George I of Great Britain

George I
Portrait from studio of Godfrey Kneller, 1714
King of Great Britain and Ireland
Reign	1 August 1714 – 11 June 1727[a]
Coronation	20 October 1714
Predecessor	Anne
Successor	George II
Elector of Hanover
Reign	23 January 1698 – 11 June 1727[a]
Predecessor	Ernest Augustus
Successor	George II
Born	28 May / (1660-06-07)7 June 1660 (O.S./N.S.)[a] Hanover, Brunswick-Lüneburg, Holy Roman Empire
Died	11/22 June 1727(1727-06-22) (aged 67) (O.S./N.S.) Schloss Osnabrück [de], Osnabrück, Holy Roman Empire
Burial	4 August 1727 Leine Palace, Hanover; later Herrenhausen, Hanover
Spouse	Sophia Dorothea of Celle ​ ​ (m. 1682; div. 1694)​
Issue more...	George II, King of Great Britain Sophia Dorothea, Queen in Prussia Melusina, Countess of Walsingham (ill.)
Names George Louis (German: Georg Ludwig)
House	Hanover
Father	Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover
Mother	Sophia of the Palatinate
Religion	Protestant[1]
Signature

George I (George Louis; German: Georg Ludwig; 28 May 1660 – 11 June 1727)^[a] was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 and ruler of the Electorate of Hanover within the Holy Roman Empire from 23 January 1698 until his death in 1727. He was the first British monarch of the House of Hanover.

Born in Hanover to Ernest Augustus and Sophia of Hanover, George inherited the titles and lands of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg from his father and uncles. In 1682, he married his cousin Sophia Dorothea of Celle, with whom he had two children; he also had three daughters with his mistress Melusine von der Schulenburg. George and Sophia Dorothea divorced in 1694.

A succession of European wars expanded George's German domains during his lifetime; he was ratified as prince-elector of Hanover in 1708. As the senior Protestant descendant of James VI and I, George's great-grandfather, he inherited the British throne following the deaths in 1714 of his mother, Sophia, and his second cousin Anne, Queen of Great Britain. Jacobites attempted, but failed, to depose George and replace him with James Francis Edward Stuart, Anne's Catholic half-brother.

During George's reign the powers of the monarchy diminished, and Britain began a transition to the modern system of cabinet government led by a prime minister. Towards the end of his reign, actual political power was held by Robert Walpole, now recognised as Britain's first de facto prime minister. George died of a stroke on a trip to his native Hanover, where he was buried. He is the most recent British monarch to be buried outside the United Kingdom.

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