William VIII (10 March 1682 – 1 February 1760) ruled the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Landgraviate

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 1730 until his death, first as regent (1730–1751) and then as landgrave (1751–1760).

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 seventh son of

Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel Charles of Hesse-Kassel (; 3 August 1654 – 23 March 1730), member of the House of Hesse, was the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel from 1670 to 1730. Childhood Charles was the second son of William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, and Hedwig Sophi ...

and Maria Amalia of Courland. After his elder brother

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Given name Nobility = Anhalt-Harzgerode = * Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) = Austria = * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria fro ...

became

King of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is centred on the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the #IOG, Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. by law a constitutional monarchy, constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parl ...

in 1720 and his father died in 1730, he became de facto ruler of Hesse-Kassel. He officially became landgrave after his brother's death on 25 March 1751. Five years later, the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

began and William joined with the

Prussian Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, the House of Hohenzoll ...

and

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

forces.

became an important battlefield and was occupied by

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

on several occasions. He had a deep, personal friendship with

Frederick the Great Frederick II (; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was the monarch of Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786. He was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled ''King in Prussia'', declaring himself ''King of Prussia'' after annexing Royal Prussia ...

King of Prussia The monarchs of Prussia were members of the House of Hohenzollern who were the hereditary rulers of the former German state of Prussia from its founding in 1525 as the Duchy of Prussia. The Duchy had evolved out of the Teutonic Order, a Roman C ...

, and

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

Charles VII. His second son and successor, Frederick, became a Catholic, which led to restrictions on

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in the

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

landgraviate and the transfer of the Principality of Hanau to his

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

grandson

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

. During his reign, William started building Schloss Wilhelmsthal in

Calden Calden is a municipality in the district of Kassel in Hesse, Germany. It is located 12 km northwest of the city of Kassel, and the Kassel Airport is situated near Calden. Schloss Wilhelmsthal Schloss Wilhelmsthal is a Baroque château ...

and collected paintings, including works by

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

. File:Schloss Wilhelmsthal - Wilhelmsthal.JPG, Schloss Wilhelmsthal

Family

In 1717, William married Dorothea Wilhelmina (20 March 1691 – 17 March 1743), eldest daughter of Maurice William, Duke of Saxe-Zeitz.
They had three children: *Charles (21 August 1718 – 17 October 1719); *

(1720 – 1785), his successor; *Maria Amalia (7 July 1721 – 19 November 1744). He died at

Rinteln Rinteln () is a small town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located on the banks of the Weser river north of the Porta Westfalica. The town of Rinteln is in the broad valley between the hills of the Weserbergland and the North Lippe Bergland. In ...

in 1760.

Ancestry

References

* * Reinhard Dietrich (1996) (in German). ''Die Landesverfassung in dem Hanauischen'' = Hanauer Geschichtsblätter 34. Hanau. * Bernhard Schnackenburg (2000) (in German). ''Landgraf Wilhelm VIII. von Hessen-Kassel, Gründer der Kasselerer Gemäldegalerie''. In: Heide Wunder (Ed.): ''Kassel im 18. Jahrhundert''. Kassel. S. 71–87. * Wolf von Both/Hans Vogt (Ed.) (1964) (in German). ''Landgraf Wilhelm VIII. von Hessen-Kassel. Ein Fürst der Rokokozeit'' = Veröffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission für Hessen und Waldeck, Bd. 27,1/ Schriften zur Hessischen Kulturgeschichte, Bd. 1. Munich. * Franz Carl Theodor Piderit (1844) (in German)
''Geschichte der Haupt- und Residenzstadt Kassel'' S. 304 ff.
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:William 08, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel People from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel 1682 births 1760 deaths Landgraves of Hesse German Calvinist and Reformed Christians 18th-century German people Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)