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Landgraviate of Hesse Landgrafschaft Hessen (German) | |||||||||||||||
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| 1264–1567 | |||||||||||||||
 Landgraviate of Hesse (blue), about 1400 | |||||||||||||||
| Status | State of theHoly Roman Empire | ||||||||||||||
| Capital | Marburg,Gudensberg, Kassel (from 1277) | ||||||||||||||
| Religion | Catholicism,Reformed | ||||||||||||||
| Government | Feudal monarchy | ||||||||||||||
| Landgrave | |||||||||||||||
• 1264–1308 | Henry Ithe Child(first) | ||||||||||||||
• 1509–1567 | Philip Ithe Magnanimous(last) | ||||||||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages,Reformation | ||||||||||||||
• Partitioned fromDuchy of Thuringia | 1264 | ||||||||||||||
• Raised toPrincipality | 1292 | ||||||||||||||
• Partitioned in two | 1458–1500 | ||||||||||||||
• Reformation | 1526 | ||||||||||||||
• Partitioned in four | 1567 | ||||||||||||||
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TheLandgraviate of Hesse (German:Landgrafschaft Hessen) was aprincipality of theHoly Roman Empire. It existed as a single entity from 1264 to 1567, when it was divided among the sons ofPhilip I, Landgrave of Hesse.
In theearly Middle Ages, the territory ofHessengau, named after the GermanicChatti tribes, formed the northern part of the German stem duchy ofFranconia, along with the adjacentLahngau. Upon the extinction of the ducalConradines, theseRhenish Franconian counties were gradually acquired byLandgraveLouis I of Thuringia and his successors.
After theWar of the Thuringian Succession upon the death of LandgraveHenry Raspe in 1247, his niece DuchessSophia of Brabant secured the Hessian possessions for her minor sonHenry the Child. In 1264 he became the first Landgrave of Hesse and the founder of theHouse of Hesse. The remaining Thuringian landgraviate fell to theWettin'sHenry III, Margrave of Meissen. Henry I of Hesse was raised to the status ofprince by KingAdolf of Germany in 1292.
From 1308 to 1311, and again from 1458, the landgraviate was divided intoUpper Hesse andLower Hesse. Hesse was re-unified under LandgraveWilliam II in 1500. The Landgraviate rose to primary importance under his sonPhilip I, also called Philip the Magnanimous, who embracedProtestantism following the 1526Synod of Homberg and then took steps to create a protective alliance of Protestant princes and powers against theCatholic emperorCharles V. When Philip I died in 1567, Hesse was divided between his sons from his first marriage, which decisively enfeebled its importance.[citation needed]
The new Hessian territories were:
The Hessian territories were not re-united until the formation ofGreater Hesse (though withoutRhenish Hesse) as part ofAllied-occupied Germany in 1945.
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1 Part of theThree Bishoprics. 2Nomeny after 1737. 3 withoutReichstag seat. 4 until 1736. 5 JoinedSwiss Confederacy in 1515. Circles est. 1500:Bavarian,Swabian,Upper Rhenish,Lower Rhenish–Westphalian,Franconian,(Lower) Saxon Circles est. 1512:Austrian,Burgundian,Upper Saxon,Electoral Rhenish · Unencircled territories | |||||
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