Hessian War

Hessian War
Part of Thirty Years' War
Date 1567 – 1648 Location Upper Hesse (centre of gravity) Result Victory to Hesse-Cassel
Belligerents
Hesse-Cassel	Hesse-Darmstadt
Commanders and leaders
William IV (d 1592) Maurice (d 1632) William V (d 1637) Amalie Kaspar Kornelius Mortaigne de Potelles  † [1] Johann von Geyso [2]	George I (d 1596) Louis V (d 1626) George II[3] Ernst Albrecht von Eberstein [2]

The Hessian War (German: Hessenkrieg), in its wider sense sometimes also called the Hessian Wars (Hessenkriege), was a drawn out conflict that took place between 1567 and 1648, sometimes pursued through diplomatic means, sometimes by military force, between branches of the princely House of Hesse, particularly between the Landgraviate of Hesse-Cassel and the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt. It was triggered by a division of inheritance following the death of the last landgrave of all Hesse, Philip I in 1567.

The real conflict, which lasted almost 80 years and spanned three generations, escalated in the 1620s, when the line of Hesse-Marburg died out, and peaked after 1645 in the Hessian War proper. This open warfare began with the Siege of Marburg in 1645 and ended in April 1648 (but before the Treaty of Westphalia which was concluded later that year and ended the Thirty Years' War)^[4] with victory going to Hesse-Cassel. In the aftermath, Upper Hesse was divided and parts of its territory went to the now stronger Hesse-Cassel.^[5]

During the Thirty Years' War, Calvinist Hesse-Cassel joined the alliance between Protestant Sweden and Catholic France, whilst despite its Lutheran beliefs, Hesse-Darmstadt, sided with the Emperor. In the course of the war, Hessian mercenaries fought both in the main Hessian lands as well as in Westphalia (Prince-Bishopric of Münster and Paderborn), in Upper Guelders, on the Lower Rhine (Electorate of Cologne), in the Duchy of Brunswick and other places.

This conflict should not be confused with the campaign by Landgrave Philip I of Hesse, supported by Prince-Elector John of Saxony against the two Franconian prince-bishoprics of Würzburg and Bamberg in 1528, which is also referred to as the "Hessian War".