William of Hesse-Philippsthal (born 29 August 1726 in Philippsthal; died: 8 August 1810, Philippsthal) was a member of the

House of Hesse The House of Hesse is a European dynasty, directly descended from the House of Reginar, House of Brabant. They ruled the region of Hesse, one branch as prince-electors until 1866, and another branch as grand dukes until 1918.Burke's Peerage, Bur ...

and

Landgrave Landgrave (, , , ; , ', ', ', ', ') was a rank of nobility used in the Holy Roman Empire, and its former territories. The German titles of ', ' ("margrave"), and ' ("count palatine") are of roughly equal rank, subordinate to ' ("duke"), and su ...

Hesse-Philippsthal This is a list of monarchs of Hesse () during the history of Hesse on west-central Germany. These monarchs belonged to a dynasty collectively known as the House of Hesse and the House of Brabant,''Burke's Royal Families of the World Volume I E ...

from 1770 until his death.

Life

William was the eldest son of Landgrave Charles I of Hesse-Philippsthal from his marriage to Caroline Christine of

Saxe-Eisenach Saxe-Eisenach () was an Ernestine duchy ruled by the Saxon House of Wettin. The state intermittently existed at three different times in the Thuringian region of the Holy Roman Empire. The chief town and capital of all three duchies was Eisenach ...

(1699–1743), daughter of Duke John William III of Saxe-Eisenach. He succeeded his father in 1770 as Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal. William served in the Dutch army as

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 ...

and

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 ...

'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 ...

. William was also

Komtur Commander (; ; ; ; ), or Knight Commander, is a title of honor prevalent in chivalric orders and fraternal orders. The title of Commander occurred in the medieval military orders, such as the Knights Hospitaller, for a member senior to a Knight. ...

of the

Knights Hospitallers The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there u ...

of the

Commandry In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...

of Łagów. In 1806, the Landgraviate of Philippsthal was occupied by French troops and annexed to the short-lived

Kingdom of Westphalia The Kingdom of Westphalia was a client state of First French Empire, France in present-day Germany that existed from 1807 to 1813. While formally independent, it was ruled by Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte. It was named after Westphalia, ...

. William died before his territory could be liberated from the French.

Marriage and issue

William married on 22 June 1755 in

Tournai Tournai ( , ; ; ; , sometimes Anglicisation (linguistics), anglicised in older sources as "Tournay") is a city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, Province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies by ...

his cousin Ulrika Eleonora (1732–1795), daughter of Landgrave William of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld, with whom he had the following children: * Caroline (1756–1756) * Charles (1757–1793), lieutenant colonel in the Guard Regiment of

Hesse-Kassel The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, also known as the Hessian Palatinate (), was a state of the Holy Roman Empire. The state was created in 1567 when the Landgraviate of Hesse was divided upon t ...

: married in 1791 princess Victoria of

Anhalt-Bernburg Anhalt-Bernburg was a Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, principality of the Holy Roman Empire and a duchy of the German Confederation ruled by the House of Ascania with its residence at Bernburg in present-day Saxony-Anhalt. It emerged as a subd ...

(1772–1817), daughter of Prince Franz Adolph of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym * William (1758–1760) * Frederick (1760–1761) * Juliane (1761–1799) : married in 1780 Count Philip Ernest of Schaumburg-Lippe (1723–1787) * Frederick (1764–1794) Imperial lieutenant colonel in a Russian Guard Regiment Cuirassiers *

Louis Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also ...

(1766–1816), Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal : married in 1791 Countess Marie Franziska Berghe von Trips (1771–1805),

Mistress of the Robes The mistress of the robes was the senior lady in the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, who would, by appointment, attend on the Queen (whether queen regnant or a queen consort). Queens dowager retained their own mistresses of the robes. In ...

at the court of Queen

Maria Carolina Maria Carolina or Marie Caroline may refer to: Royalty * Maria Karolina Sobieska (1697–1740), Princess of Turenne and Duchess of Bouillon * Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria (born 1740) (1740–1741), daughter of Empress Maria Theresa and E ...

* William (1765–1766) * Ernest Constantine (1771–1849), Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal : married firstly in 1796 Princess Louise of

Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was a small historic state in present-day Thuringia, Germany, with its capital at Rudolstadt. History Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was established in 1599 in the course of a resettlement of House of Schwarzburg, Schwarzburg dy ...

(1775–1808) : married secondly in 1812 Princess Caroline of

(1793–1872)

Ancestors

References and sources

* Carl Eduard Vehse
''Geschichte der deutschen Höfe seit der Reformation'', p. 319
* Georg Hassel
''Allg. Europäisches Staats u. Address…'', p. 247
{{DEFAULTSORT:William Hesse Philippsthal Landgraves of Hesse 18th-century German people 19th-century German people House of Hesse 1726 births 1810 deaths