List of monarchs of Luxembourg

The territory of Luxembourg has been ruled successively by counts, dukes and grand dukes. It was part of the medieval Kingdom of Germany, and later the Holy Roman Empire until it became a sovereign state in 1815.

Counts of Luxembourg

House of Ardenne–Luxembourg

Image Name Date of birth Date of death Reign Relationship with predecessor
Siegfried 922 28 October 998 963

28 October 998
Henry I 964 27 February 1026 28 October 998

27 February 1026
his son
Henry II 1007 16 October 1047 27 February 1026

16 October 1047
his nephew
Giselbert 1007 14 August 1059 16 October 1047

14 August 1059
his brother
Conrad I 1040 8 August 1086 14 August 1059

8 August 1086
his son
Henry III 1070 1096 8 August 1086

1096
William I 1081 1131 1096

1131
his brother
Conrad II 1106 1136 1131

1136
his son
Ermesinde I 1080 1143 1136

1136
his aunt

House of Luxembourg–Namur

Image Name Date of birth Date of death Reign Relationship with predecessor
Henry IV
the Blind
1112 14 August 1196 1136

14 August 1196
her son

House of Hohenstaufen

Image Name Date of birth Date of death Reign Relationship with predecessor
Otto June/July 1170 13 January 1200 1196

1197
his third-cousin once removed

House of Luxembourg–Namur

Image Name Date of birth Date of death Reign Relationship with predecessor
Ermesinde II July 1186 12 February 1247 1197

12 February 1247
Henry IV's only daughter and Otto's fourth cousin
Theobald I 1158 13 February 1214 1197

13 February 1214
her first husband and co-ruler
Waleran 1180 2 July 1226 May 1214

2 July 1226
her second husband and co-ruler

House of Luxembourg–Limburg

Image Name Date of birth Date of death Reign Relationship with predecessor
Henry V
the Blond
1216 24 December 1281 12 February 1247

24 December 1281
their son
Henry VI
the Condemned
1240 5 June 1288 24 December 1281

5 June 1288
his son
Henry VII 1275/1270 24 August 1313 5 June 1288

24 August 1313
John
the Blind
10 August 1296 26 August 1346 24 August 1313

26 August 1346
Charles IV 14 May 1316 29 November 1378 26 August 1346

1353
Wenceslaus I 25 February 1337 7 December 1383 1353

13 March 1354
his brother

Dukes of Luxembourg

In 1354 the county was elevated to a duchy.

House of Luxembourg-Limburg

Image Name Date of birth Date of death Reign Relationship with predecessor
Wenceslaus I 25 February 1337 7 December 1383 13 March 1354

7 December 1383
himself as count
Wenceslas II
the Lazy
26 February 1361 16 August 1419 7 December 1383

1388
his nephew
Jobst December 1351 18 January 1411 1388

18 January 1411
his cousin
Elisabeth I November 1390 2 August 1451 18 January 1411

1443
his heiress & first cousin once removed
Anthony August 1384 25 October 1415 18 January 1411

25 October 1415
her first husband and co-ruler
John II
the Pitiless
1374 6 January 1425 10 March 1418

6 January 1425
her second husband and co-ruler

As Elisabeth had no surviving children, she sold Luxembourg to Philip III, Duke of Burgundy in 1441 but only to succeed upon her death. Philip captured the city of Luxembourg in 1443, but did not assume the ducal title because of conflicting claims by Anne of Austria, the closest Luxembourg relative.

Claimants

Image Name Date of birth Date of death Reign Relationship with predecessor
Elisabeth I November 1390 2 August 1451 1443
to
2 August 1451
Ladislaus
the Posthumous
22 February 1440 23 November 1457 2 August 1451
to
23 November 1457
Her first cousin once removed
Anne 12 April 1432 13 November 1462 23 November 1457
to
13 November 1462
His sister
William
the Brave
30 April 1425 17 September 1482 Her husband and co-pretender
Elisabeth II 1436 30 August 1505 13 November 1462
to
1467
Her sister
Casimir Jagiellon 30 November 1427 7 June 1492 Her husband and co-pretender
George of Poděbrady 23 April 1420 22 March 1471 1458
to
1471
Claimed title as king of Bohemia[1]

House of Valois-Burgundy

In 1467, when Elisabeth II of Austria, last rival claimant to the title, renounced her rights, Philip III's son, Charles, Duke of Burgundy, assumed the title of duke of Luxembourg, making it a subsidiary title of the Duke of Burgundy.

Image Name Date of birth Date of death Reign Relationship with
predecessor
Philip I
"the Good"
31 July 1396 15 June 1467 1443
to
15 June 1467
Elisabeth I's second cousin
once removed and "usurper"
Charles II
"the Bold"
10 November 1433 5 January 1477 15 June 1467
to
5 January 1477
His son
Mary I
"the Rich"
13 February 1457 27 March 1482 5 January 1477
to
27 March 1482
His daughter
Maximilian I
"the Last Knight"
22 March 1459 12 January 1519 Her husband and co-ruler

House of Habsburg

In 1482 Luxembourg passed to the House of Habsburg. After the abdication of Emperor Charles V, the duchy of Luxembourg fell to the Spanish line of the House of Habsburg.

Image Name Date of birth Date of death Reign Relationship with
predecessor
Philip II
"the Handsome"
22 July 1478 25 September 1506 27 March 1482
to
25 September 1506
Their son
Charles III
"the Golden"
24 February 1500 21 September 1558 25 September 1506
to
16 January 1556
His son
Philip III
"the Prudent"
21 May 1527 13 September 1598 16 January 1556
to
6 May 1598
Isabella Clara Eugenia 12 August 1566 1 December 1633 6 May 1598
to
13 July 1621
His daughter
Albert 15 November 1559 13 July 1621 His son-in-law
Philip IV
"the Great"
8 April 1605 17 September 1665 13 July 1621
to
17 September 1665
Their nephew
Charles IV
"the Bewitched"
6 November 1661 1 November 1700 17 September 1665
to
1 November 1700
His son

During the War of Spanish Succession, 1701–1714, the duchy was disputed between Philip of Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV of France, of the House of Bourbon; and Charles of Austria, son of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, of the House of Habsburg. In 1712 Luxembourg and Namur were ceded to Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria by his French allies, but at the end of the war in 1713 with the Treaty of Utrecht Maximilian Emanuel was restored as Elector of Bavaria. In 1713 the duchy fell to the Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg.

House of Bourbon

Image Name Date of birth Date of death Reign Relationship with predecessor
Philip V
Philippe de France
19 December 1683 9 July 1746 1 November 1700

1712
his grandnephew

House of Wittelsbach

Image Name Date of birth Date of death Reign Relationship with predecessor
Maximilian II
Maximilian Emanuel Ludwig Maria Joseph Kajetan
Anton Nikolaus Franz
Ignaz Felix
11 July 1662 26 February 1726 1712

11 April 1713
his uncle

House of Habsburg

Image Name Date of birth Date of death Reign Relationship with predecessor
Charles V
Karl Franz Joseph
Wenceslau Balthasar Johann
Anton Ignatius
1 October 1685 20 October 1740 11 April 1713

20 October 1740
his second cousin
Maria II Theresa
Maria Theresa
Walburga Amalia Christina
13 May 1717 29 November 1780 20 October 1740

29 November 1780
his daughter
Joseph
Joseph Benedikt August
Johannes Anton Michael Adam
13 March 1741 20 February 1790 29 November 1780
to
20 February 1790
her son
Leopold
Peter Leopold Joseph
Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard
5 May 1747 1 March 1792 20 February 1790
to
1 March 1792
His brother
Francis II
Francis Joseph Charles
12 February 1768 2 March 1835 1 March 1792
to
1794
His son

Luxembourg was occupied by French revolutionaries between 1794 and 1813. At the Vienna Congress, it was elevated to a grand duchy and given in personal union to William I of the Netherlands.

Grand Dukes of Luxembourg

The Grand Duke of Luxembourg (or Grand Duchess in the case of a female monarch) is the head of state of Luxembourg. Luxembourg is the world's only extant sovereign grand duchy, a status to which Luxembourg was promoted in 1815 upon its unification with the Netherlands under the House of Orange-Nassau.

The Luxembourg constitution defines the grand duke's position:

The grand duke is the head of state, symbol of its unity, and guarantor of national independence. He exercises executive power in accordance with the Constitution and the laws of the country.[2]

Originally, the constitution vested the grand duke with considerable executive power. In practice, however, since the end of the personal union with the Netherlands in 1890, he has usually limited himself to a mostly representative role, acting on the advice of the government. Amendments in 1919 significantly curbed the grand duke's powers, thus codifying two decades of constitutional practice.

House of Orange-Nassau

Image Name Date of birth Date of death Reign Relationship with
predecessor
Willem I
Willem Frederik
(Prince William VI of Orange)
24 August 1772 12 December 1843 15 March 1815
to
7 October 1840
Francis' third cousin
and
Anne's direct descendant
Willem II
Willem Frederik George Lodewijk
6 December 1792 17 March 1849 7 October 1840
to
17 March 1849
Son
Willem III
Willem Alexander Paul Frederik Lodewijk
17 February 1817 23 November 1890 17 March 1849
to
23 November 1890
Son

House of Nassau-Weilburg

Under the 1783 Nassau Family Pact, those territories of the Nassau family in the Holy Roman Empire at the time of the Pact (Luxembourg and Nassau) were bound by semi-Salic law, which allowed inheritance by females or through the female line only upon extinction of male members of the dynasty. When William III died leaving only his daughter Wilhelmina as an heir, the crown of the Netherlands, not being bound by the family pact, passed to Wilhelmina. However, the crown of Luxembourg passed to a male of another branch of the House of Nassau: Adolphe, the dispossessed Duke of Nassau and head of the branch of Nassau-Weilburg.

In 1905, Grand Duke Adolphe's younger half-brother, Prince Nikolaus Wilhelm of Nassau, died, having left a son Georg Nikolaus, Count von Merenberg who was, however, the product of a morganatic marriage, and therefore not legally a member of the House of Nassau. In 1907, Adolphe's only son, William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, obtained passage of a law confirming the right of his eldest daughter, Marie-Adélaïde, to succeed to the throne in virtue of the absence of any remaining dynastic males of the House of Nassau, as originally stipulated in the Nassau Family Pact. She became the grand duchy's first reigning female monarch upon her father's death in 1912, and upon her own abdication in 1919, was succeeded by her younger sister Charlotte, who married Felix of Bourbon-Parma, a prince of the former Duchy of Parma. Charlotte's descendants have since reigned as the continued dynasty of Nassau.

Name and reignPortraitBirthMarriagesDeathRight of
Succession
Adolphe
23 November 1890 –
17 November 1905
24 July 1817
Wiesbaden (Prussia)
(1) Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mikhailovna of Russia
31 January 1844
[1 child (stillborn)]
(2) Princess Adelheid-Marie of Anhalt-Dessau
23 April 1851
[5 children]
17 November 1905
Colmar-Berg
William III's
17th cousin once removed through male line
3rd cousin through William IV, Prince of Orange
Anne's direct descendant
William IV
17 November 1905 –
25 February 1912
22 April 1852
Wiesbaden (Prussia)
Infanta Marie Anne of Portugal
[6 children]
25 February 1912
Colmar-Berg
Eldest Child
Marie-Adélaïde
25 February 1912 –
14 January 1919
(abdicated)
14 June 1894
Colmar-Berg
Unmarried
[childless]
24 January 1924
Lenggries (Germany)
Eldest Daughter
Charlotte
14 January 1919 –
12 November 1964
(abdicated)
23 January 1896
Colmar-Berg
Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma
6 November 1919
[6 children]
9 July 1985
Fischbach
Second Daughter
Jean
12 November 1964 –
7 October 2000
(abdicated)
5 January 1921
Colmar-Berg
Princess Joséphine Charlotte of Belgium
9 April 1953
[5 children]
23 April 2019

Luxembourg City

Eldest Child
Henri
7 October 2000 –
present
16 April 1955
Betzdorf
María Teresa Mestre y Batista
4 February/14 February 1981
[5 children]
living Eldest Son, Second Child

Timeline of Grand Dukes of Luxembourg since 1815

Henri, Grand Duke of LuxembourgJean, Grand Duke of LuxembourgCharlotte, Grand Duchess of LuxembourgMarie-Adélaïde, Grand Duchess of LuxembourgWilliam IV, Grand Duke of LuxembourgAdolphe, Grand Duke of LuxembourgWilliam III of the NetherlandsWilliam II of the NetherlandsWilliam I of the Netherlands

See also

Footnotes

  1. History of the Bohemian royal titles based on contemporary documents
  2. "Constitution de Luxembourg" (PDF) (in French). Service central de législation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 February 2008. Retrieved 1 July 2007.

References

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