Wilhelm Kettler (born 20 June 1574 in
MītavaJelgava is a city in central Latvia about 41 km southwest of Riga with 66,087 inhabitants . It is the largest town in Semigallia. Jelgava is known as the former capital of the Duchy of Courland, and was the capital of the Courland region until 1919.Jelgava is situated on a fertile plain...
, died 7 April 1640 in Kukulova) was the second Duke of
CourlandCourland is one of the cultural and historical regions of Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland.- Geography and climate :...
, a region of
LatviaLatvia , officially the Republic of Latvia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , and to the southeast by Belarus . Across the Baltic Sea to the west lies Sweden...
. Wilhelm ruled the eastern Courland portion of the
Duchy of Courland and SemigalliaThe Duchy of Courland and Semigallia is the name of a duchy in the Baltic region that existed from 1562 to 1791 as a vassal state of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom and later the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...
while his brother
FriedrichFriedrich Kettler was a Duke of Courland , a region in Latvia, from 1587 to 1642. He was the son of Gotthard Kettler. Until 1616, he ruled only the western Zemgale portion of the Duchy of Courland, while his younger brother Wilhelm Kettler ruled the eastern Courland portion...
ruled the western Semigallia portion.
Wilhelm Kettler was the youngest son of
Gotthard KettlerGotthard von Kettler was the last Master of the Livonian Order and the first Duke of Courland and Semigallia....
and his wife Anna of
Mecklenburg-SchwerinMecklenburg-Schwerin was a duchy in northern Germany from 1348 on, when Albert II of Mecklenburg and his younger brother John were raised to Dukes of Mecklenburg by King Charles IV...
. After their father's death in 1587, Wilhelm and his brother Friedrich inherited the Duchy of Courland.
Wilhelm Kettler (born 20 June 1574 in
MītavaJelgava is a city in central Latvia about 41 km southwest of Riga with 66,087 inhabitants . It is the largest town in Semigallia. Jelgava is known as the former capital of the Duchy of Courland, and was the capital of the Courland region until 1919.Jelgava is situated on a fertile plain...
, died 7 April 1640 in Kukulova) was the second Duke of
CourlandCourland is one of the cultural and historical regions of Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland.- Geography and climate :...
, a region of
LatviaLatvia , officially the Republic of Latvia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , and to the southeast by Belarus . Across the Baltic Sea to the west lies Sweden...
. Wilhelm ruled the eastern Courland portion of the
Duchy of Courland and SemigalliaThe Duchy of Courland and Semigallia is the name of a duchy in the Baltic region that existed from 1562 to 1791 as a vassal state of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom and later the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...
while his brother
FriedrichFriedrich Kettler was a Duke of Courland , a region in Latvia, from 1587 to 1642. He was the son of Gotthard Kettler. Until 1616, he ruled only the western Zemgale portion of the Duchy of Courland, while his younger brother Wilhelm Kettler ruled the eastern Courland portion...
ruled the western Semigallia portion.
Wilhelm Kettler was the youngest son of
Gotthard KettlerGotthard von Kettler was the last Master of the Livonian Order and the first Duke of Courland and Semigallia....
and his wife Anna of
Mecklenburg-SchwerinMecklenburg-Schwerin was a duchy in northern Germany from 1348 on, when Albert II of Mecklenburg and his younger brother John were raised to Dukes of Mecklenburg by King Charles IV...
. After their father's death in 1587, Wilhelm and his brother Friedrich inherited the Duchy of Courland. The brothers decided to divide the duchy between themselves. Wilhelm ruled the Courland portion with the seat in
KuldīgaKuldīga is a town in western Latvia. It is the center of Kuldigas County with a population of approximately 13,500.Kuldīga was first mentioned in 1242. It joined the Hanseatic League in 1368...
. In 1609 he married Princess
Sophia of Brandenburg-PrussiaSophia, Princess of Prussia was a German princess of the Duchy of Prussia and a member of the House of Hohenzollern....
(1582-1610), daughter of
Albert Frederick, Duke of PrussiaAlbert Frederick was duke of Prussia from 1568 until his death. He was a son of Albert of Prussia and Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He was the second and last Prussian duke of the Ansbach branch of the Hohenzollern family. He exhibited signs of mental disorder...
, receiving as a dowry the territory of
GrobiņaGrobiņa is a town in western Latvia, eleven kilometers east of Liepāja. It was founded by the Teutonic Knights in the 13th century. Some ruins of their Grobina castle are still visible. The town was given its charter in 1695....
. Due to conflicts with the nobility, he lost the duchy in 1617 and emigrated.
He died in the Kukulva abbey in
PomeraniaPomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East. It is inhabited...
on 7 April 1640. His son, Duke
Jacob KettlerJacob Kettler was a Baltic German Duke of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia . Under his rule, the duchy was brought to its greatest peak in wealth and engaged in colonization.- Life :...
of Courland, had his remains returned to Courland in 1642. He was interred in the duchy tomb on 23 February 1643.