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Christian Frederick Charles Alexander (German: Christian Friedrich Karl Alexander) (24 February 1736 in Ansbach – 5 January 1806 in Benham Castle near Speen) was the last Margrave〔He was Margrave in name only, as Ansbach and Bayreuth were ''Markgraftümer'' rather than ''Markgrafschäfte'' proper (i.e., titles rather than sovereign realms within the Holy Roman Empire).〕 of the two Franconian principalities Brandenburg-Ansbach and Brandenburg-Bayreuth, which he sold to the King of Prussia, a fellow member of the House of Hohenzollern. ==Life== His parents were Charles William Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Friederike Luise of Prussia, the daughter of King Frederick William I of Prussia and sister of Frederick II of Prussia. After the sudden death of his elder brother Charles Frederick August on 9 May 1737, "Alexander," as he later called himself, became Crown Prince of the principality. From 1748 to 1759, he studied in Utrecht. As the young "Count of Sayn" (the county of Sayn-Altenkirchen in the Westerwald having been absorbed into the Principality of Ansbach in 1741) he travelled to Turin and Savoy.〔It has been speculated that he became infected with syphilis on this journey, given that he remained childless despite two marriages and several other relationships.〕 On 22 November 1754, in Coburg, Charles Alexander married Princess Frederica Caroline of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1735–1791), daughter of Franz Josias, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Anne Sophie, Princess of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. On 3 August 1757, Charles Alexander became the Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach. The ''Residenz'' of the principality was Ansbach, but Charles Alexander preferred his hunting estate and country seat in Triesdorf. Here, he renovated the "White Castle" for his mistress Hippolyte Clairon, the "Red Castle" for himself, and built the ''Villa Sandrina'' for another mistress, "Fräulein Kurz", and the "Round Villa" (''Villa Rotunda'') for his mistress (and later wife) Elizabeth Craven. In 1758, Charles Alexander founded the porcelain factory in Ansbach and made ventures into agriculture by importing sheep. In 1769, he acquired the principality of Bayreuth pursuant to the ''Haus- und Reichsgesetze'' laws of the House of Hohenzollern. In 1780, Charles Alexander founded his own bank, the ''Hochfürstlich-Brandenburg-Anspach-Bayreuthische Hofbanco'', out of which later came the ''Bayerische Hypotheken- und Wechselbank'' ("Bavarian Mortgage and Change Bank", today absorbed into the ''HypoVereinsbank''). He evidently wanted to avoid supporting the Jewish banking houses that were then overseeing his financial affairs, and to keep as much of his revenue as possible in his own hands by setting himself up as a private banker. One of Charles Alexander's enterprises earned income from hiring auxiliary troops to George III of Great Britain for the Colonies in America. He had nominal command over the "Frankish Army" of 1,644 mercenaries, of whom apparently only 1,183 returned to their homeland in 1783. The Margrave rented further troops to Holland. With these incomes, he paid down the principality's debts, which amounted to 5,000,000 guilders at the time he took office (1757). By the time of his abdication 34 years later, the principality's debt stood at only 1,500,000 guilders. Charles Alexander's first wife Frederica Caroline died on 18 February 1791 in Unterschwaningen, where she had lived since separating from her husband. On 19 May of the same year, Charles Alexander left Triesdorf for England. On 13 October or 30 October 1791, in Lisbon, he married Lady Elizabeth Craven (1750–1828), the daughter of the 4th Earl of Berkeley, and widow of the 6th Baron Craven, who had died shortly before. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Charles Alexander, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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