William VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel

William VIII
Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel

Portrait of William VIII with the Order of the White Eagle, 1729 (Royal Castle in Warsaw)
Spouse(s) Dorothea Wilhelmina of Saxe-Zeitz

Issue

Titles and styles

The Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel
Noble family House of Hesse-Kassel
Father Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel
Mother Maria Amalia of Courland
Born 10 March 1682
Kassel
Died 1 February 1760 (aged 77)
Rinteln
Religion Calvinism

William VIII (10 March 1682 – 1 February 1760) ruled the German Landgraviate Hesse-Kassel from 1730 until his death, first as regent (1730–1751) and then as landgrave (1751–1760).

Life

Born in Kassel, he was the seventh son of Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel and Maria Amalia of Courland. After his elder brother Frederick became King of Sweden 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 began and William joined with the Prussian and British forces. Hesse-Kassel became an important battlefield and was occupied by France on several occasions. He had a deep, personal friendship with Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, and Roman-German emperor Charles VII.

His second son and successor, Frederick, became a Catholic, which led to restrictions on Catholicism in the Calvinist landgraviate and the transfer of the Principality of Hanau to his Protestant son William.

During his reign, William started building Schloss Wilhelmsthal in Calden and collected paintings, including works by Rembrandt.

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); Frederick, his successor; and Maria Amalia (7 July 1721 – 19 November 1744). He died at Rinteln in 1760.

Ancestry

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to William VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel.
William VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel
Born: 10 March 1682 Died: 1 February 1760
Preceded by
Frederick I
Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel
1751–1760
Succeeded by
Frederick II
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/27/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.