William I | |
---|---|
Landgrave of Lower Hesse | |
Born | 4 July 1466 |
Died | 8 February 1515 Kassel |
Spouse | Anna of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel |
Issue | Mathilda Mathilda Anna Katherine Elisabeth |
House | House of Hesse |
Father | Louis II, Landgrave of Lower Hesse |
Mother | Mechthild of Württemberg-Urach |
William I of Hesse (German: Wilhelm) (4 July 1466 – 8 February 1515) was the Landgrave of Hesse (Lower Hesse) from 1471 to 1493.
His parents were Louis the Frank (1438–1471) and Mechthild, daughter of Count Louis I of Württemberg. On 17 February 1488 in Münden, he married Anna of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel c. 1460 - Worms 16 May 1520], daughter of William II, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Elisabeth, Countess of Stolberg, with whom he had five daughters:
After a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1491 where he was dubbed a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre, he probably contracted syphilis. He abdicated in favor of his brother William II on 3 June 1493, and spent his life in Spangenberg.