The House of Hesse is a European

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

, directly descended from the House of Brabant. They ruled the region of

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

, one branch as

prince-elector The prince-electors ( pl. , , ) were the members of the Electoral College of the Holy Roman Empire, which elected the Holy Roman Emperor. Usually, half of the electors were archbishops. From the 13th century onwards, a small group of prince- ...

s until 1866, and another branch as

grand duke Grand duke (feminine: grand duchess) is a European hereditary title, used either by certain monarchs or by members of certain monarchs' families. The title is used in some current and former independent monarchies in Europe, particularly: * in ...

s until 1918. Burke's Royal Families of the World, Volume I: ''Europe & Latin America'' (1977), pp. 202, 208, 211-216.

History

The origins of the House of Hesse begin with the marriage in 1241 of Sophie of Thuringia (daughter of

Louis IV, Landgrave of Thuringia Louis IV the Saint (; 28 October 1200 – 11 September 1227), a member of the Ludovingian dynasty, was Landgrave of Thuringia and Saxon Count palatine from 1217 until his death. He was the husband of Elizabeth of Hungary. Biography Louis ...

, and

Elizabeth of Hungary Elizabeth of Hungary (, , ; 7 July 120717 November 1231), also known as Elisabeth of Thuringia, was a princess of the Kingdom of Hungary and the landgravine of Thuringia. Elizabeth was married at the age of 14, and widowed at 20. After her hus ...

) with

Henry II, Duke of Brabant Henry II of Brabant (, ; 1207 – February 1, 1248) was Duke of Brabant and Duke of Lothier, Lothier after the death of his father Henry I, Duke of Brabant, Henry I in 1235. His mother was Matilda of Boulogne, Duchess of Brabant, Matilda of Bo ...

, from the

House of Reginar The Reginarids (or Regnarids, Regniers, Reiniers, etc.) were a family of magnates in Lower Lotharingia during the Carolingian and Ottonian period. Their modern name is derived from the personal name which many members of the family bore, and which ...

. Sophie was the heiress of Hesse, which she passed on to her son,

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

, upon her retention of the territory following her partial victory in the

War of the Thuringian Succession The War of the Thuringian Succession (German: ''Thüringisch-hessischer Erbfolgekrieg'') (1247–1264) was a military conflict over a successor to the last Landgrave of Thuringia for control of the state of Thuringia (now in modern-day Germany). ...

, in which she was one of the belligerents. Originally the western part of the Landgraviate of

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

, in the mid 13th century, it was inherited by the younger son of Henry II,

Duke of Brabant The Duke of Brabant (, ) was the ruler of the Duchy of Brabant since 1183/1184. The title was created by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in favor of Henry I, Duke of Brabant, Henry I of the House of Reginar, son of Godfrey III of Le ...

, and became a distinct political entity. From the late 16th century, it was generally divided into several branches, the most important of which were those of

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 ...

(or Hesse-Cassel) and

Hesse-Darmstadt 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 among the four sons of Landgrave Philip I. ...

. In the early 19th century, the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel was elevated to

Elector Elector may refer to: * Prince-elector or elector, a member of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors * Elector, a member of an electoral college ** Confederate elector, a member of t ...

of Hesse (1803), while the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt became the

Grand Duke of Hesse The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine () was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The grand duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 as the Grand Duchy of Hesse (). It assumed the name ...

(1806), later the Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine. The Electorate of Hesse (Hesse-Kassel) was annexed by

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

in 1866, while the Grand Duchy of Hesse (Hesse-Darmstadt) remained a sovereign realm until the end of the German monarchies in 1918. Since 23 May 2013, the head of the house has been Donatus, Landgrave of Hesse. He descends from the Hesse-Kassel branch of the family, which has been the genealogically senior male line since the house's major partition in 1567. He is married to Countess Floria-Franziska of Faber-Castell. They have three children together.

Links

Rulers of Hesse 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 ...

* Faber-Castell family

Branches

Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse (13 November 1504 – 31 March 1567), nicknamed (), was a German nobleman and champion of the Protestant Reformation, notable for being one of the most important of the early Protestant rulers in Germany. He was ...

, died in 1567. Hesse was then divided between his four sons, thus four main branches arose:

Hesse-Marburg The Landgraviate of Hesse-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 surroun ...

Hesse-Rheinfels Hesse-Rheinfels was created as a cadet line of Landgraviate of Hesse, Hesse for Philip II, Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinfels (1541–1583), landgrave from 1567 until 1583, and as a cadet line of Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, Hesse-Kassel for Ernest, Lan ...

and

. * House of Brabant **

(1264–1567) ***

(1567–1866), became Electorate of Hesse in 1803 ****

Hesse-Rotenburg Hesse-Rotenburg (sometimes referred to as Hesse-Rheinfels) 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 Hoh ...

(1627–1834) ****

Hesse-Wanfried 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 la ...

(1627–1755) ****

(1627–1754) **** Hesse-Eschwege (1632-1657) **** Hesse-Philippsthal (1685-1866) ***** Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (1721–1866) **** Hanau-Schaumburg (1831/1853, morganatic line) ***

(1567, divided in 1604 between Hesse-Darmstadt and Hesse-Kassel) ***

(1567, divided in 1583 between Hesse-Darmstadt, Hesse-Kassel and Hesse-Marburg) ***

(1567–1918), became Grand Duchy of Hesse in 1806 **** Hesse-Butzbach (1609–1642) **** Hesse-Braubach (1609–1651) ****

Hesse-Homburg Hesse-Homburg was a state of the Holy Roman Empire and a sovereign member of the German Confederation, which consisted of the lordship of Homburg at the foot of the Taunus, which was then known as ''Die Höhe'' ("the Heights"). The reigning princ ...

(1622–1866) **** Hesse-Itter (1661–1676) **** Battenberg (1858, morganatic line. Mountbatten since 1917) The

Battenberg family The Battenberg family is a non-dynastic cadet branch of the House of Hesse-Darmstadt, which ruled the Grand Duchy of Hesse until 1918. The first member was Julia Hauke, Countess Julia von Hauke, whose brother-in-law Louis III, Grand Duke of Hess ...

are

morganatic Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spous ...

descendants in the male-line of the House of Hesse, issuing from the marriage of

Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine (Alexander Ludwig Georg Friedrich Emil; 15 July 1823 – 15 December 1888), was the third son and fourth child of Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse, and Wilhelmine of Baden. He was a brother of Tsarina Mar ...

with Countess Julia Hauke who, along with her children and

agnatic Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...

descendants, were made princes and princesses of Battenberg and

Serene Highness His/Her Serene Highness (abbreviation: HSH, second person address: Your Serene Highness) is a style (manner of address), style used today by the reigning families of Liechtenstein, Monaco and Thailand. Until 1918, it was also associated with the p ...

es. The Battenbergs who later settled in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

changed that name to Mountbatten after World War I at the behest of

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...

, who substituted

British peerage A Peerage is a form of The Crown, crown distinction, with Peerages in the United Kingdom comprising both hereditary title, hereditary and life peer, lifetime titled appointments of various Imperial, royal and noble ranks, ranks, which form ...

s for their former German princely title. Those descended from the marriage of Alexander of Battenberg, Prince of Bulgaria, contracted with a commoner after the loss of his throne, were granted the title Count von Hartenau. Hesse-Kassel and its junior lines were annexed by

in 1866. Hesse-Darmstadt became the

People's State of Hesse The People's State of Hesse () was one of the constituent states of Weimar Republic, Germany from 1918 to 1945, as the successor to the Grand Duchy of Hesse () after the defeat of the German Empire in World War I, on the territory of the curren ...

when the monarchy was abolished in 1918. Hesse-Philippsthal died out in the male line in 1925, and Hesse-Darmstadt in 1968. The male-line heirs of Hesse-Kassel and Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld continue to exist to the present day.

Family tree

House of Reginar Lorraine Brabant and Hesse

References

External links