Kaisertreu und lutherisch. Landgraf Ludwig V. von Hessen-Darmstadt und das politische Vermächtnis seines Schwiegervaters, des Kurfürsten Johann Georg von Brandenburg

Abstract

The marriage of Landgrave Ludwig V. of Hesse-Darmstadt with Magdalene of Brandenburg (1598), for which the Dresden Artist Giovanni Maria Nosseni had arranged the festivities, had far-reaching consequences for the political role which the small territory Hesse-Darmstadt would play in the Holy Roman Empire. The Elector Johann Georg of Brandenburg, father of Princess Magdalene, longed to protect the Electorate from a pro-calvinistic orientation and from getting involved in the wars of Western Europe. He feared that the claim of several members of the House Hohenzollern to the Jülich-Kleve succession would greatly endanger both his territory and the Holy Roman Empire. In his testament, the Elector tried to establish a Lutheran policy with participation of the whole dynasty in order to render an active foreign policy between the conflicting lines of Spain, the Netherlands, France and the Emperor impossible. The fraternized dynasties, Saxony and Hesse, were to act as guarantees of this traditional policy of Brandenburg, and his daughter's marriage to the Lutheran Landgrave should be an important piece in this jigsaw. However, the intentions of Elector Johann Georg had no far-reaching consequences for Brandenburg. The Lutheran traditions of the Electorate were succeeded in the policies of Hesse- Darmstadt. Landgrave Ludwig V., supported by his wife Magdalene, was loyal to the Emperor and favoured a neutral position to maintain peace within the Holy Roman Empire. Only in the conflicts with Landgrave Moritz of Hesse-Kassel over the heritage of the Hesse-Marburg territory he remained adamant. The Hesse-Marburg quarrels and the heated atmosphere all across the Empire territories before and during the war of succession in Jülich-Kleve made him abolish his neutral and moderate policy in favour of the Emperor's position. For a long time, Ludwig V. and his brother- in-law, Christian of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, tried to mediate between the Emperor, the Electorates of Brandenburg and Saxony and the Palatines. During the years 1614/15 it became obvious that Ludwig V. could not achieve his aims because Landgrave Moritz had taken an active position and became part of the Protestant Union. Ludwig V. substituted his neutrality for taking sides with the House of Habsburg and the Catholic Princes. Therefore the demands of Elector Johann Georg to act with caution and to observe the peace in the Holy Roman Empire formed the basis for an active and extensive policy of his son-in-law Ludwig V.