Editing Frederick I of Württemberg (section)

==Reign==
===Duke and elector===
On 23 December 1797, Frederick's father, who had succeeded his brother as [[Duke of Württemberg]] two years before, died, and Frederick became Duke of Württemberg as Frederick III. He was not to enjoy his reign undisturbed for long, however. In 1800, the French army occupied Württemberg and the Duke and Duchess fled to [[Vienna]]. In 1801, Duke Frederick ceded the enclave of [[Montbéliard]] to the French Republic, and received [[Ellwangen]] in exchange two years later.

In the ''[[Reichsdeputationshauptschluss]]'', which reorganized the Empire as a result of the French annexation of the west bank of the Rhine, the Duke of Württemberg was raised to the dignity of [[Prince-elector]]. Frederick assumed the title ''Prince-Elector'' ({{langx|de|link=no|[[Kurfürst]]}}) on 25 February 1803, and was thereafter known as the ''[[Elector of Württemberg]]''. The reorganization of the Empire also secured the new Elector control of various ecclesiastical territories and former [[Free imperial city|free cities]], thus greatly increasing the size of his domains.

===King===
[[Image:Württembergische Königskrone-MFr-3.jpg|thumb|left|Crown of the Kingdom of Württemberg]]
In exchange for providing France with a large auxiliary force, [[Napoleon]] allowed Frederick to raise Württemberg to a kingdom on 26 December 1805. Fredrick was formally crowned king at [[Stuttgart]] on 1 January 1806, and took the regnal name of ''King Frederick I''. Soon after, Württemberg seceded from the [[Holy Roman Empire]] and joined Napoleon's [[Confederation of the Rhine]]. Once again, the assumption of a new title also meant territorial expansion, as the territories of various nearby princes were [[German mediatisation|mediatized]] and annexed by Württemberg. As a symbol of his alliance with Napoleon, Frederick's daughter, Princess [[Catharina of Württemberg|Catharina]], was married to Napoleon's youngest brother, [[Jérôme Bonaparte]].

The newly elevated king's alliance with France technically made him the enemy of his father-in-law, [[George III]]. However, the king's dynastic connections would enable him to act as a go-between with Britain and various continental powers. In 1810, Frederick banished the composer [[Carl Maria von Weber]] from Württemberg on the pretext that Weber had mismanaged the funds of Frederick's brother, [[Duke Louis of Württemberg|Louis]], for whom Weber had served as secretary since 1807.

During the [[German campaign of 1813]], Frederick changed sides and went over to the Allies, where his status as the brother-in-law of the British Prince Regent (later [[George IV]]) and uncle to the Russian emperor [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]] helped his standing. After the fall of Napoleon, he attended the [[Congress of Vienna]] and was confirmed as king. At [[Vienna]], Frederick and his ministers were very concerned to make sure that Württemberg would be able to retain all the territories it had gained in the past fifteen years. Frederick's harsh treatment of the mediatized{{citation needed|date=November 2013}} princes within his domain made him one of the principal targets of the organization of dispossessed princes, which hoped to gain the support of the Powers in regaining their lost sovereignty. In the end, however, [[Austrian Empire|Austria]], which was seen as the natural ally of the princes, was more interested in alliance with the medium-sized German states like Württemberg than in asserting its traditional role as protector of the smaller sovereigns of the old Empire; and Frederick was allowed to retain his dubiously acquired lands. Frederick, along with the other German princes, joined the new [[German Confederation]] in 1815. He died in Stuttgart in October of the next year.

When he became king, he granted his children and further male-line descendants the titles ''Princes and Princesses of Württemberg'' with the style ''[[Royal Highness]]'', and he styled his siblings as ''Royal Highnesses'' with the titles ''Dukes and Duchesses of Württemberg''.

He was very tall and obese: behind his back he was known as "The Great Belly-Gerent". Napoleon remarked that God had created the Prince to demonstrate the utmost extent to which the human skin could be stretched without bursting.<ref>{{cite book|last=David|first=Saul|title=Prince of Pleasure|year=1998|publisher=Atlantic Monthly Press|location=New York|isbn=0-87113-739-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/princeofpleasure00davi/page/200 200]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/princeofpleasure00davi/page/200}}</ref> In return, Frederick wondered how so much poison could fit in such a small head as Napoleon's.{{citation needed|date=February 2012}}