Prince Frederick of Hesse
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Prince Frederick of Hesse (11 September 1747 – 20 May 1837) was a younger member of the dynasty that ruled the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel and a Danish general.
He was born as the youngest son of Hereditary Prince Frederick of Hesse-Kassel (the future Landgrave Frederick II) and Princess Mary of Great Britain.
His father, the then hereditary prince (who reigned from 1760 and died in 1785) had in 1747 left the family and soon converted Catholicism, and in 1755 formally ended the marriage. The young prince Frederick, together with his two elder brothers, were with their mother the landgravine Mary and became since 1747 fostered by Protestant relatives and soon moved to Denmark, to be guests of her sister Louise of Great Britain who however died in 1751. His two elder brothers married Danish princesses, their first cousins, in 1763 and 1766 respectively. They remained in Denmark, becoming its important lords and royal functionaries. Only his eldest brother returned to Kassel, in 1785 when ascending the landgraviate.
He married Princess Caroline Polyxene of Nassau-Usingen, a remarkable heiress of a family which went extinct in male line. Her inheritance included the castle of Rumpenheim which became the family's seat.
Their eldest surviving son was Prince William of Hesse, a Danish general. His daughter also was Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel (1797-1889).
