Wilhelm VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (23 May 1629 – 16 July 1663), known as William the Just, 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 ...

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 ...

from 1637 to 1663. Through two of his surviving children, he is the ancestor of all the royal families of Europe.

Life

Born in

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 ...

, he was the son of

William V William V may refer to: * William V, Duke of Aquitaine (969–1030) * William V of Montpellier (1075–1121) * William V, Marquess of Montferrat (1191) * William V, Count of Nevers (before 11751181) * William V, Duke of Jülich (1299–1361) * Will ...

(whom he succeeded) and his wife Amalie Elisabeth,

Gräfin (; feminine: ) is a historical title of the German nobility and later also of the Russian nobility, usually translated as "count". Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title ...

Hanau-Münzenberg The County of Hanau-Münzenberg was a territory within the Holy Roman Empire. It emerged when the County of Hanau was divided in 1458, the other part being the county of Hanau-Lichtenberg. Due to common heirs, both counties were merged from 1642 t ...

(daughter of

Philip Louis II of Hanau-Münzenberg Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularized the n ...

and his wife Countess Catharina Belgica of Nassau). His mother remained his guardian until he came of age, and she actually ran the government and diplomatic affairs. Despite Hesse-Kassel's defeat in the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

, William's mother did not wish to acknowledge the accord of 1627. This required that the unmarried

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 ...

er heir and the Landgraves of Hessen-Darmstadt should fall, but Amalie Elisabeth had other ideas and led Hesse-Kessel in 1645 into the "Hessenkrieg", ruling as Landgräfin on her son's behalf. This war began when Hesse-Kassel's troops began to besiege the city of Marburg. Three years later, in 1648, the war ended with a victory for Kassel, although the citizens of Darmstadt also gained from it. This was confirmed by the

Treaty of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia (, ) is the collective name for two Peace treaty, peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought peace to the Holy R ...

of 1648. Domination over the Marburger territories went over to the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel after the accord was dissolved and a new agreement was reached. William VI succeeded in what his ancestors had tried to do in vain since 1604, that is, to end the Hesse-Marburg landgraviate, and to annex the Marburger lands to Hesse-Kassel. After these wars, William attended above all to the extension of the universities within his domains and the foundation of more new

Lehranstalt A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

s. To finally resolve the quarrel with the landgraves of Hesse-Darmstadt, Wilhelm delivered to George II the territory around

Gießen Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the German state () of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 university students. Th ...

, along with Ämtern by

Biedenkopf Biedenkopf () is a spa town in western Hesse, Germany with a population of 13,491 (2020). Geography Location The town of Biedenkopf lies in the west of Marburg-Biedenkopf district. Ringed by mountains reaching up to above sea level – the ...

. Shortly before his death, William joined the

League of the Rhine The League of the Rhine (also known as the ''Erster Rheinbund'', First Rhine- Bund; or the ''Rheinische Allianz'' - Rhenish Alliance) was a defensive union of more than 50 German princes and their cities along the River Rhine, formed on 14 Aug ...

on its foundation in 1658. He also sought to effect a union between his

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

and

Reformed Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine Places * Reform, Al ...

subjects, or at least to lessen their mutual hatred. In 1661 he had a colloquy held in

between the Lutheran theologians of the University of Rinteln and the Reformed theologians of the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg () is a public research university located in Marburg, Germany. It was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Prote ...

. William VI died at

Haina Haina (Kloster) () is a municipality in Waldeck-Frankenberg in northwest Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Haina lies in Waldeck-Frankenberg south of Frankenberg and east of Burgwald at the southwest slope of the Kellerwald range. It lies on ...

in 1663. Control of his Landgraviate went to his eldest son William VII, though - not yet of age - he remained under the guardianship of his mother Hedwig Sophie of Brandenburg until his early death in 1670.

Marriage and issue

He married

Margravine Hedwig Sophie of Brandenburg Hedwig Sophia of Brandenburg (14 July 1623, Berlin – 26 June 1683, Schmalkalden) was Landgravine consort of Hesse-Kassel by marriage to William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, and regent from 1663 until 1677 during the minority of her sons, ...

(1623–1683), daughter of daughter of

George William, Elector of Brandenburg George William (; 13 November 1595 – 1 December 1640), of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was Margrave and Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia from 1619 until his death. His reign was marked by ineffective governance during the Thirty Years' ...

and Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palantine. Their children were: *

Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel (27 April 1650 – 27 March 1714) was Queen of Denmark and Norway by marriage to King Christian V. Although she did not have much political influence, she was a successful businesswoman in her many estates and p ...

(1650–1714), married

Christian V of Denmark Christian V (15 April 1646 – 25 August 1699) was King of Denmark and Norway from 1670 until his death in 1699. Well-regarded by the common people, he was the first king anointed at Frederiksborg Castle chapel as absolute monarch since the dec ...

* William VII (1651–1670), his successor, Landgraf 1663–1670. *Luise (11 September 1652 - 23 October 1652) *

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 ''* ...

(3 August 1654 – 23 March 1730), Landgraf 1670-1730 *

Philipp Philipp is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: "Philipp" has also been a shortened version of Philippson, a German surname especially prevalent amongst German Jews and Dutch Jews. Surname * Adolf Philipp (18 ...

(14 December 1655 – 18 June 1721), Landgrave of

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 ...

, married Countess Katharina Amalia von

Solms-Laubach Solms-Laubach was a County of southern Hesse and eastern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The House of Solms had its origins in Solms, Hesse. History Solms-Laubach was originally created as a partition of Solms-Lich. In 1537 Philip, Count of S ...

*George of Hesse-Kassel (1658–1675); * Elisabeth Henriëtte (8 November 1661 – 27 June 1683), married

Frederick I of Prussia Frederick I (; 11 July 1657 – 25 February 1713), of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was (as Frederick III) List of margraves and electors of Brandenburg, Elector of Brandenburg (1688–1713) and Duke of Prussia in personal union (Brandenburg–Pr ...

Ancestors

Literature

* * Hans Philippi: ''Die Landgrafschaft Hessen-Kassel 1648–1806'' = Veröffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission für Hessen 46 = Kleine Schriften 8, Marburg 2007. ISBN 978-3-7708-1303-2. * Pauline Puppel: ''Die Regentin. Vormundschaftliche Herrschaft in Hessen 1500–1700''. Frankfurt/Main 2004.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:William 06, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel People from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel 1629 births 1663 deaths Landgraves of Hesse German Calvinist and Reformed Christians Child monarchs from Europe 17th-century German people