Story Highlights
- Historical event
- 11 June 1727
- British King George I was born as Georg Ludwig of Brunswick-Lüneburg in Hanover, Germany. When he was proclaimed King of Great Britain and Ireland, he was not yet in the country, but arrived only a month-and-a-half later. At first, he did not even know English.
On this day British King George I from the House of Hanover died.
He is very interesting by the fact that he was the first German who ruled the British Isles (England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland).
King George I can truly be considered a German because he was born in Germany, and spoke German and the majority of his ancestors were Germans.
George I was born as Georg Ludwig of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the German city of Hannover.
It is interesting that he, as a young German prince, took part in the famous Battle of Vienna in 1683, in which that city was successfully defended from the Ottoman Turks.
At that time, probably no one could have guessed that this young man would one day become the British king.
How did then the German Prince Georg Ludwig manage to become the ruler of Great Britain and Ireland?
It was due to the fact that the ruling elements in the parliament did not want a Catholic king.
Indeed, the former King James II, who was a Catholic, was deposed in 1688 and Protestant Dutch ruler William of Orange (along with James’ Protestant daughter Mary) was placed on the throne.
When this line died out, the question of a successor arose. Georg found himself the favorite candidate, despite that there supposedly existed as many as 56 people with superior inheritance rights, but they were all Catholics!
Thus, in 1714, Georg was declared King George I, and arrived in England to take the throne only a month-and-a-half later.
He ruled until his death on this day in 1727.
