Editing History of Hesse (section)

== 17th and 18th centuries==
[[File:HK 1789.png|left|thumb|upright|Hesse-Kassel {{circa|1789}}]]
While Hesse-Kassel converted to [[Calvinism]] and became one of the most zealous exponents of the Protestant cause in the [[Thirty Years' War]], Landgrave [[George II, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt|George II]] remained a strict [[Lutheran]] and maintained a close alliance with [[Electorate of Saxony|Saxony]], which led to a pro-Habsburg policy after 1642.

From the early years of the Reformation, the [[House of Hesse]] was predominately [[Protestantism|Protestant]]. Landgraves [[Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse|Philip I]], [[William V, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel|William V]], and [[Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel|Maurice]] married descendants of King [[George of Bohemia]]; from [[William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel|William VI]] onwards, mothers of the heads of Hesse-Kassel were always descended from [[William the Silent]], the leader of the [[Dutch Republic|Dutch]] to independence on the basis of [[Calvinism]].

During the [[Thirty Years' War]], Calvinist Hesse-Kassel proved to be [[Sweden]]'s most loyal German ally. Landgrave [[William V, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel|William V]] and, after his death in 1637, his widow [[Amelia of Hanau]], a granddaughter of [[William the Silent]], as [[regent]] supported the Protestant cause and the [[Kingdom of France|French]] and Swedes throughout the war and maintained an army, garrisoning many strongholds, while Hesse-Kassel itself was occupied by Imperial troops.

William V was succeeded by Landgraves [[William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel|William VI]] and [[William VII, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel|William VII]]. Under King [[Frederick I of Sweden]], Hesse-Kassel was in [[Political unions involving Sweden|personal union]] with Sweden from 1730–51. But in fact the King's younger brother, [[William VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel|Prince William]], ruled in Kassel as Regent until he succeeded his brother, reigning as William VIII until 1760.

Although it was a fairly widespread practice at the time to rent out troops to other princes, it was the Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel who became infamous for hiring out contingents of their army as mercenaries during the 17th and 18th centuries. Hesse-Kassel maintained 7% of its entire population under arms throughout the eighteenth century. This force served as a source of mercenaries for other European states.<ref>Tilly, Charles "Coercion, Capital, and European States."</ref> [[Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel|Frederick II]], notably, hired out so many troops to his nephew King [[George III of the United Kingdom|George III of Great Britain]] for use in the [[American War of Independence]], that "[[Hessian (soldiers)|Hessian]]" has become a common term among Americans and historians for all [[Germans in the American Revolution|German soldiers deployed by the British in the War]]. One of these regiments that saw service in America was the [[Musketeer Regiment Prinz Carl]].

In 1640 Hesse-Kassel gained half of the [[County of Schaumburg]] (today in [[Lower Saxony]]), which remained an exclave of Hesse-Kassel (later Hesse-Nassau) until 1932.

In 1622 the small [[Hesse-Homburg]] was established from a [[cadet line]] of Hesse-Darmstadt.

During the 17th century, Hesse-Kassel was internally divided for dynastic purposes, without [[Allodial title|allodial]] rights, into:
* the [[Landgraviate of Hesse-Rotenburg]] (1627–1834) 
* the [[Hesse-Wanfried|Landgraviate of Hesse-Wanfried-(Rheinfels)]] (1649–1755) 
* the [[Landgraviate of Hesse-Philippsthal]] 
* the [[Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld|Landgraviate of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld]]

These were reunited with the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel when each particular branch died out without issue.

In 1736 the last [[County of Hanau|Count of Hanau]] died; a 1643 a succession treaty led to [[Hanau-Münzenberg]] passing to Hesse-Kassel and [[Hanau-Lichtenberg]] (much of which lay in [[Alsace]] and so was subject to the [[Kingdom of France]]) to Hesse-Darmstadt. In 1760 the Hanau-Münzenberg territory became the Hesse-Kassel [[secundogeniture]] [[Hesse-Hanau]], which persisted until 1821.