William I (15 May 1648,

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

20 November 1725,

Langenschwalbach Bad Schwalbach (; called Langenschwalbach until 1927) is the district seat of Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. Geography Geographic location Bad Schwalbach is a spa town some 20 km northwest of Wiesbaden. It lies at 289 to 465&n ...

) was

Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg Hesse-Rotenburg (sometimes referred to as Hesse-Rheinfels) is a former German Landgrave, landgraviate created from the landgraviate of Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, Hesse-Cassel in 1627. Its independence ended in 1834 when the estates not bequeathe ...

from 1693 until his death.

Early life

He was a son of Ernest I of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg (1623-1693) and his wife, Countess Maria Eleonore of Solms-Lich (1632-1689). William was nicknamed ''the Elder'' to distinguish him from his nephew, William of Hesse-Wanfried.

Biography

After his father's death in 1693, William ruled one half of the Rotenburg Quarter, the quarter 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 ...

which Landgrave

Maurice of Hesse-Kassel Maurice of Hesse-Kassel (; 25 May 1572 – 15 March 1632), also called Maurice the Learned or Moritz, was the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel) in the Holy Roman Empire from 1592 to 1627. Life Maurice was born in Kassel as the son of ...

had distributed as

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

s among the sons of his second wife, Juliane. He officially resided in

Rotenburg an der Fulda Rotenburg an der Fulda (, ; officially ''Rotenburg a.d. Fulda'') is a town in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, in central Germany, situated, as the name says, on the river Fulda (river), Fulda. Geography Location The town ...

, but he often stayed in

in the

Taunus The Taunus () is a mountain range in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, located north west of Frankfurt and north of Wiesbaden. The tallest peak in the range is '' Großer Feldberg'' at 878 m; other notable peaks are '' Kleiner Feldberg' ...

area. His descendants ruled the Rotenburg Quarter; his grandson,

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I * Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine g ...

reunited all the parts of the Quarter. William's dominions included the lower part of the

County of Katzenelnbogen The County of Katzenelnbogen was an Imperial immediacy, immediate States of the Holy Roman Empire, state of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed between 1095 and 1479, when it was inherited by the Landgraves of Landgraviate of Hesse, Hesse. The es ...

and the

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

and castles of Burg Rheinfels, Reichenberg and Hohenstein as well as shares of Umstadt and Vierherren an der Lahn. He swapped the district and city of

Eschwege Eschwege (), the district seat of the Werra-Meißner-Kreis, is a town in northeastern Hesse, Germany. In 1971, the town hosted the eleventh ''Hessentag'' state festival. Geography Location The town lies on a broad plain tract of the river Wer ...

with his brother

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

for the district and city of Rotenburg. He also held the dominions of

Falkenberg Falkenberg is a locality and the seat of Falkenberg Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 27,813 inhabitants in 2019 (out of a municipal total of about 45,000). It is located at the mouth of river Ätran. The name consists of the Swedish ...

, Cornberg and

and he received a share of the Hessian toll on the Rhine and custom duties on wine, agriculture and wool and the toll at

Boppard Boppard (), formerly also spelled Boppart, is a town and municipality (since the 1976 inclusion of 9 neighbouring villages, ''Ortsbezirken'') in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, lying in the Rhine Gorge, a UN ...

. William died in 1725 and was buried in the Catholic Church of St. Elizabeth in Langenschwalbach.

Marriage and issue

William married on 3 March 1669 in

Rochefort Rochefort () may refer to: Places France * Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, in the Charente-Maritime department ** Arsenal de Rochefort, a former naval base and dockyard * Rochefort, Savoie in the Savoie department * Rochefort-du-Gard, in the G ...

Countess Maria Anna of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort (1652–1688), sister of

Maximilian Karl, Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort Maximilian Karl, Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort (14 July 1656 – 26 December 1718) was an Austrian military officer and the first Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort. Early life Maximilian Karl Albert was the fourth child and th ...

. Anna died in 1688 and was buried in the Franciscan monastery in Boppard. With her, he had eight children, including his successor, Ernest II Leopold. # Eleonore (born 26 November 1674) # Maria Eleonore (born 25 September 1675) married Eustace Theodore, Count Palatine of Sulzbach # Elisabeth Catherine Felicitas (14 February 1677-15 May 1739) married firstly Francis Alexander, Prince of Nassau-Hadamar; married secondly Count Anton Ferdinand of

Attems The House of Attems (Attimis in Italian) is the name of an ancient and illustrious Parliamentary sovereignty, parliamentary family from Friuli that held the titles of princes, counts and barons. The family, from the native castle of Attimis, branc ...

# Sophie (born 4 April 1678) # Maria Amelie Wilhelmine (born 6 August 1679) # Johanna (born 12 September 1680), abbess # Ernestine (born 23 October 1681) married Roberto, Count of la Cerda de Villalonga # Ernest II Leopold (born 25 June 1684), Landgrave of

Hesse-Rotenburg Hesse-Rotenburg (sometimes referred to as Hesse-Rheinfels) is a former German landgraviate created from the landgraviate of Hesse-Cassel in 1627. Its independence ended in 1834 when the estates not bequeathed to princes Victor and Chlodwig of Hoh ...

married Eleonore Maria Anna, Countess of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:William 01 Hesse Rotenburg House of Hesse 1648 births 1725 deaths Landgraves of Hesse-Rotenburg