Jacob Kettler

Jacob Kettler
Duke of Courland and Semigallia
Duke of Courland and Semigallia
Reign	17 August 1642 – 1 January 1682
Predecessor	Frederick Kettler
Successor	Frederick Casimir Kettler
Born	(1610-10-28)28 October 1610 Goldingen (Kuldīga)
Died	1 January 1682(1682-01-01) (aged 71) Mitau (Jelgava)
Burial	Ducal crypt in the Jelgava Palace
Spouse	Margravine Louise Charlotte of Brandenburg
Issue	Ladislaus Louis Frederick Kettler Frederick Casimir Kettler Charles Jacob Kettler Ferdinand Kettler Alexander Kettler Louise Elisabeth, Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg Christina Sophia Kettler Charlotte Sophia Kettler, Abbess of Herford Maria Amalia, Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel
House	Kettler
Father	Wilhelm Kettler
Mother	Duchess Sophie of Prussia
Religion	Lutheranism

Jacob Kettler's thaler, 1645.

Jacob Kettler (German: Jakob von Kettler) (28 October 1610 – 1 January 1682) was a Baltic German Duke of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1642–1682). Under his rule, the duchy reached its peak in wealth and engaged in colonization.

Life and reign

Kettler was born in Goldingen, now known as Kuldīga. He was the son of Wilhelm Kettler and Princess Sophia of Prussia, a daughter of Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia, and was a godson of King James I of England. While his father was exiled from the duchy, Jacob lived in the courts of Stettin and Berlin. He studied in Rostock and at the University of Leipzig and sympathized with the ideas of mercantilism. In 1633, he led a Curonian regiment in the Smolensk War between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia. In 1634, he made a grand tour of Europe, visiting Paris, London, and Amsterdam, where he studied shipbuilding. In 1638, he became co-ruler of the duchy and in 1642 sole Duke of Courland.

Under Kettler's rule, the duchy traded with the Netherlands, Portugal, England, France, and other nations. He started large scale reforms of the duchy's economy, improved its agriculture, opened many manufactures and started a shipbuilding industry. During his reign, the Duchy became de facto independent of the Polish crown, because all contracts with foreign powers were signed as between independent states. After 1646, all customs administration of the Duchy also was in the Duke's power.

The Duchy was involved in colonisation. In 1651 Jacob sent a fleet to build Fort Jacob on the Gambia River, on an island that would later be known as St. Andrews. In 1654, he conquered Tobago with forces from the Das Wappen der Herzogin von Kurland, a double-decker ship armed with 45 cannons, carrying 25 officers, 124 Courlander soldiers, and eighty families of Latvian colonists. The colony on Tobago was named Neu Kurland ("New Courland"). In 1654, Duke Jacob was a party to the Treaty of Westminster.

The Duke was taken prisoner by the Swedes from 1658 to 1660, during the Northern Wars. Together with his family, he was held captive in Riga and later in Ivangorod. During this time, his colonies were attacked and lost and his fleet destroyed. After the war ended, he rebuilt the duchy's fleet and retook the island of Tobago from the Dutch. Some believe he also intended to colonize Australia, which had at that time been discovered and claimed by the Dutch, with whom he was at war. He supposedly had the blessing of Pope Innocent X. However, the pope soon died, and the new pope was unwilling to support the plan. For the rest of his reign he tried to reach a pre-war level of wealth but managed to do this only partly. The Duke died in Mitau (Jelgava) on 1 January 1682.

Legacy

Jacob Kettler is remembered as fair ruler who gave opportunities to the local Latvian peasants and even knew the Latvian language.

Marriage and issue

Kettler married Margravine Louise Charlotte of Brandenburg (1617–1676), the daughter of George William, Elector of Brandenburg and had issue:

Name	Birth	Death	Notes
Louise Elisabeth Kettler	12 August 1646	16 December 1690	married Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg; had issue; died aged 44
Ladislaus Louis Frederick Kettler	14 December 1647	31 March 1648	never married; died aged 3 months
Christina Sophia Kettler	15 May 1649	9 June 1651	never married; died aged 2
Frederick II Casimir Kettler	6 July 1650	22 January 1698	married (1) Countess Sophie Amalie of Nassau-Siegen; had issue (2) Margravine Elisabeth Sophie of Brandenburg; had issue; died aged 48
Charlotte Sophia Kettler	17 September 1651	1 December 1728	never married; became the Abbess in Herford; died aged 76
Maria Amalia Anna Kettler	12 June 1653	16 June 1711	married Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel; had issue; died aged 58
Charles Jacob Kettler	20 October 1654	29 December 1677	never married; died aged 23
Ferdinand Kettler	2 November 1655	4 May 1737	married Princess Johanna Magdalene of Saxe-Weissenfels; no issue; died aged 81
Alexander Kettler	16 October 1658	1686	never married; died aged 28

Ancestry

Ancestors of Jacob Kettler

8. Gotthard Kettler, Herr zu Neu-Assen-Melrich 4. Gotthard Kettler, Duke of Courland 9. Sophie of Nesselrode 2. Wilhelm Kettler, Duke of Courland 10. Albert VII, Duke of Mecklenburg 5. Duchess Anna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin 11. Margravine Anna of Brandenburg 1. Jacob Kettler, Duke of Courland 12. Albert, Duke of Prussia 6. Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia 13. Duchess Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg 3. Duchess Sophie of Prussia 14. William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg 7. Duchess Marie Eleonore of Cleves 15. Archduchess Maria of Austria

See also

• Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

External links

• Heinz Mattiesen (1974), "Jakob Kettler", Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 10, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 313–315; (full text online)
• Theodor Schiemann (1881), "Jakob Kettler", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 13, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 540–546
• Coinage of Jacob Kettler