Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt

Infobox Former Country
native_name = "Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt"
conventional_long_name = Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt
common_name = Hesse-Darmstadt
continent = Europe
region = Germany
country = Germany
era =
status = Vassal
status_text= State of the Holy Roman Empire
empire = Holy Roman Empire
government_type = Monarchy
year_start = 1567
year_end = 1806
event_start =
date_start =
event_end = Grand Duchy
date_end =

p1 = Landgraviate of Hesse
flag_p1 = Flag of Hesse.svg
image_p1 =
p2 =
flag_p2 =
s1 = Grand Duchy of Hesse
flag_s1 = Flagge Großherzogtum Hessen ohne Wappen.svg
image_s1 =

---

---

symbol_type = Coat of arms (1736)


image_map_caption =
capital = Darmstadt
latd=49|latm=52|latNS=N|longd=8|longm=39|longEW=E
national_motto =
national_anthem =
common_languages = German
religion = Lutheran
currency =

leader1 = George I
leader2 = Louis X
year_leader1 = 1567 - 1596
year_leader2 = 1790 - 1806
title_leader = Landgrave

stat_year1 =
stat_area1 =
stat_pop1 =
footnotes = The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt ( _de. Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt) was a member state of the Holy Roman Empire. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse between the four sons of Philip I, the last Landgrave of Hesse.

The capital of this new state was Darmstadt, hence the name. As a result of the Napoleonic wars, the landgraviate was elevated to grand duchy following the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806.

History

The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt came into existence in 1567, as the portion of George, youngest of the four sons of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse.

With the extinction of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Marburg and Landgraviate Hesse-Rheinfels lines by 1604, Hesse-Darmstadt, along with the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel), became one of the two Hessian states.

While Hesse-Kassel converted to Calvinism and became one of the most zealous exponents of the Protestant cause in the Thirty Years' War, Landgrave George II of Hesse-Darmstadt remained a strict Lutheran and maintained a close alliance with Saxony, which resulted in a pro-Habsburg policy after 1635.

Hesse-Darmstadt gained a great deal of territory by the secularizations and mediatizations authorized by the "Reichsdeputationshauptschluss" of 1803. Most notable was the acquisition of the duchy of Westphalia, formerly owned by the Archbishop of Cologne, as well as territories from the Archbishop of Mainz and the Bishop of Worms.

In 1806, upon the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and the dispossession of his cousin, the Elector of Hesse-Kassel, the Landgrave took the title of Grand Duke of Hesse.

External links

* [http://www.hoeckmann.de/germany/hesse-north.htm Map of Hesse in 1789 - Northern Part]
* [http://www.hoeckmann.de/germany/hesse-south.htm Map of Hesse in 1789 - Southern Part]