Hesse-Wanfried
{{Short description|Mini-state within the Holy Roman Empire (1700 - 1731)}}
{{Expand German|topic=geo|Hessen-Wanfried|date=October 2012}}
File:COA_Hessen-Wanfried_Charlotte_Amalie.jpg
The mini-state Hesse-Wanfried existed from about 1700 to 1731. It was a principality (Landgraviate) of the Holy Roman Empire in the area of the today's Land of Hesse. Governed by a cadet line of the House of Hesse under the sovereignty of the land of Hesse-Kassel.
History
Maurice the Learned (1572–1632) was Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel from 1592 until 1627 when he abdicated in favour of his son William V (1602–1637), his younger sons receiving apanages which created several cadet lines of the house (Hesse-Rotenburg, Hesse-Eschwege and Hesse-Rheinfels), of which, with amalgamation, that of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg survived till 1834.{{sfn|Anonymous|1911a|p=410}}
In 1627 Ernest (1623–1693), a younger son of Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel), received Rheinfels and lower Katzenelnbogen as his inheritance, and some years later, on the deaths of two of his brothers, Frederick, Landgrave of Hesse-Eschwege (1617–1655) and Herman IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg (1607–1658), he added Eschwege, Rotenburg, Wanfried and other districts to his possessions. Ernest, who was a convert to the Roman Catholic Church, was a great traveller and a voluminous writer. About 1700 his two sons, William (d. 1725) and Charles (or Karl) (d. 1711), divided their territories, and founded the families of Hesse-Rotenburg and Hesse-Wanfried.This source does not make it clear which branch of the family acquired Rheinfels and Eschwege {{harv|Anonymous|1911b|p=413}}. The latter family died out in 1755, when William's grandson, Constantine (d. 1778), reunited the lands except Rheinfels, which had been acquired by Hesse-Kassel in 1735, and ruled them as Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg.{{sfn|Anonymous|1911b|p=413}}
The governing Landgraves of Hesse-Wanfried
{{For|the rulers of Hesse-Wanfried|List of Hessian monarchs #Rulers of Hesse}}
Notes
{{reflist}}
References
- {{EB1911|author=Anonymous |wstitle=Hesse-Cassel |volume=13|page=410|date=1911a}}
- {{EB1911|author=Anonymous |wstitle=Hesse-Rotenburg |volume=13|page=413|date=1911b}}
Further reading
- {{cite web|first=P. L. |last=Kessler |title=European Kingdoms: Central Europe: Landgraves of Hessen-Rheinfels (-Rotenburg) AD 1567 – 1869 |url=http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsEurope/GermanyHesse.htm#Hessen-Rheinfels |publisher= The history files (Kessler Associates Printhouse]) |access-date=21 May 2019}}
- {{cite web|first=Miroslav |last=Marek|date=17 March 2008 |url=http://genealogy.euweb.cz/brabant/hesse.html |title=Landgraves of Hesse family |publisher=Genealogy EU/|access-date=28 January 2011}}
{{coord missing|Hesse}}
{{Landgraves of Hesse-Rotenburg}}
{{Landgravines of Hesse-Rotenburg}}
Category:18th century in the Holy Roman Empire
{{Hesse-geo-stub}}