William II (29 April 1469 – 11 July 1509) was
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 ...
of
Lower Hesse from 1493 and Landgrave of
Upper Hesse after the death of his cousin,
William III, Landgrave of Upper Hesse in 1500. This immediately sparked the
War of the Katzenelnbogen Succession, in which William sought to enforce his claim on 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 ...
with military might.
William II is also called "William the Middle" to distinguish him from his elder brother "
William I William I may refer to:
Kings
* William the Conqueror (–1087), also known as William I, King of England
* William I of Sicily (died 1166)
* William I of Scotland (died 1214), known as William the Lion
* William I of the Netherlands and Luxembour ...
the Elder", and his cousin "
William III, the Younger". His parents were
Louis II the Frank (1438–1471) and Mechthild, daughter of Count
Louis II of Württemberg.
William II became Landgrave of
Lower Hesse in 1493, after his brother William I resigned.
On 9 November 1497 William II married Yolande, daughter of
Frederick II of Vaudémont. She died on 21 May 1500 after the marriage produced one child, William (27 March 1500 – 8 April 1500). The same year on 20 October, his second marriage was to
Anna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (14 September 1485 – 12 May 1525), who bore him three children:
*
Elisabeth (4 March 1502 – 6 December 1557)
* Magdalena (18 July 1503 – September 1504)
*
Philip I Philip(p) I may refer to:
* Philip I of Macedon (7th century BC)
* Philip I Philadelphus (between 124 and 109 BC–83 or 75 BC)
* Philip the Arab (c. 204–249), Roman Emperor
* Philip I of France (1052–1108)
* Philip I (archbishop of Cologne) ( ...
, (13 November 1504 – 31 March 1567)
In 1500, William II reunited the Landgraviate of Hesse after the death of his cousin
William III. In 1503, Emperor
Maximilian I commissioned William with executing the ban on
Elector Philip of the Palatinate.
Ancestors
External links
Wikisource: ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'', "Wilhelm II. (Landgraf von Hessen)"
*
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:William 02 Of Hesse, Landgrave
1469 births
1509 deaths
Landgraves of Hesse
House of Hesse
Burials at St. Elizabeth's Church, Marburg