege and conquest of

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. He fell ill there in 1745, and took a leave of absence. On 10 October 1746 in Hungen, he married his cousin Ulrike Louise (1731–1792), the daughter of Prince Frederick William of Solms-Braunfels. On 8 June 1746, his uncle, Landgrave Frederick III, died in the Netherlands, without a male heir. Frederick Charles succeeded him in Homburg as Frederick IV. His prime ministers, Friedrich Karl von Moser and Casimir of Criss tried to resolve the financial problems of Hesse-Homburg Finance rehabilitate, but the mismanagement that led to the formation of an imperial debit commission to oversee the administration of his predecessor, continued. He had a claim to inherit the Duchy of Courland after the house of Ketteler died out in 1737. Frederick Charles claimed to be entitled to the Duchy via his grandmother Louise Elisabeth of Courland. However, Empress Anna of Russia granted the Duchy to her favourite Ernst Johann von Biron. In 1747, the senior line of Hesse-Darmstadt tried to regain possession of Homburg. Troops from Darmstadt marched in and Landgrave Louis VIII of Hesse-Darmstadt claimed to be Frederick's legal guardian. Frederick, however, was legally an adult and married. A court case was brought before the Emperor and the Aulic Council. While the case was still being discussed, Frederick IV died in 1751, at the age of 28 of a "chest disease". His son and successor, Frederick V, had celebrated his third birthday a week before. Frederick IV 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.

Issue

From his marriage to Ulrike Louise, Frederick Charles had the following children: * Frederick V Louis William Christian (Homburg, 30 January 1748 – Homburg, 20 January 1820), Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg. * Marie Christine Charlotte Wilhelmine (Homburg, 4 November 1749 – Homburg, 10 November 1750).

References

* Johann Caspar Bluntschli
''Deutsches Staatswörterbuch'', p. 180
* Johann I. von Gerning
''Die Lahn- und Main-Gegenden von Embs bis Frankfurt'', p. 163 ff
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frederick 04 of Hesse Homburg Landgraves of Hesse-Darmstadt House of Hesse-Homburg 1724 births 1751 deaths 18th-century German nobility Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)