Henry III, Landgrave of Upper Hesse, called "the Rich" (15 October 1440 – 13 January 1483) was the second son of Louis I of Hesse

Louis I, Landgrave of Hesse

Louis I of Hesse , called "the Peaceful" was Landgrave of Lower Hesse from 1413-1458....

 and his wife Anna of Saxony.

Upon the death of his father Louis I in 1458, Henry received Upper Hesse and his brother Louis II

Louis II, Landgrave of Hesse

Louis II of Hesse , called Louis the Frank, was the Landgrave of Lower Hesse from 1458 - 1471....

 received Lower Hesse

Lower Hesse

Lower Hesse a historic designation for an area in northern Hesse, Germany.The term Lower Hesse originated in the Middle Ages for the so-called "lower principality" of Hesse, which was separated until 1450 from the so-called "upper principality" by the area Ziegenhain...

. He succeeded to the title of Landgrave of Hessen-Marburg in 1458. His nickname "the Rich" is indicative of his fortune in territory and tolls on the Rhine received by his marriage to Anna, daughter and heir of Philip

Philip I, Count of Katzenelnbogen

Philip I of Katzenelnbogen , also known "Philip the Elder" was Count of Katzenelnbogen from 1444 to 1479 and was the last male descendant of the Counts of Katzenelnbogen...

, the last Count of Katzenelnbogen

County of Katzenelnbogen

The County of Katzenelnbogen was an immediate state of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed between 1095 and 1479, when it was inherited by the Landgraves of Hesse.The estate comprised two separate territories...

 and his wife Anne von Wurttemberg.

Children

His daughter Elisabeth of Hesse (1466–1523) would go on to marry Jan V of Nassau-Vianden-Diez

Jan V of Nassau-Vianden-Diez

Johann V of Nassau-Vianden-Dietz was count of Nassau , Vianden and Diez, and Lord of Breda. He was the paternal grandfather of William the Silent....

 and they would become grandparents to William the Silent

William the Silent

William I, Prince of Orange , also widely known as William the Silent , or simply William of Orange , was the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish that set off the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648. He was born in the House of...

. His younger daughter, Mathilde (1473–1524), would go on to marry John II, Duke of Cleves

John II, Duke of Cleves

John II, "The Pious" or "The Babymaker", Duke of Cleves, Count of Mark, was a son of John I, Duke of Cleves and Elizabeth of Nevers. He ruled Cleves from 1481 to his death in 1521...

 and they would become grandparents to Queen Anne of Cleves

Anne of Cleves

Anne of Cleves was a German noblewoman and the fourth wife of Henry VIII of England and as such she was Queen of England from 6 January 1540 to 9 July 1540. The marriage was never consummated, and she was not crowned queen consort...

. Henry's only son to reach adulthood succeeded as William III (Wilhelm III, Landgraf von Hessen-Marburg) (1471–1500). In 1498, William married Elisabeth von der Pfalz, daughter of Philip, Elector Palatine

Philip, Elector Palatine

Philip the Upright, Elector Palatine of the Rhine was an Elector Palatine of the Rhine from the house of Wittelsbach from 1476 to 1508....

. William left no legitimate heir and the title passed to his cousin, William II, Landgrave of Hesse

William II, Landgrave of Hesse

William II was Landgrave of Lower Hesse from 1493 and Landgrave of Upper Hesse after the death of his cousin, William III, Landgrave of Upper Hesse in 1500....

, son of Louis II, Landgrave of Lower Hesse.

Ancestry

External links

• Wikisource: "Heinrich III. (Landgraf von Hessen)", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie
• Wikisource: "Wilhelm III. (Landgraf von Hessen)", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie