Duke Louis of Württemberg

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Duke Ludwig Friedrich Alexander of Württemberg (German: Ludwig Friedrich Alexander Herzog von Württemberg; 30 August 1756, in Treptow an der Rega – 20 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.

Duke Ludwig of Württemberg
Born(1756-08-30)30 August 1756
Treptow Palace, Treptow an der Rega, Province of Pomerania, Kingdom of Prussia
Died20 September 1817(1817-09-20) (aged 61)
Kirchheim unter Teck, Kingdom of Württemberg, German Confederation
Spouse
(m. 1784; div. 1793)
Issue
Names
  • Louis Frederick Alexander of Württemberg
  • German: Ludwig Friedrich Alexander von Württemberg
HouseWürttemberg
FatherFrederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg
MotherPrincess Friederike of Brandenburg-Schwedt

Biography

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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.[1] 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

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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):

On 28 January 1797 in Hermitage [de], 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:

Ancestry

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References

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  1. ^ Piotr Derdej (2008). Zieleńce - Mir - Dubienka 1792. Bellona. pp. 98–103. ISBN 978-83-11-11039-7. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  2. ^ "Wurttemberg 4".
  3. ^ Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 111.