House of Hanover

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The House of Hanover (the Hanoverians) were a German royal dynasty which succeeded the House of Stuart as monarchs of Great Britain in 1714. They also ruled Hanover in Germany, their original possession. They are sometimes referred to as the House of Brunswick, Hanover line. The House of Hanover is a younger branch of the House of Welf, which in turn is a branch of the House of Este.

[edit] History

George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, is considered the first member of the House of Hanover. When the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg was divided in 1635, George inherited the principalities of Calenberg and Göttingen, and in 1636 he moved his residence to Hanover. His son, Duke Ernest Augustus, was elevated to prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire in 1692. Ernest Augustus's wife, Sophia of the Palatinate, was declared heiress of the throne of Great Britain (then England and Scotland) by the Act of Settlement of 1701, which decreed Roman Catholics could not accede to the throne. Sophia was at that time the nearest Protestant relative to King William III. William himself was actually of the Dutch House of Orange-Nassau, but both his wife and mother were Stuart princesses.

[edit] House of Hanover reigned also in United Kingdom

Their son, George I — who would otherwise have been the 52nd in line to the throne of United Kingdom — became the first British monarch of the House of Hanover. ^[1]

The dynasty provided six British monarchs:

Of the United Kingdom of Great Britain:

• George I (r. 1714-1727)
• George II (r. 1727-1760)
• George III (r. 1760-1820)^[2]

Of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland:

• George III (r. 1760-1820)
• George IV (r. 1820-1830)
• William IV (r. 1830-1837)
• Victoria (r. 1837-1901).

George I, George II, and George III also served as electors and dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg, informally called electors of Hanover (see an account of that personal union). Beginning in 1814, when Hanover was made into a kingdom, the British monarch served jointly as king of Hanover.

The thrones of the United Kingdom and Hanover diverged in 1837 as the throne of Hanover, unlike that of the UK, was under the Salic law, and so did not pass to Queen Victoria but instead passed to her uncle, the Duke of Cumberland. ^[3] When Victoria died in 1901, the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha ascended to the UK throne as her son and heir, Edward VII, as son of her husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, genealogically belonged to that House - whereby it is said that the name of the UK Royal House changed because the surname of his father was Edward VII's surname too. ^[4]

[edit] House of Hanover continued to reign in its namesake kingdom

After the death of William IV in 1837, the following kings of Hanover continued the dynasty:

• Ernest Augustus I (r. 1837-1851)
• George V (r. 1851-1866, deposed)

The Kingdom of Hanover came to an end in 1866 when it was annexed by Prussia.

[edit] Duchy of Brunswick

In 1884, the senior branch of the House of Welf became extinct. By House Law, the House of Hanover would have acceded to the Duchy of Brunswick, but there had been strong Prussian pressure against having George V of Hanover or his son, the Duke of Cumberland, succeed to a member state of the German Empire, at least without strong conditions, including swearing to the German constitution. By a law of 1879, the Duchy of Brunswick established a temporary council of regency to take over at the Duke's death, and if necessary appoint a regent.

The Duke of Cumberland proclaimed himself Duke of Brunswick at the Duke's death, and lengthy negotiations ensued, but were never resolved. Prince Albert of Prussia was appointed regent; after his death in 1906, Duke John Albert of Mecklenburg succeeded him. The Duke of Cumberland's eldest son died of a car accident in 1912; the father renounced Brunswick in favor of his youngest son, who married the Kaiser's daughter, swore allegiance to the German Empire, and was allowed to ascend the throne of the Duchy in November 1913. He was a major-general during the First World War; but he was overthrown as Duke of Brunswick in 1918. His father was also deprived of his British titles in 1919, for "bearing arms against Great Britain".

[edit] Claimants

The later heads of the House of Hanover have been:

• George V (1866-1878)
• Ernest Augustus, 3rd Duke of Cumberland (1878-1923)
• Ernest Augustus III, the deposed duke of Brunswick (1923-1953), son of the previous
• Ernest Augustus the elder, Prince of Hanover (1953-1987)
• Ernest Augustus the younger, Prince of Hanover (1987-present)

see Line of succession to the Hanoverian Throne

The family has been resident in Austria since 1866; it has held titles of only courtesy since 1919.

[edit] Trivia

The streets of Brisbane's Central Business District are named after members of the House of Hanover. Streets running parallel with Queen Street are named for female members, with streets running perpendicular named after male members.

Hanover Square in downtown New York City is also named for the family, as is the province of New Brunswick in Canada, and several other towns in the eastern United States and Canada.

The city of Adelaide in Australia is named after Adelaide, the queen consort of William IV, thus after a member of the House of Guelph.

[edit] Further reading

• Fraser, Flora. Princesses: The Six Daughters of George III. Knopf, 2005.
• Plumb, J. H. The First Four Georges. Revised ed. Hamlyn, 1974.
• Redman, Alvin. The House of Hanover. Coward-McCann, 1960.
• Van der Kiste, John. George III’s Children. Sutton Publishing, 1992.

[edit] See also

• List of British monarchs

[edit] External links

Listen to this article · (info)

This audio file was created from an article revision dated 2005-05-04, and may not reflect subsequent edits to the article. (Audio help)

More spoken articles

   

• Chronology of the House of Hanover
• Genealogy
• Die Welfen (de) official homepage of the House of Welf