Heinrich LXXII, Prince Reuss of Lobenstein and Ebersdorf (27 March 1797 – 17 February 1853) was the ruling prince of

Reuss-Lobenstein Reuss-Lobenstein () was a state located in the German part of the Holy Roman Empire. History The members of Reuss-Lobenstein family belonged to the Reuss Junior Line. Reuss-Lobenstein has existed on two occasions, it was firstly created in 1425 ...

from 7 May 1824 until his

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 ...

on 1 October 1848, and of

Reuss-Ebersdorf Reuss-Ebersdorf was a county and from 1806 a principality located in Germany. The Counts of Reuss-Ebersdorf belonged to the Reuss Junior Line. Reuss was successively a part of the Holy Roman Empire, Confederation of the Rhine, German Confederation ...

from 1822 to 1848. He was a cousin of King

Leopold I of Belgium Leopold I (16 December 1790 – 10 December 1865) was the first king of the Belgians, reigning from 21 July 1831 until his death in 1865. The youngest son of Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Leopold took a commission in the Imperial Rus ...

. Unlike with most European monarchies, his large

regnal number Regnal numbers are ordinal numbers—often written as Roman numerals—used to distinguish among persons with the same regnal name who held the same office, notably kings, queens regnant, popes, and rarely princes and princesses. It is common t ...

does not indicate that he was preceded by 71 previous rulers also named Heinrich. By tradition, all male members of the

House of Reuss Reuss ( ) was the name of several historical states located in present-day Thuringia, Germany. Several lordships of the Holy Roman Empire which arose after 1300 and became Imperial Counties from 1673 and Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, Imperial ...

are named Heinrich, and are numbered by order of birth within the family in general. In the

Reuss Younger Line The Principality of Reuss-Gera (), officially called the Principality of the Reuss Junior Line () after 1848, was a sovereign state in modern Germany, ruled by members of the House of Reuss. It was one of the successor states of the Imperial Cou ...

, the numbering system was reset at the beginning of each century; thus Heinrich LXXII's high regnal number is directly related to his having been born close to the end of the

eighteenth century The 18th century lasted from 1 January 1701 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCCI) to 31 December 1800 (MDCCC). During the 18th century, elements of Enlightenment thinking culminated in the Atlantic Revolutions. Revolutions began to cha ...

. Heinrich LXXII

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

in 1848, due to civil unrest in connection with the

revolutions In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elemen ...

that spread through Germany and elsewhere in Europe that year. Because he was the last of his branch of the family, on his death his principality passed to the Prince Reuss zu Schleiz, unifying the lands of the

Ancestry

Notes

References

External links

The Fürst on a coin
1797 births 1853 deaths People from Saalburg-Ebersdorf Princes of Reuss {{Germany-noble-stub