William Christoph, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg explained

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.

Life

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.

Notes and References

  1. http://wwperson.informatik.uni-erlangen.de/cgi-bin/l1/LANG=engl/INDEX=I130387 Wilhelm Christoph Landgraf v.Hessen-Homburg in: Genealogy Database by Herbert Stoyan