William III "the Younger", Landgrave of Hesse (8 September 1471 – 17 February 1500) ruled on the part of the county known as Upper Hesse, with residence in

Marburg Marburg (; ) is a college town, university town in the States of Germany, German federal state () of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf Districts of Germany, district (). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has ...

. William was the son of Landgrave Henry III from 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 his wife Anna of Katzenelnbogen. When his father died in 1483, William was still a minor, and therefore had his uncle Archbishop Herman IV of

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

, and Hans Hofman of Dörnberg acted as

guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unit ...

until 1489. With the rich revenues of the country could William could purchase in 1492 half the barony of Eppstein (including the so-called Ländchen ('little country')State Archive in Marburg cartulary 14, No. 5, f. 12-21v and the State Archive in Marburg cartulary 21, No. 34 Bl 153-176V

/ref>) and in 1493 part of

Klingenberg am Main Klingenberg am Main (, ) is a town in the Miltenberg district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') in Bavaria, Germany. It has a population of around 6,200 and is located on both banks of the river Main. Geography ...

. In 1498 he married Elisabeth, the daughter of Elector Palatine

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...

. William died young after he fell from a horse while hunting, and left no legitimate offspring. His holdings fell to his cousin William II, so that all of the

Landgraviate of Hesse The Landgraviate of Hesse () was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed as a single entity from 1264 to 1567, when it was divided among the sons of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. History In the early Middle Ages, the territory of He ...

was again united in one hand, plus 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 ...

. However, this last inheritance was disputed by his sister Elisabeth of Hesse-Marburg, triggering the

War of the Katzenelnbogen Succession Within the Holy Roman Empire, the War of the Katzenelnbogen Succession (; ) or the Katzenelnbogen Succession Struggle (; ) (1500–1557) was a war of succession about the County of Katzenelnbogen after the death of William III, Landgrave of Hess ...

. , -

References

Footnotes

{{Authority control House of Hesse Landgraves of Hesse 1471 births 1500 deaths