Hesse-Darmstadt

The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt came into existence in 1568, as the portion of George, youngest of the four sons of Landgrave Philipp of Hesse. With the extinction of the Hesse-Marburg and Hesse-Rheinfels lines by 1604, Hesse-Darmstadt, along with Hesse-Kassel, became one of the two Hessian states. While Hesse-Kassel converted to Calvinism and became one of the most zealous exponents of the Protestant cause in the Thirty Years War, Landgrave George II remained a strict Lutheran and maintained a close alliance with Saxony, which resulted in a pro-Habsburg policy after 1635.

Landgraves of Hesse-Darmstadt

• Georg I 1568-1596
• Ludwig V 1596-1626
• Georg II 1626-1661
• Ludwig VI 1661-1678
• Ludwig VII 1678
• Ernst Ludwig 1678-1739
• Ludwig VIII 1739-1768
• Ludwig IX 1768-1790
• Ludwig X 1790-1806 (when he became Grand Duke Ludwig I of Hesse)