Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse: Difference between revisions
m →Later life: update; Moritz has died |
→Early life: fix ugly, awkward "the then Landgrave" construction that looks like it contains information but doesn't |
||
| Line 24: | Line 24: | ||
==Early life== |
==Early life== |
||
Frederick was born at his family's manor, [[Panker|Gut Panker]], in [[Plön (district)|Plön]], [[Holstein]]. He was the third son of [[Frederick William of Hesse]], |
Frederick was born at his family's manor, [[Panker|Gut Panker]], in [[Plön (district)|Plön]], [[Holstein]]. He was the third son of [[Frederick William of Hesse]], [[Landgrave of Hesse]], and his wife [[Princess Anna of Prussia]], daughter of [[Prince Charles of Prussia]] and [[Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1808–1877)|Princess Marie Louise of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach]]. The elder Frederick, a Danish military officer, had been one (and perhaps the foremost) of the candidates of [[Christian VIII of Denmark]] in the 1840s to succeed to the Danish throne if the latter's male line died out, but renounced his rights to the throne in 1851 in favor of his sister, [[Louise of Hesse|Louise]]. The elder Frederick was of practically Danish upbringing, having lived all his life in Denmark, but in 1875, when the senior branch of Hesse-Kassel became extinct, he settled in northern Germany, where the House had substantial landholdings. |
||
Seventeen days after his own birth, the baby Frederick's first cousin, the then [[Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark)|Tsarevna Maria Fyodorovna of Russia]], daughter of his aunt [[Louise of Hesse-Kassel|Queen Louise of Denmark]], gave birth in [[Saint Petersburg]] to [[Nicholas II of Russia]], who would become Frederick Charles' predecessor as the monarch of Finland (1894–1917). |
Seventeen days after his own birth, the baby Frederick's first cousin, the then [[Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark)|Tsarevna Maria Fyodorovna of Russia]], daughter of his aunt [[Louise of Hesse-Kassel|Queen Louise of Denmark]], gave birth in [[Saint Petersburg]] to [[Nicholas II of Russia]], who would become Frederick Charles' predecessor as the monarch of Finland (1894–1917). |
||
| Line 139: | Line 139: | ||
[[Category:Kings]] |
[[Category:Kings]] |
||
[[Category:German art collectors]] |
[[Category:German art collectors]] |
||
[[Category: |
[[Category:Prince |
||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frederick Charles Of Hesse, Prince}} |
|||
{| class="wikitable succession-box" style="margin:0.5em auto; font-size:95%;clear:both;" |
|||
{{s-hou|[[House of Hesse]]|6 November|1896|12 July|1989}} |
|||
{{Succession box| |
|||
title=[[Landgraviate of Hessen-Kassel|Head of the House of Hesse]]| |
|||
years=15 March 1925 – 28 May 1940| |
|||
before=[[Alexander Frederick of Hesse]]| |
|||
after=[[Prince Philipp of Hesse|Landgraf Philipp]] |
|||
}} |
|||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frederick Charles Of Hesse, Prince}} |
|||
[[Category:1868 births]] |
|||
[[Category:1940 deaths]] |
|||
[[Category:People from Plön (district)]] |
|||
[[Category:People from the Province of Schleswig-Holstein]] |
|||
[[Category:Rulers of Finland|Frederick Charles of Hesse]] |
|||
[[Category:House of Hesse-Kassel|Frederick Charles of Hesse]] |
|||
[[Category:German princes|Hessen, Friedrich Karl von]] |
|||
[[Category:Equestrians at the 1912 Summer Olympics|Hessen, Friedrich Karl von]] |
|||
[[Category:Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]] |
|||
[[Category:Kings]] |
|||
[[Category:German art collectors]] |
|||
[[Category:Prince |
|||
|} |
|||
Revision as of 20:40, 5 August 2013
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (December 2010) |
| Frederick Charles | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landgrave of Hesse | |||||
 | |||||
| Head of the House of Hesse | |||||
| Reign | 15 March 1925 – 28 May 1940 | ||||
| Predecessor | Alexander Frederick | ||||
| Successor | Philipp | ||||
| Born | 1 May 1868 Gut Panker, Plön, Kingdom of Prussia | ||||
| Died | 28 May 1940 (aged 72) Kassel, Nazi Germany | ||||
| Spouse | Princess Margaret of Prussia | ||||
| Issue | Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Prince Maximilian Philipp, Landgrave of Hesse Prince Wolfgang Prince Christoph Prince Richard | ||||
| |||||
| House | House of Hesse | ||||
| Father | Frederick William, Landgrave of Hesse | ||||
| Mother | Princess Anna of Prussia | ||||
| Religion | Lutheran | ||||
Frederick Charles Louis Constantine, Prince and Landgrave of Hesse (1 May 1868, Gut Panker – 28 May 1940, Kassel), Friedrich Karl Ludwig Konstantin Prinz und Landgraf von Hessen-Kassel in German, was the brother-in-law of the German Emperor William II. He was elected King of Finland on 9 October 1918, but renounced the throne on 14 December 1918.
Early life
Frederick was born at his family's manor, Gut Panker, in Plön, Holstein. He was the third son of Frederick William of Hesse, Landgrave of Hesse, and his wife Princess Anna of Prussia, daughter of Prince Charles of Prussia and Princess Marie Louise of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. The elder Frederick, a Danish military officer, had been one (and perhaps the foremost) of the candidates of Christian VIII of Denmark in the 1840s to succeed to the Danish throne if the latter's male line died out, but renounced his rights to the throne in 1851 in favor of his sister, Louise. The elder Frederick was of practically Danish upbringing, having lived all his life in Denmark, but in 1875, when the senior branch of Hesse-Kassel became extinct, he settled in northern Germany, where the House had substantial landholdings.
Seventeen days after his own birth, the baby Frederick's first cousin, the then Tsarevna Maria Fyodorovna of Russia, daughter of his aunt Queen Louise of Denmark, gave birth in Saint Petersburg to Nicholas II of Russia, who would become Frederick Charles' predecessor as the monarch of Finland (1894–1917).
Marriage
On 25 January 1893, Frederick married Princess Margaret of Prussia, the youngest daughter of the late Frederick III, German Emperor and Victoria, Princess Royal, eldest daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her consort Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. They had six children, including two sets of twins:
- Friedrich Wilhelm Sigismund (23 November 1893 – 12 September 1916), died in World War I
- Maximilian Friedrich Wilhelm Georg (20 October 1894 – 13 October 1914), died in World War I
- Philipp (1896–1980) married to Princess Mafalda of Savoy (1902–1944, Buchenwald), had issue.
- Wolfgang Moritz (1896–1989)
- Prince Christoph Ernst August of Hesse (1901–1943) married Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark, had issue.
- Richard Wilhelm Leopold (1901–1969), unmarried
Upon their father's death in 1884, Frederick's eldest brother Frederick William became the head of the House of Hesse, and afterwards his next brother Alexander.
The Finnish throne
Frederick Charles was elected as the King of Finland by the Parliament of Finland on 9 October 1918. However, with the end of World War I, in light of his German birth and the abdication of Emperor William II of Germany ending monarchies in Germany, the arrangement was quickly considered untenable by influential Finns of the time and by Frederick himself. Not much is known of the official stance of the victorious allies. Frederick Charles renounced the throne on 14 December 1918, without ever arriving in the country, much less taking up his position. Finland subsequently adopted a republican constitution.
Later life
Landgrave Alexander Frederick of Hesse abdicated as the head of the House of Hesse on 16 March 1925, and was succeeded by Frederick Charles, his younger brother.
At Frederick's death, his eldest surviving son, Philipp, succeeded him as head.
However, according to certain family documents and correspondence, his successor as King of Finland would have been his second surviving son Prince Wolfgang of Hesse (1896–1989), apparently because Wolfgang was with his parents in 1918 and ready to travel to Finland, where a wedding to a Finnish lady was already in preparation for the coming Crown Prince. Philipp was in the military and unable to be contacted at the time. This choice of the younger of these two twins at that time, however is no precedent that in next generations, the kingship would have been succeeded in secundogeniture, putting the eldest son always to the Hesse title (according to Dr. Vesa Vares). On the contrary, it is practically inconceivable that succession of a kingdom would depend on secondary consideration. The source Viini 2/2007 (in Finnish) indicates a view that until his death Moritz of Hesse was the current successor, and prince Donatus was the heir.
Titles and styles
- 1 May 1868 – 15 March 1925: His Highness Prince Fredrick Charles of Hesse
- 9 October 1918 – 14 December 1918: His Majesty The King of Finland
- 15 March 1925 – 28 May 1940: His Royal Highness The Landgrave of Hesse
See also
- List of Finnish monarchs
- Rulers of Hesse
- Archduke Charles Stephen of Austria
- Mindaugas II of Lithuania
Ancestry
References
- Large article on Helsingin Sanomat newspaper about Friedrich Karl and his descendants, including the current "pretender" for the throne.
External links
Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse Born: 6 November 1896 Died: 12 July 1989
| ||
| Preceded by | Head of the House of Hesse 15 March 1925 – 28 May 1940 |
Succeeded by |