Georg II of Fleckenstein-Dagstuhl

Georg II of Fleckenstein-Dagstuhl

Georg II of Fleckenstein-Dagstuhl
Noble family House of Fleckenstein
Father Philipp Wolfgang of Fleckenstein-Dagstuhl
Mother Anna Alexandria of Rappoltstein
Born (1588-02-02)2 February 1588
Died 31 January 1644(1644-01-31) (aged 55)
Hanau
Buried St. Mary's Church in Hanau.

Georg II of Fleckenstein Dagstuhl (2 February 1588 – 31 January 1644) was the last baron of the house of Fleckenstein. He was the eldest son of Philipp Wolfgang of Fleckenstein-Dagstuhl (d. 1618) and his first wife, Anna Alexandria of Rappoltstein (7 March 1565 – 9 April 1610). Georg II gained considerable power as guardian and regent of the still underage Count Friedrich Casimir and the counties of Hanau-Lichtenberg and Hanau-Münzenberg during the final phases of the Thirty Years' War.

Childhood

At twelve, he became a squire at the court in Nancy of Duke Charles III of Lorraine. Later, he was employed by Württemberg on a diplomatic mission to England. After that, he began a career in the military.

Military career

He served in Hungary during the Long War. He climbed to the rank of colonel in the army of the Protestant Union. After the Union was dissolved in 1621, he entered the service of Margrave Friedrich V of Baden-Durlach. During a feud between the Hanseatic League and the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, he killed a member of the House of Isenburg with a pistol shot. He retired in 1622 — turning down offers to become a general in the Danish, English or Swedish army — and focussed on the administration of his own barony.

Reign

The Lordship of Fleckenstein came to feel the full force of the Thirty Years' War in 1622, when commander Ernst von Mansfeld spent the winter in the Upper Rhine area. Georg tried to follow the example of Counts Johann Reinhard I and his cousin Philipp Wolfgang of Hanau-Lichtenberg (1595–1641) and remain neutral. However, when the imperial side grew stronger, he found it impossible to maintain this policy. He sold the Dagstuhl part of his territory to Archbishop Philipp Christoph of Trier. Georg II went into exile in Strasbourg, where he was joined by the ruling family of Hanau-Lichtenberg. He resided at "Fleckenstein Court" on Münstergasse street. Fleckenstein was administered by a member of the Fleckenstein-Bickenbach-Sulz line of his family.

Regency of Hanau

Hanau-Lichtenberg

In Strasbourg, Count Philipp Wolfgang of Hanau-Lichtenberg wrote his will, in which he made his son Friedrich Casimir his sole hier and successor, based on the primogeniture decree, which was in force in the ruling family of Hanau since 1375. In case Friedrich Casimir was still underage when he inherited the county, his regents would be Georg II and Count Johann Ernst of Hanau-Münzenberg. Georg II was selected, because there were no male-line members of the Hanau-Lichtenberg line left, and Georg II was related in the female line, his grandmother being Anna Sibylle of Hanau-Lichtenberg, a daughter of Count Philipp IV. This was the only case in the history of Hanau where a regent was appointed who was of lower rank than his ward. However, Count Johann Ernst, who was the closest living relative, and had the proper feudal rank, however, he lived in faraway Hanau.

Wolfgang Philipp died on 24 February [O.S. 14 February] 1641. He was survived by his second wife, Dorothea Diana of Salm and his underage children Friedrich Casimir, Johann Philipp, Johann Reinhard II, Sophie Eleonore and Agatha Christine. As these children were underage, a guardian was needed. Georg II took up this task, although he had been offered an attractive alternative: to become governor of the Duchy of Württemberg, which had been confiscated by the Emperor.

Hanau-Münzenberg

Count Johann Ernst died on 12 January 1642, leaving Georg II as the only remaining guardian and regent. His ward, Count Friedrich Casimir, inherited Hanau-Münzenberg in a politically precarious situation:

Death

Georg II of Fleckenstein died on 31 January 1644 at Hanau, the last baron of the Fleckenstein-Dagstuhl line. He was buried in St. Mary's Church, Hanau.

Count Friedrich Casimir of Hanau was still considered underage in 1644, as the coming of age only happened at age 25. Count Georg Albrecht of Erbach was appointed as the new regent.

Ancestors

References

Footnotes

  1. Ferdinand Hahnzog, Georg II. von Fleckenstein, Freiherr zu Dachstuhl. Ein Hanauer Administrator in der Endphase des Dreißigjährigen Krieges, in: Hanauer Geschichtsblätter, vol. 18, 1962, p. 223–242.
  2. Reinhard Dietrich: "...wegen geführten großen Staats, aber schlechter Zahlung der Schulden..." — Zur finanziellen Lage der Grafschaft Hanau im 17. Jahrhundert, in: Hanauer Geschichtsblätter, vol. 31, 1993, p. 123-147
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