Wilhelm Kettler was the second Duke of Courland

Courland

Courland is one of the historical and cultural regions of Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland.- Geography and climate :...

, a region of Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

. Wilhelm ruled the western Courland portion of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia

Duchy of Courland and Semigallia

The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia is the name of a duchy in the Baltic region that existed from 1562 to 1569 as a vassal state of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and from 1569...

 while his brother Friedrich

Friedrich Kettler

Friedrich Kettler was a Duke of Courland , a region in Latvia, from 1587 to 1642....

 ruled the eastern Semigallia portion.

Wilhelm Kettler was the youngest son of Gotthard Kettler

Gotthard Kettler

Gotthard von Kettler was the last Master of the Livonian Order and the first Duke of Courland and Semigallia....

 and his wife Anna of Mecklenburg

Anna of Mecklenburg

Anna of Mecklenburg , was a Duchess consort of Courland. She married the Duke of Courland, Gotthard Kettler, on 11 March 1566 in Königsberg. She was the daughter of Albrecht VII, Duke of Mecklenburg and Anna of Brandenburg. Anna is the first woman in Livonia, whose life story is entirely...

. After their father's death in 1587, Wilhelm and his brother Friedrich inherited the Duchy of Courland. The brothers decided to divide the duchy between themselves. Wilhelm ruled the Courland portion with the seat in Kuldīga

Kuldiga

Kuldīga is a town in western Latvia. It is the center of Kuldīga municipality with a population of approximately 13,500.Kuldīga was first mentioned in 1242. It joined the Hanseatic League in 1368...

. In 1609 he married Princess Sophia of Brandenburg-Prussia

Sophia of Prussia (1582-1610)

Duchess Sophie of Prussia was a German princess of the Duchy of Prussia and a member of the House of Hohenzollern....

 (1582-1610), daughter of Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia

Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia

Albert Frederick was duke of Prussia from 1568 until his death. He was a son of Albert of Prussia and Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He was the second and last Prussian duke of the Ansbach branch of the Hohenzollern family.-Duke of Prussia:...

, receiving as a dowry the territory of Grobiņa

Grobina

Grobiņa is a town in western Latvia, eleven kilometers east of Liepāja. It was founded by the Teutonic Knights in the 13th century. Some ruins of their Grobina castle are still visible. The town was given its charter in 1695....

. Due to conflicts with the nobility, he lost the duchy in 1617 and emigrated.

He died in the Kukulva abbey in Pomerania

Pomerania

Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...

 on 7 April 1640. His son, Duke Jacob Kettler

Jacob Kettler

Jacob Kettler was a Baltic German Duke of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia . Under his rule, the duchy was brought to its greatest peak in wealth and engaged in colonization.- Life :...

of Courland, had his remains returned to Courland in 1642. He was interred in the duchy tomb on 23 February 1643.