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Jacob Kettler

 
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Jacob Kettler (; 28 October 1610 – 1 January 1682) was a Baltic German
Baltic German

The Baltic Germans were mostly ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, which today form the countries of Estonia and Latvia....
 Duke
Duke

A duke is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy or a dukedom. The title comes from the Latin language Dux Bellorum, which had the sense of "military commander" and was employed by both the Germanic peoples themselves and by the Ancient Rome authors covering them to r...
 of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia
Duchy of Courland and Semigallia

The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia is the name of a duchy in the Baltic states that existed from 1562 to 1791 as a vassal state of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth....
 (1642–1682). Under his rule, the duchy was brought to its greatest peak in wealth and engaged in colonization
Courland colonization

The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia , a vassal of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, being small but wealthy took a modest part in European colonialism, in West Africa and the Caribbean....
.

Life
Kettler was born in Goldingen (Kuldiga)
Kuldiga

Kuldiga is a town in western Latvia. It is the center of Kuldigas County with a population of approximately 13,500.Kuldiga was first mentioned in 1242....
. He was the son of Wilhelm Kettler
Wilhelm Kettler

Wilhelm Kettler was the second Duke of Courland, a region of Latvia. Wilhelm ruled the eastern Courland portion of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia while his brother Friedrich Kettler ruled the western Semigallia portion....
 and Sofie Hohenzollern, Princess of Prussia, a daughter of Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia
Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia

Albert Frederick was duke of Duchy of Prussia from 1568 until his death. He was a son of Albert of Prussia and Anna Marie of Brunswick-L?neburg....
.






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Jacob Kettler
Jacob Kettler (; 28 October 1610 – 1 January 1682) was a Baltic German
Baltic German

The Baltic Germans were mostly ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, which today form the countries of Estonia and Latvia....
 Duke
Duke

A duke is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy or a dukedom. The title comes from the Latin language Dux Bellorum, which had the sense of "military commander" and was employed by both the Germanic peoples themselves and by the Ancient Rome authors covering them to r...
 of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia
Duchy of Courland and Semigallia

The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia is the name of a duchy in the Baltic states that existed from 1562 to 1791 as a vassal state of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth....
 (1642–1682). Under his rule, the duchy was brought to its greatest peak in wealth and engaged in colonization
Courland colonization

The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia , a vassal of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, being small but wealthy took a modest part in European colonialism, in West Africa and the Caribbean....
.

Life


Kettler was born in Goldingen (Kuldiga)
Kuldiga

Kuldiga is a town in western Latvia. It is the center of Kuldigas County with a population of approximately 13,500.Kuldiga was first mentioned in 1242....
. He was the son of Wilhelm Kettler
Wilhelm Kettler

Wilhelm Kettler was the second Duke of Courland, a region of Latvia. Wilhelm ruled the eastern Courland portion of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia while his brother Friedrich Kettler ruled the western Semigallia portion....
 and Sofie Hohenzollern, Princess of Prussia, a daughter of Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia
Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia

Albert Frederick was duke of Duchy of Prussia from 1568 until his death. He was a son of Albert of Prussia and Anna Marie of Brunswick-L?neburg....
. He was the godson
Godparent

A godparent, in many denominations of Christianity, is someone who sponsors a child's baptism. Judaism has this equivalent in the Brit Milah ceremony....
 of King James I of England
James I of England

James VI and I was List of monarchs of Scotland as James VI, and List of English monarchs and King of Ireland as James I. He ruled in Kingdom of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567, when he was only one year old, succeeding his mother Mary I of Scotland....
. Under Kettler's rule, the duchy traded with nations like the Netherlands
Netherlands

The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
, Portugal
Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
, England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
, and France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
. In 1651 he sent a fleet to build Fort Jacob on the Gambia River
Gambia River

The Gambia River is a major river in Africa, running 1,130 km from the Fouta Djallon plateau in north Guinea westward to the Atlantic Ocean at the city of Banjul....
 on the island that would later be known as St. Andrews in West Africa
West Africa

West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the United Nations subregion of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries distributed over an area of approximately 5 million square km:...
. In 1654 he conquered Tobago
Tobago

Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in the southern Caribbean Sea, northeast of the island of Trinidad and southeast of Grenada....
 with the Das Wappen der Herzogin von Kurland, a double decker ship which was armed with 45 cannon
Cannon

A cannon is any tubular piece of artillery, that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellants to launch a projectile over a distance....
s and carried 25 officials, 124 Courlander soldiers, and 80 families of colonists. The colony on Tobago was named Neu Kurland ("New Courland").

The duke was taken prisoner by the Swedes
Swedish Empire

Sweden was, between 1611 and 1718, one of the great powers of Europe. In modern historiography this period is known as the Swedish Empire, or stormaktstiden ....
 from 1658 to 1660, during the Northern Wars
Northern Wars

The Northern Wars is a name sometimes used for the series of conflicts between Sweden and its adversaries Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth , Russia , Prussia , the Holy Roman Empire and Denmark-Norway ....
. During this time, his colonies were attacked and lost and his fleet destroyed. After the war ended, he rebuilt the duchy's fleet, and retook the island of Tobago from the Dutch. Some believe he also intended to colonize Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
, which had at that time been discovered and claimed by the Dutch whom he was at war with. He supposedly had the blessing of Pope Innocent X
Pope Innocent X

Pope Innocent X , born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj , was Pope from 1644 to 1655. Born in Rome of a family from Gubbio in Umbria who had come to Rome during the pontificate of Pope Innocent IX, he graduated from the Collegio Romano and followed a conventional cursus honorum, following his uncle Girolamo Pamphilj as auditor of the Rot...
. However, the pope soon died, and the new pope was unwilling to support the plan. The duke died in Mitau (Jelgava)
Jelgava

Jelgava is a city in central Latvia about 41 km southwest of Riga with 66,087 inhabitants . It is the largest town in Zemgale. Jelgava is known as the former capital of the Duchy of Courland, and was the capital of the Courland region until 1919....
 on 1 January 1682.

Issue


Kettler married Louise Charlotte of Brandenburg (1617–1676), the daughter of George William, Elector of Brandenburg
George William, Elector of Brandenburg

George William of the Hohenzollern dynasty was margrave and Prince-Elector of Brandenburg and duke of Duchy of Prussia . His reign was marked by ineffective governance during the Thirty Years' War....
 and had issue:
  • Louise Elisabeth (1646-1690) - married Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg
  • Frederick II Casimir Kettler (1650-1698)
  • Charlotta (1651-1728)
  • Maria Amalia (1653-1711) - married Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel
    Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel

    Karl I was Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel from 1670 till his death.Born at Kassel, he was the son of Wilhelm VI of Hesse-Kassel and Hedwig Sophia of Brandenburg, daughter of George William, Elector of Brandenburg....
  • Ferdinand (1655-1737)


See also


  • Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
    Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

    The Polish?Lithuanian Commonwealth was one of the largest and most populous countries in 16th and 17th-century Europe, formed by a Union of Lublin of Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1569....


External links