Duke Louis of Württemberg

Template:Short description Template:Expand German Template:Infobox royalty Duke Ludwig Friedrich Alexander of Württemberg (Template:Langx; 30 August 1756, in Treptow an der RegaTemplate:Snd20 September 1817, in Kirchheim unter Teck) was the second son of Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg (1732–1797) and Margravine Sophia Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt (1736–1798). His elder brother was Frederick I, the first King of Württemberg, and his sister was the Russian Empress consort, Maria Feodorovna. Louis retained the pre-royal title of Duke.

Biography

Louis Frederick was a general in the cavalry. He was briefly a high ranking commander the Army of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth appointed the commander of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania's army, but betrayed the Commonwealth, refusing to fight against Russian troops throughout the Polish–Russian War of 1792, while feigning illness. For his betrayal he was dismissed from his post, but never prosecuted. His Polish wife, Duchess Maria, divorced him shortly afterward after his treason became public knowledge.

Between 1807 and 1810, Duke Louis employed the composer Carl Maria von Weber as his secretary with no musical duties. Weber and the duke's older brother Frederick mutually disliked each other, and the composer was banished from Württemberg after accusations of misappropriating some of the duke's money.

Marriages and issue

He married on 28 October 1784 Princess Maria Czartoryska (1768–1854), daughter of Prince Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski and his wife, Countess Isabella von Flemming. They had one child before they divorced in 1793 (Maria initiated the divorce upon the news of his betrayal of Poland):

• Adam Karl Wilhelm Stanislaus Eugen Paul Ludwig (16 January 1792Template:Snd27 July 1847)

On 28 January 1797 in Template:Illm, near Bayreuth, Louis Frederick was married to Princess Henriette of Nassau-Weilburg (then of Nassau), daughter of Charles Christian, Duke of Nassau-Weilburg and Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau. The couple had five children:

• Maria Dorothea Luise Wilhelmine Karoline (1 November 1797Template:Snd30 March 1855); married in 1819 Archduke Joseph of Austria (9 March 1776Template:Snd13 January 1847).
• Amalie Therese Luise Wilhelmine Philippine (28 June 1799Template:Snd28 November 1848); married in 1817 Joseph, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg (27 August 1789Template:Snd25 November 1868). Via this marriage, Louis is an ancestor of Felipe VI of Spain, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and Philip's son Charles III of the United Kingdom.
• Pauline Therese Luise (4 September 1800Template:Snd10 March 1873); married in 1820 her first cousin, William I of Württemberg.
• Elisabeth Alexandrine Konstanze (27 February 1802Template:Snd5 December 1864); married in 1830 Prince William of Baden (8 April 1792Template:Snd11 October 1859).
• Alexander Paul Ludwig Konstantin (9 September 1804Template:Snd4 July 1885); married, morganatically, on 2 May 1835, Countess Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde (21 September 1812Template:Snd1 October 1841) and had issue; founded the second branch of the House of Württemberg, known as the Dukes of Teck. Via this marriage, Louis is an ancestor of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom (Prince Philip's wife and Charles III's mother).