Ernest Louis Landgrave de Hesse

E Desrochers
Ernest Louis Landgrave de Hesse.
Paris ca. 1730
Engraving
150 x 110 mm
£75
Ernest Louis of Hesse-Darmstadt (15 December 1667, Gotha – 12 September 1739, Einhausen) was Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt from 1678 to 1739. His parents were Landgrave Louis VI of Hesse-Darmstadt and Elisabeth Dorothea of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1640-1709).
Ernest Louis’s desire to emulate the French court under Louis XIV ran his country into debt. Among those patronized in this cultural flourish was Baroque composer Christoph Graupner; also bringing into his service architect Louis Remy de la Fosse for his extensive building program. Upon his death in 1739, his country’s debt was 4 million gulden, ten times the annual revenue.
Ernest Louis was married to Dorothea Charlotte of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1661-1705), daughter of Albert of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1620-1667).