The Landgraviate of Hesse-Marburg (German: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Marburg) was a German landgraviate, and independent principality, within the Holy Roman Empire, that existed between 1458 and 1500, and between 1567 and 1604/1650.
It consisted of the city of Marburg and the surrounding towns of Gießen, Nidda and Eppstein, approximately what is today called Upper Hesse (Oberhessen).
The area had been a semi-independent county under the counts Giso or Gisonen since the 11th century, which at their extinction fell to the Landgraves of Thuringia in the 1130s.
However, Hesse-Marburg, by its name, refers only to the subdivision around Marburg. Basically the old county. This became an independent principality due to inheritance, i.e. by a landgrave splitting his possessions among two or more sons.
This was first the case in 1485, but as the landgrave died without issue, and the landgraviate reverted to the greater Hesse.
This was again the case in 1567, Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse or Philip the Magnanimous split his large landgraviate into four parts, Hesse-Marburg being one of them.
When, in 1604 Louis IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Marburg died without male issue, he bequeathed equal shares of his territory to the landgraviates of Hesse-Kassel (Marburg) and Hesse-Darmstadt (Gießen, Nidda), yet under the condition that both territories should remain Lutheran. Hesse-Kassel was Calvinist at that time.
As the two lines argued over the details of the division, Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel annexed the whole territory and introduced Calvinism. After a long dispute and armed conflict, Maurice — who had enemies at home as well — resigned in 1627 and left his part of the territory to the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt.
However, in the Hessian War of 1645–48, which was a sub-conflict of the Thirty Years' War, the two lines, which were on different sides, again fought over the territory. This war led to the loss of life of up to two-thirds of the civilian population, one of the highest death toll in any German region in history.
In the end, the territory was divided as stipulated in Louis IV's will. Hesse-Kassel taking the northern and Hesse-Darmstadt the southern part.
All areas of Hesse-Marburg are today located within the German state of Hesse.
Hesse or Hessia, officially the State of Hessen, is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major cities are the historic residential cities Darmstadt and Kassel. With an area of 21,000 square kilometers and a population of just over six million, it ranks seventh and fifth, respectively, among the sixteen German states. Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Germany's second-largest metropolitan area, is mainly located in Hesse.
Marburg is a university town in the German federal state (Bundesland) of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (Landkreis). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approximately 76,000.
This article is about the history of Hesse.
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, was a state in the Holy Roman Empire that was directly subject to the Emperor. The state was created in 1567 when the Landgraviate of Hesse was divided upon the death of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. His eldest son William IV inherited the northern half of the Landgraviate and the capital of Kassel. The other sons received the Landgraviate of Hesse-Marburg, the Landgraviate of Hesse-Rheinfels and the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt.
The House of Hesse is a European dynasty, directly descended from the House of Brabant. They ruled the region of Hesse, one branch as prince-electors until 1866, and another branch as grand dukes until 1918.
Henry I of Hesse "the Child" was the first Landgrave of Hesse. He was the son of Henry II, Duke of Brabant and Sophie of Thuringia.
Hesse-Rotenburg is a former German landgraviate created from the landgraviate of Hesse-Cassel in 1627. Its independence ended in 1834 when the estates not bequeathed to princes Victor and Chlodwig of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst were reunited with Hesse-Kassel.
Christine of Saxony was a German noble, landgravine consort of Hesse by marriage to Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. She was the regent of Hesse during the absence of her spouse in 1547–1549.
Maurice of Hesse-Kassel, also called Maurice the Learned or Moritz, was the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel in the Holy Roman Empire from 1592 to 1627.
Louis V of Hesse-Darmstadt was the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt from 1596 to 1626.
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse between the four sons of Landgrave Philip I.
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.
George I of Hesse-Darmstadt was the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt from 1567 to 1596.
Hesse-Rheinfels was created as a cadet line of Hesse for Philip II, Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinfels (1541–1583), landgrave from 1567 until 1583, and as a cadet line of Hesse-Kassel for Ernest, Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinfels (1623–1693), landgrave from 1627 until 1658.
Wilhelm VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, known as William the Just, was Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel from 1637 to 1663.
Landgrave Louis IV of Hesse-Marburg was the son of Landgrave Philip I of Hesse and his wife Christine of Saxony. After the death of his father in 1567, Hesse was divided among his sons and Louis received Hesse-Marburg including Marburg and Giessen.
The term Upper Hesse originally referred to the southern possessions of the Landgraviate of Hesse, which were initially geographically separated from the more northerly Lower Hesse by the County of Ziegenhain.
Amalie Elisabeth of Hanau-Münzenberg was Landgravine consort and Regent of Hesse-Kassel. She married the future William V, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel in 1619 and became Landgravine upon his ascension to power in 1627. In 1637, military defeats forced her and William V into exile in East Frisia. Later that year, she became regent for their son William VI upon her husband's death. Through skillful diplomacy and military successes in the Thirty Years' War, she advanced the fortunes of Hesse-Kassel and influenced the Peace of Westphalia that brought the conflict to an end. She handed over an enlarged landgraviate to her son when she abdicated upon his majority in 1650. However, her health had deteriorated over the course of the war, and she died soon after her abdication in 1651.
The Electorate of Hesse, also known as Hesse-Kassel or Kurhessen, was a landgraviate whose prince was given the right to elect the Emperor by Napoleon. When the Holy Roman Empire was abolished in 1806, its prince, William I, chose to retain the title of Elector, even though there was no longer an Emperor to elect. In 1807, with the Treaties of Tilsit, the area was annexed to the Kingdom of Westphalia, but in 1814, the Congress of Vienna restored the electorate.
The Hessian War, in its wider sense sometimes also called the Hessian Wars (Hessenkriege), was a drawn out conflict that took place between 1567 and 1648, sometimes pursued through diplomatic means, sometimes by military force, between branches of the princely House of Hesse, particularly between the Landgraviate of Hesse-Cassel and the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt. It was triggered by a division of inheritance following the death of the last landgrave of all Hesse, Philip I in 1567.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
