Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden
This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2008) |
Leopold | |
---|---|
Grand Duke of Baden | |
Reign | 30 March 1830 – 24 April 1852 |
Predecessor | Louis I |
Successor | Louis II |
Born | Count Leopold von Hochberg 29 August 1790 Karlsruhe Palace, Karlsruhe, Margraviate of Baden, Holy Roman Empire |
Died | 24 April 1852 Karlsruhe Palace, Karlsruhe, Grand Duchy of Baden, German Confederation | (aged 61)
Spouse | |
Issue Detail | |
House | Zähringen |
Father | Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Baden |
Mother | Louise Caroline of Hochberg |
Religion | Lutheranism |
Leopold (29 August 1790 – 24 April 1852) succeeded in 1830 as the Grand Duke of Baden, reigning until his death in 1852.
Although a younger child, Leopold was the first son of Margrave
Baden gained territory during the
Hochberg heir
Since the descendants of
The situation of both the grand duchy and the Hochberg children became objects of international interest as it became apparent that the Baden male line descended from Karl Frederick's first wife was likely to die out. One by one, the males of the House of Baden expired without leaving male descendants. By 1817, there were only two males left, the reigning Grand Duke Charles I, a grandson of Charles Frederick's, and his childless uncle Prince Louis. Both of Charles's sons died in infancy. Baden's dynasty seemed to face extinction, casting the country's future in doubt.
Unbeknownst to those outside of the court at Baden, upon the 24 November 1787 wedding of then-Margrave Charles Frederick to Luise Karoline Geyer von Geyersberg, he and the three sons of his first marriage signed a declaration which reserved decision on the title and any succession rights of sons to be born of the marriage.[1] Although Luise Karoline's children were not initially legally recognised as of dynastic rank, on 20 February 1796 their father clarified in writing (subsequently co-signed by his elder sons) that the couple's sons were eligible to succeed to the margravial throne in order of male primogeniture after extinction of the male issue of his first marriage.[1] The Margrave further declared that his marriage to their mother must "in no way be seen as morganatic, but rather as a true equal marriage".
On 10 September 1806, after the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire and the assumption of full sovereignty, Charles Frederick confirmed the dynastic status of the sons of his second marriage. This act was, yet again, signed by his three eldest sons, but was not promulgated.
On 4 October 1817, as neither Grand Duke Charles nor the other sons from his grandfather's first marriage had surviving male descendants, Charles proceeded to confirm the succession rights of his hither-to morganatic half-uncles, elevating each to the title Prince and Margrave of Baden, and the style of Highness. He asked the princely congress in Aachen on 20 November 1818, just weeks before his death, to confirm the succession rights of these sons of his step-grandmother, still known as Countess Luise von Hochberg.
But this proclamation of Baden's succession evoked international challenges. The
Nonetheless, in 1818 Charles granted a constitution to the nation, the liberality of which made it popular with the people of Baden and which included a clause securing the succession rights of the offspring of Luise Karoline Geyer von Geyersberg. Another dispute was resolved by Baden's agreement to cede a portion of the county of
To further improve the status of Prince Leopold, his half-brother the new
Finally, on 10 July 1819, a few months after Charles's death, the
When Louis I died on 30 March 1830, he was the last male of the House of Baden not descended from the morganatic marriage of Charles Frederick and Luise Karoline Geyer von Geyersberg. Leopold von Hochberg now succeeded as the fourth Grand Duke of Baden.
Reign
Leopold was interested in the liberal ideas of his time, granted concessions to his subjects in 1848, and in the spring of 1849 declined to oppose the movement (see
Marriage and issue
On 25 July 1819, Leopold married in
- Princess Alexandrine of Baden (6 December 1820 – 20 December 1904) she married Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha on 13 May 1842. They had no children.
- Prince Louis of Baden (1822–1822).
- Louis II, Grand Duke of Baden (15 August 1824 – 22 January 1858). Louis suffered from mental illness and as a result, his brother Prince Frederick acted as Regent.
- Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden (9 September 1826 – 28 September 1907) he married Princess Louise of Prussia on 20 September 1856. They had three children: Frederick II, Grand Duke of Baden (9 July 1857 – 9 August 1928); Princess Victoria of Baden, later Queen of Sweden (7 August 1862 – 4 April 1930); and Prince Louis of Baden (12 June 1865 - 23 February 1888).
- Prince Max of Baden(1867–1929), German Chancellor, and later the heir to the Grand Duchy.
- Prince Charles (Karl) of Baden (9 March 1832 – 3 December 1906) he married morganatically Baroness Rosalie von Beust (created Countess von Rhena) on 17 May 1871. They had one son, Count Frederick von Rhena (1877–1908).[3]
- Ernst Leopold, 4th Prince of Leiningenon 11 September 1858. They had two children: Princess Alberta of Leiningen (23 July 1863 – 30 August 1901); and Emich, 5th Prince of Leiningen (18 January 1866 – 18 July 1939).
- Grand Duke Michael Nicolaievich of Russiaon 28 August 1857. They had seven children.
Titulature
The title and rank of Leopold and the other children of Grand Duke Charles Frederick by his second, morganatic wife,
The title of Margrave of Baden has been borne as a
Honours
- Knight of the House Order of Fidelity[5]
- 1830: Grand Cross of the Order of St. Stephen[6]
- 31 August 1843: Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold[7]
Ancestry
Ancestors of Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
References
- ^ a b Schulze, Hermann. Die Hausgesetze der regierenden deutschen Fürstenhäuser, vol. 1. Jena, 1862, pages 165-69.
- New International Encyclopedia(1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
- ^ "The Gentleman's Magazine". 1907.
- ^ ISBN 2-901138-06-3.
- ^ "Genealogie des Kurfurstlichen Hauses Baden". Kur-Badischer Hof- und Staats-Calender: für d. Jahr ... 1805. Macklot. 1805. p. 4.
- ^ "A Szent István Rend tagjai" Archived 22 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ H. Tarlier (1854). Almanach royal officiel, publié, exécution d'un arrête du roi (in French). Vol. 1. p. 37.