William II, Landgrave of Hesse

Who was 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.

William II is also called "William the Middle" to distinguish him from his elder brother "William I the Elder", and his cousin "William III, the Younger". His parents were Louis II the Frank and Mechthild, daughter of Count Louis II of Württemberg.

William II became Landgrave of Lower Hesse in 1493, after his brother William I resigned.

On 9 November 1497 William II married Yolande, daughter of Frederick II of Vaudémont. She died on 21 May 1500 after the marriage produced one child, William. On 20 October of the same year, William was married a second time, to Anna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, who bore him three children:

Elisabeth

Magdalena

Philip I,

In 1500, William II reunited the Landgraviate of Hesse after the death of his cousin William III. In 1503, Emperor Maximilian I commissioned William with executing the ban on Elector Philip of the Palatinate.