William Christoph | |
Succession: | Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg |
Reign: | 1643-1669 |
Succession1: | Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg-Bingenheim |
Reign1: | 1669-1681 |
Father: | Frederick I, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg |
Mother: | Margaret Elisabeth of Leiningen-Westerburg |
Spouse: | Sophia Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt Anna Elisabeth of Saxe-Lauenburg |
Birth Date: | 13 November 1625 |
Birth Place: | Ober-Rosbach |
Death Place: | Bingenheim |
William Christoph of Hesse-Homburg (13 November 1625, Ober-Rosbach – 27 August 1681, then in Bingenheim, now in Echzell) was the second Landgraf of Hesse-Homburg (then known as "Landgraf of Bingenheim") during 1648–1669.
He was the third (second surviving) of five sons of Frederick I, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg, and succeeded his brother Ludwig I as Landgrave in 1643, but his mother was regent until 1648.
In 1669, he sold Homburg to his younger brother George Christian, but retained Bingenheim (Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg-Bingenheim). George Christian died without heirs, and their youngest brother succeeded as Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg.
In Darmstadt on 21 April 1650 William Christoph married firstly Princess Sophia Eleonore, daughter of George II, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. George II was his first cousin, as both were grandsons of George I, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. They had 12 children, but only three survived infancy:[1]
In Lübeck on 2 April 1665 William Christoph married secondly Princess Anna Elisabeth of Saxe-Lauenburg, a daughter of Duke Augustus of Saxe-Lauenburg. In 1672 they were divorced and Anna Elisabeth retired to and later died in Philippseck Castle in today's Butzbach.