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Württemberg
During the general collapse of East Francia,
or Germany, in the twelfth century,
Swabia's
dissolution left the way clear for its main successors to emerge from the
shadows. Württemberg and Baden
grew to encompass most of Swabia's former territory.
The collapse of Swabia was effectively triggered by the death of
Holy Roman Emperor Henry
V. Duke Frederick II of
Swabia put
himself forward as a candidate for the imperial title but was defeated by
the successful election of Lothar II. Conflict erupted between the two, and
the rivalry had a destabilising effect on Germany as a whole and Swabia in
particular. In 1137 the county of
Württemberg
was formed in western central Swabia as another step towards the total
disintegration of the duchy during the general political crisis, although it
took a further century to complete the process. |
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County of Württemberg
(Additional information from Ulwencreutz's The Royal Families
in Europe V, Lars Ulwencreutz.) |
1137 - 1181 |
Louis I |
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1137 - 1154 |
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Emich |
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1181 - 1201 |
Henry |
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1201 - 1228 |
Louis II |
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1228 - 1241 |
Eberhard |
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1241 - 1265 |
Ulrich I |
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1265 - 1279 |
Ulrich II |
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1279 - 1325 |
Eberhard I the Illustrious |
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1313 |
With the death of John Parricide, any claim to the former
Swabian duchy
dies with him. Large areas of its territory have already gone to the established
county of Württemberg and the margraviate of
Baden.
Territory formerly belonging to the
Alemanni people also later forms parts of
Austria (Vorarlberg),
France
(Alsace) and
Switzerland, as well as the Bavarian Swabia region of
Bavaria. |
1325 - 1344 |
Ulrich III |
|
1344 - 1392 |
Eberhard II
the Whiner |
Acted as regent for John I of
Lorraine, his future
son-in-law. |
1344 - 1366 |
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Ulrich IV |
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1392 - 1417 |
Eberhard III the Mild |
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1417 - 1419 |
Eberhard IV |
Son. |
1419 - 1441 |
Louis I |
Urach. d.1450. |
1419 - 1480 |
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Ulrich V |
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1457 - 1496 |
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Eberhard V |
Urach. Became Duke Eberhard I. |
1480 - 1495 |
Eberhard VI |
Became Duke Eberhard II. |
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Duchy of Württemberg
(Additional information from Ulwencreutz's The Royal Families
in Europe V, Lars Ulwencreutz.) |
1495 - 1496 |
Eberhard I |
Formerly Count Eberhard V. |
1496 - 1498 |
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Eberhard II |
Formerly Count Eberhard VI. d.1504. |
1498 - 1519 |
Ulrich I |
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1519 - 1534 |
Württemberg is controlled by
Austria. |
1525 |
The monastic state of the
Teutonic Knights is secularised during the Protestant Reformation and
replaced with a duchy in eastern
East Prussia. The new master of the
Knights moves the headquarters to Bad Mergentheim in the northernmost tip of
the duchy of Württemberg. |
1534 - 1550 |
Ulrich I |
Restored? |
1550 - 1568 |
Christopher |
|
1568 - 1593 |
Louis III the Pious |
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1593 - 1608 |
Frederick I |
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1608 - 1628 |
John Frederick |
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1628 - 1674 |
Eberhard III |
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1674 - 1677 |
William Louis |
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1677 - 1733 |
Eberhard IV Louis |
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1733 - 1737 |
Charles I Alexander |
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1737 - 1793 |
Charles Eugene |
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1780 |
The future Duke Frederick III marries Duchess
Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel on 15 October 1780 at Brunswick. Augusta
is the maternal great-granddaughter of King George II of
Great Britain and Hanover. |
1793 - 1795 |
Louis Eugene |
|
1795 - 1797 |
Frederick II
Eugene |
|
1797 - 1806 |
Frederick III |
Elector (1803).
Became King Frederick. |
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Kingdom of Württemberg
The duchy was elevated to a kingdom by
France's Napoleon
Bonaparte when it joined his Confederation of the Rhine. Thanks to the marriage
between Frederick and Duchess Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in 1780, their
children, including the future William I, were direct descendants of King George
II of
Great Britain and Hanover.
(Additional information from Ulwencreutz's The Royal Families in Europe
V, Lars Ulwencreutz.) |
1806 - 1816 |
Frederick |
First king of
Württemberg. Formerly Duke Frederick III. |
1806 - 1817 |
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Ludwig Frederick Alexander |
Duke. |
1816 - 1864 |
William I |
Son of Frederick. |
1836 |
The younger brother of William I is Prince Paul of Württemberg.
Prior to his marriage in 1805, Paul has a mistress named Friederike Porth by whom
he fathers an illegitimate daughter named Karolina von Rothenburg (born 1805, shortly
after her father's marriage). Despite his marriage, the child grows up around her
father and finds a supportive and loving uncle in William I.
In 1836, Karolina falls pregnant by Karl, Baron (Freiherr) von Pfeffel of
Bavaria.
Paul is the one to make arrangements behind the scenes to ensure that his daughter
receives a wedding which takes place before important dignitaries in the private
chapel of the Bishop's Palace in Augsburg. The great-great-great-grandson of this
union is Boris Johnson, mayor of London (2008-2012). This also makes him a direct
(if illegitimate) descendant of George II of
Great Britain and Hanover (as backed up by the BBC
television series, Who Do You Think You Are).
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Following the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte 1814, the Congress
of Vienna took on board much of his vital restructuring of the
German principalities, with the result that a map of the new
Confederation of German States in 1815-1817 looked very
different to maps of the previous century (click or tap on map to
view full sized)
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1864 - 1891 |
Charles |
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1871 |
Württemberg
becomes a sub-kingdom in Prussia's
German empire. |
1891 - 1918 |
William II |
Died 1921. |
1918 |
Wilhelm of Urach, a member of the royal house, is briefly
elected king of
Lithuania in the hope that this will bring about a form of independence.
Instead, Germany's
collapse in 1918 brings about the creation of a republic. Worse still for
Württemberg, all German monarchies are abolished upon the defeat of the
German empire at the end of the First World War. Württemberg becomes
a constituent part of the new federal
Germany and
its future fortunes would be tied to this new political creation. |
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