[October 30] Frederick I, king of Württemberg

Parents: Frederick II Eugene, duke of Württemberg, and Sophia Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt
Born: 6 November 1754
House: Württemberg
Spouse(s): (1) Augusta, daughter of Charles William Ferdinand, duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and Augusta of Great Britain, then (2) Charlotte, daughter of George III, king of Great Britain, and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Predecessor: Frederick II Eugene

Reign: 1805 – 1816
Brief: A towering and wide figure at nearly seven feet with girth to match, it is no surprise that Frederick of Württemberg rose to such greatness through the Napoleonic Wars. Prior to his coronation, Frederick served as the governor-general of Eastern Finland for Empress Catherine the Great of Russia. In 1786, Frederick was booted out of Russia after his wife, Augusta, sought asylum from her abusive husband. In the year of his elevation to the duchy of Württemberg, Frederick married again, this time to the daughter of the king of Great Britain. French troops soon after occupied most of Württemberg and the royal family was forced to flee to Vienna. While there, Napoléon proclaimed him elector of Württemberg and granted the duke new ecclesiastical territories as well as former free cities that were within his realm. Two years later, in 1805, Württemberg was proclaimed a kingdom after Frederick loaned troops to Napoléon's army. For eight years, Frederick supported the French in the wars, but in 1813, he changed sides and joined the Allies. He was confirmed as king at the Congress of Vienna and, after much debate, was allowed to keep all of his annexed lands. Frederick died the following year and his son, William, succeeded him.

Date of Death: 30 October 1816
Successor: William I

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Charles IX, king of Sweden (1611)
• Go-Komyo, emperor of Japan (1654)

[September 27] Maximilian I, duke of Bavaria

Surnamed: "The Great"
Parents: William V, duke of Bavaria, and Renata of Lorraine
Date of Birth: 17 April 1573
House: Wittelsbach
Spouse(s): (1) Elisabeth Renata, daughter of Charles III, duke of Lorraine, and Claude of France, then (2) Maria Anna, daughter of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, and Maria Anna of Bavaria
Predecessor: William V

Reign: 1597 – 1651
Brief: Raised by Jesuits, Maximilian was instrumental as a Catholic leader during the Thirty Years' War. When the Protestant Union was formed by princes in Northern Germany, Maximilian became the military leader of the rival Catholic League in 1609. In 1623, after years of warfare in and around Germany, Maximilian's head general conquered the Palatinate of the Rhine and the electoral dignity of that branch of the Wittelsbachs was revoked the transferred to Maximilian I, who became the first elector of Bavaria. While Bavaria lost the Thirty Years' War after Swedish and French troops sacked Munich in 1632, Maximilian was able to retain the electoral dignity and some of his conquered Palatinate lands at the end of the war in 1648. Maximilian died three years later at Ingolstaft and was buried in Munich.

Date of Death: 27 September 1651

Successor: Ferdinand Maria

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Raymond VII, count of Toulouse (1249)
• Go-Nara, emperor of Japan (1557)
• Urban VII, pope of Rome (1590)
• Innocent XII, pope of Rome (1700)

[September 24] Albert, archbishop of Mainz

Parents: John Cicero, elector of Brandenburg, and Margaret of Thuringia
Date of Birth: 28 June 1490
House: Hohenzollern
Predecessor: Uriel von Gemmingen

Reign: 1514 – 1545
Brief: When he was young, he became a co-margrave of Brandenburg and soon also became archbishop of Magdeburg. His brother, Joachim I Nestor, was appointed elector. In 1514, Albert became the elector of Mainz and was made a cardinal soon after. In becoming elector, he had to begin selling indulgences and enlisted the aid of John Tetzel whose activities prompted the 95 Theses of Matin Luther to be posted on the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg. In 1519, he was bribed to vote for Charles I of Spain for Holy Roman Emperor against the bid of François I of France. At first tolerant to the rising Protestant movement within his lands, Albert turned on them in his latter years and was eventually booted out of his own lands, with Mainz becoming a Protestant see.

Date of Death: 24 September 1545

Successor: Sebastian von Heusenstamm

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Liberius, pope of Rome (366)
• Pippin, king of the Franks (768)
• Welf II, duke of Bavaria (1120)
• Innocent II, pope of Rome (1143)
• Manuel I, emperor of Constantinople (1180)
• Stefan, king of Serbia (1228)
• Reigen, emperor of Japan (1732)
• Pedro I, emperor of Brazil (1834)

[September 12] John George III, elector of Saxony

Parents: John George II, elector of Saxony, and Magdalene Sybille of Brandenburg-Bayreuth
House: Wettin
Born: 20 June 1647
Spouse(s): Anna Sophie, daughter of Frederick III, king of Denmark, and Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Predecessor: John George II

Reign: 1680 – 1691
Brief: A soldier king from the start of his reign, John George III was a staunch ally of the Habsburgs against the France of King Louis XIV. He established the first standing army in Saxony and used it to support Emperor Leopold I in his wars against the Ottoman Empire and France. While he did not join in the League of Augsburg, he fought against the French in the Nine Years' War. He died from an epidemic of Cholera or Plague and was buried in the Cathedral of Freiberg.

Date of Death: 12 September 1691

Successor: John George IV

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Andronikos I, emperor of Constantinople (1185)
• Peter II, king of Aragón (1213)
• Innocent VI, pope of Rome (1362)
• Albert III, duke of Saxony (1500)
• Vasili IV, tsar of Russia (1612)
• Afonso VI, king of Portugal (1683)

[July 18] Joachim III Friedrich, elector of Brandenburg

Parents: John George, elector of Brandenburg, and Sophie of Legnica

Date of Birth: 27 January 1546
Royal House: Hohenzollern
Spouse: (1) Catherine, daughter of John, margrave of Brandenburg-Küstrin, and Catherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, then (2) Eleanor, daughter of Albert Frederick, duke of Prussia, and Marie Eleanore of Jülich-Cleves-Berg

Predecessor: John George
Reign: 1598 — 1608
Summary: Nothing is said of the early life of Joachim Friedrich. At the age of twenty, he was appointed the administrator of the Archbishopric of Magdeburg, although he lost technical rights to that post in 1570 when he married Catherine of Brandenburg-Küstrin. Since Magdeburg was a Catholic see and the Hohenzollern family was Lutheran, they only exercised political power in the archbishopric. The Bishop of Halberstadt was in charge of ecclesiastical affairs in Magdeburg between 1480 and 1680 when it was secularized and became a duchy. Joachim Friedrich became margrave and Holy Roman Imperial Elector of Brandenburg upon the death of his father in 1598, at which time he passed his authority in Madgeburg to his youngest son, Christian Wilhelm.


Of his reign, almost nothing is known. He became regent over the Duchy of Prussia in 1605 in the name of his relative, Albert Frederick, who had become feeble-minded. The Brandenburg-Ansbach branch of the family had technical control over Prussia, but it was decided that that control passed to the Electorate after Margrave George Friedrich's death in 1603. Joachim Friedrich's first wife died in 1602 and the margrave was forced to find another wife, whom he found among his cousin and ward's children. Marrying, Eleanor, the daughter of Albert Friedrich of Prussia helped emphasize his control and influence in Prussia while also giving him rights to Jülich-Cleves-Berg, a territory that Eleanor could one day inherit. Eleanor died in 1607 after giving birth to her only child, Maria Eleanore. Joachim Friedrich died the following year passing his margraviate to his eldest son from his first wife, John Sigismund.

Date of Death: 18 July 1608
Successor: John Sigismund

[May 15] Hatto I, archbishop of Mainz

Date of Birth: circa 850

Predecessor: Sunderhold

Reign: 891 – 913

Summary: Born into a Swabian German family and educated at the monastery of Reichenau, Hatto became the abbot of Ellwangen Abbey in 888. He met and befriended Arnulf of Carinthia, the Carolingian king of Germany and was appointed archbishop of Mainz in 891. He was on such good terms with the king that he was known throughout his life as "the heart of the king". He was president of the synod of Tribur in 895 and joined the king on his journeys to Italy in 894 and 895. When in Rome, he was praised by Pope Formosus. His position allowed him to become regent for Arnulf's young son, Louis the Child, in 899. In this role, he forced Zwentibold, an illegitimate son of Arnulf and the duke of Lorraine, to recognize his nephew as German king.

As archbishop, Hatto I was very active in his realm. He attached to his archbishopric Ellwangen and Lorsch abbeys, both early Carolingian pilgrimage sites. He sided with the Conradines in their feud with the Babenbergs over leadership in Franconia, the central-western side of Germany. In 906, he even captured and executed Adalbert, count of Babenberg, despite promises of safe conduct. Hatto remained the regent for Louis throughout his reign and when the young king died in 911, Hatto arranged for Conrad, duke of Franconia, to take the vacant throne. Hatto remained loyal to Conrad I during fighting in Saxony because Hatto did not want to lose power or influence in Thuringia, where Mainz retained many possessions. When Henry the Fowler discovered a plot for his murder being orchestrated by Hatto, he ravaged archiepiscopal lands in Saxony and Thuringia. By the end of his life, Hatto had lost much of the respect he had earned in his earlier days. He died in 913, some say due to a bolt of lightening. His name was ill remembered by the Saxons who felt his wrath during the war with Henry.

Died: 15 May 913

Successor: Herigar

Other Monarch Deaths:

Valentinian II, emperor of Rome (392)

Go-Ichijo, emperor of Japan (1036)

Nur ad-Din Zangi, emir of Damascus (1174)

Ninwa Nagahide, daimyo of Japan (1585)

[May 5] Frederick Augustus I, king of Saxony

True Name: Frederick Augustus Joseph Maria Anton Johann Nepomuk Aloys Xavier
Parents: Frederick Christian, elector of Saxony, and Maria Antonia of Bavaria

Date of Birth: 23 December 1750

House: Wettin
Spouse: Amalie, daughter of Frederick Michael, count palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld-Bischweiler, and Maria Francisca of Palatine-Sulzbach

Predecessor: Frederick Christian

Reign: 1806 – 1827

Summary: Saxony was a Holy Roman Imperial Electorate when Frederick Augustus was born in 1750, and it remained so for many years of his early reign. Frederick was a minority when he became elector, so his mother, Maria Antonia, ruled as regent until 1768 when Frederick turned eighteen. His uncle, Franz Xavier, served as his representative in international affairs and, in 1765, was instrumental in handing the Polish throne to Stanislaw August, a relative of the Saxon ruler. Frederick Augustus, however, was named heir to Stanislaw according to the Polish constitution. Frederick eventually declined the Polish throne in 1798 due to conflicts with Austria, Prussia, and Russia. Saxony sided with the French monarchists in 1791 after the French Revolution started but he did not go so far to sign a treaty stating as much. Frederick wanted to stay out of the growing conflict between France, Prussia, and Austria. But Austria would have none of it. In a formal proclamation by the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, Austria was demanding unilateral warfare against France. Saxons avoided most of the fighting and managed to renege on their obligations in 1796 after Prussia pulled out of the alliance. Between 1797 and 1803, Frederick personally refused to accept new land exchanges and new constitutional amendments to the Holy Roman Empire and its charter, fearing that imperial order was falling apart. He also refused to join Napoleon I's Confederation of the Rhine, which led to the breakup of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. Fearing French encroachment, Frederick joined in alliance with Prussia against France and at the battles of Jena and Auerstedt, Saxony was soundly defeated. Frederick was forced to join the Confederacy and surrender land to the new Kingdom of Westphalia. In exchange, Saxony was elevated to the status of kingdom with Bavaria and Württemberg. In 1807, he was also named Duke of Warsaw.

Frederick Augustus did not relish being a member of France's puppet Confederacy. He was constantly forced to make territorial revisions and Poland was constantly harassed by Austria. In 1812, Frederick Augustus proclaimed the Kingdom of Poland, which upset Napoleon and the Austrians. During the 1813 War of Liberation, Saxony became the battlefield of nations. Over a million soldiers came to Saxony to fight and Frederick could do nothing but watch, fearing retribution from either side should he choose the wrong side. Yet by the end of the year, Frederick had joined sides with the other German powers and been caught between a rock and a hard place. Napoleon recalled him and forced the king to side with the French in the battle. The Germans were unable to dislodge Napoleon from Saxony. Yet every time Saxon soldiers fought against Germans, increasing numbers would defect with Frederick's secret blessing. At the Battle of Leipzig, the Saxon armies remained on the French side, but many defectors fought for the Germans. Napoleon was defeated and the Congress of Vienna commenced. Frederick was taken into custody as an enemy of the state. Poland was confiscated from him and given to the Russians. Saxony was reduced to half its size, in fear that Prussia would grow too large otherwise, but Frederick was allowed to remain as king. The Saxons praised his return but those Saxons now finding themselves in Prussian territory were bitter at their sudden separation. Frederick Augustus spent the final years of his life ruling in a conservative manner, neglecting reform movements and modernizing the economy, which would come to bite his successor, Anthony, in the behind. Frederick died in 1827 and was buried at the Catholic Cathedral in Dresden.

Date of Death: 5 May 1827

Successor: Anthony

Other Monarch Deaths:

Galerius, emperor of Rome (311)

Alfonso V, king of Castile, León, and Galicia (1028)

Casimir II, king of Poland (1194)

Leo II, king of Armenia (1219)

Charles II, king of Naples (1309)

Frederick IIII, elector of Saxony (1525)

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (1705)

Napoleon I, emperor of the French (1821)