King Leopold I of Belgium
| Leopold I | |||||
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Portrait of Leopold by George Dawe
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| King of the Belgians | |||||
| Reign | 21 July 1831 – 10 December 1865 | ||||
| Successor | Leopold II | ||||
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| Born |
16 December 1790 Ehrenburg Palace, Coburg Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (modern-day Germany) |
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| Died | 10 December 1865 (aged 74) Laeken, Belgium |
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| Burial | Church of Our Lady of Laeken | ||||
| Spouse |
Princess Charlotte of Wales (m. 1816–17; her death) Louise of Orléans (m. 1832–50; her death) |
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| House | Saxe-Coburg and Gotha | ||||
| Father | Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld | ||||
| Mother | Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf | ||||
| Religion | Lutheran | ||||
| Full name | |
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German: Leopold Georg Christian Friedrich French: Léopold Georges Chrétien Frédéric Dutch: Leopold Joris Christiaan Frederik English: Leopold George Christian Frederick |
Leopold I (French: Léopold Ier, German and Dutch: Leopold I; 16 December 1790 in Coburg – 10 December 1865 in Laeken) was a German prince who became the first King of the Belgians following Belgian independence in 1830. He reigned between July 1831 and December 1865.
Born into the ruling family of the small German duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Leopold took a commission in the Imperial Russian Army and fought against Napoleon after French troops overran Saxe-Coburg during the Napoleonic Wars. After Napoleon's defeat, Leopold moved to the United Kingdom where he married Princess Charlotte of Wales, the only child of the Prince Regent (the future King George IV), thus situating himself as close as possible to the future sovereign of the United Kingdom. Charlotte died in 1817, but Leopold continued to enjoy considerable status in Britain.
After the Greek War of Independence (1821–32), Leopold was offered the position of King of Greece but turned it down, believing it to be too precarious. Instead, Leopold accepted the kingship of the newly established Kingdom of Belgium in 1831. The Belgian government offered the position to Leopold because of his diplomatic connections with royal houses across Europe. In addition, because he was seen as a British-backed candidate, he was not affiliated to other powers, such as France, which were believed to have territorial ambitions in Belgium which might threaten the European balance of power created by the 1815 Congress of Vienna.
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