History UsefulNotes / TheHouseOfHanover

* ''[[Series/{{Blackadder}} Blackadder the Third]]''

His return to Britain in the late 1820s (The House of Commons would only increase his allowance if his young son was being reared locally) heralded his return to politics including fierce opposition to Catholic Emancipation, rumors of him siring a child on [[BrotherSisterIncest his sister Princess Sophia]], and loose talk from the Orange Order Lodges he had backed for years shunting aside Heir Apparent [[UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria Victoria of Kent]] in favor of the Duke of Cumberland.

George I (German: ''Georg'') did not become King of Great Britain and Ireland until the age of 54, and had possibly less interest in ruling the country than any other actual monarch before or since. During his early life, he'd served in the wars against Louis XIV of France, for which he was made a prince-elector[[note]] Theoretically his father had already been made an elector in 1692, but that promotion was only ratified by the Imperial Diet during the course of the War of Spanish Succession, by which time Ernestus Augustus had long dead.[[/note]] and the hereditary (and purely ceremonial) arch-treasurer[[note]]The arms of that office - the golden imperial crown on red - are on the central shield of the dynastic arms seen at the top of this page.[[/note]] of the HolyRomanEmpire. George married his first cousin, Sophia Dorothea of Brunswick-Celle, for her huge tracts of land (to wit, the adjoining duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Celle) and an accompanying income of 1,000 ''thaler'' per year; this marriage was [[ArrangedMarriage engineered by George's mother]], who was famously shrewd at arranging strategic marriages for her children and other relatives, even if both bride and groom had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the marriage (as happened in the case of George and Sophia Dorothea). As you might expect in such circumstances, the marriage was a bad one, and Sophia Dorothea was suspected of cheating on George. Her supposed lover was murdered, possibly with George's knowledge, and after the ensuing divorce she was placed in a LuxuryPrisonSuite for the ''rest of her life''. [[ReallyGetsAround He never remarried, but had numerous mistresses,]] two of whom became known to the British people as [[EmbarrassingNickname "the ugly one" and "the fat one".]]

Thus, the company bought a large portion of the British national debt and begun selling shares by the thousands. Engaging in practices that were distinctly dodgy to drive up the price, such as bribery, paying people to buy shares, and "selling" shares to politicians. The politicians didn't actually pay for them and then sold them back, thus increasing the share price. There were also increasingly ludicrous rumours profits being circulated by Company shills, including for a time, one Creator/DanielDefoe.

George was often ridiculed in England for his wooden mannerisms and supposed inability to speak English (he handled royal business in French, and may have picked up the language later in life), but by and large, contemporary accounts held him to be a better choice than the Stuarts. His treatment of his wife did however embitter his son against him, starting a tradition among the Hanovers and Wettins/Windsors of father-son animosity that lasted until the reign of Edward VII.

George I (German: ''Georg'') did not become King of Great Britain and Ireland until the age of 54, and had possibly less interest in ruling the country than any other actual monarch before or since. During his early life, he'd served in the wars against Louis XIV of France, for which he was made a prince-elector[[note]] Theoretically his father had already been made an elector in 1692, but that promotion was only ratified by the Imperial Diet during the course of the War of Spanish Succession, by which time Ernestus Augustus had long dead.[[/note]] and the hereditary (and purely ceremonial) arch-treasurer[[note]]The arms of that office - the golden imperial crown on red - are on the central shield of the dynastic arms seen at the top of this page.[[/note]] of the HolyRomanEmpire. George married his first cousin, Sophia Dorothea of Brunswick-Celle, for her huge tracts of land (to wit, the adjoining duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Celle) and an accompanying income of 1,000 ''thaler'' per year; this marriage was [[ArrangedMarriaged engineered by George's mother]], who was famously shrewd at arranging strategic marriages for her children and other relatives, even if both bride and groom had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the marriage (as happened in the case of George and Sophia Dorothea). As you might expect in such circumstances, the marriage was a bad one, and Sophia Dorothea was suspected of cheating on George. Her supposed lover was murdered, possibly with George's knowledge, and after the ensuing divorce she was placed in a LuxuryPrisonSuite for the ''rest of her life''. [[ReallyGetsAround He never remarried, but had numerous mistresses,]] two of whom became known to the British people as [[EmbarrassingNickname "the ugly one" and "the fat one".]]

The South Sea Company held a monopoly on English trade with South America, particularly the Transatlantic Slave Trade, which was really getting going at this time (one of the effects of the UsefulNotes/WarOfTheSpanishSuccession was that Britain obtained the ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assiento asiento]]'', the exclusive right to sell slaves to Spanish colonies). The company was granted this monopoly by promising to finance England's ever rising national debt racked up after years of uninterrupted global warfare. The monopoly, unfortunately, was much less profitable than expected, so the company changed gears and ran what could be considered a proto-Ponzi scheme to make up for the cash difference.

The royal dynasty that ruled Great Britain and Ireland from 1714 to 1901. UsefulNotes/VictorianBritain and UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria get separate entries, since Victoria spent so long on the throne. [[UsefulNotes/TheEdwardianEra King Edward VII]] and his successors (UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor) have their own pages, and are ''not'' Hanoverians (instead being of Queen Victoria's Prince Consort Albert's house of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) due to the whole male succession thing.

George I (German: ''Georg'') did not become King of Great Britain and Ireland until the age of 54, and had possibly less interest in ruling the country than any other actual monarch before or since. During his early life, he'd served in the wars against Louis XIV of France, for which he was made a prince-elector[[note]] Theoretically his father had already been made an elector in 1692, but that promotion was only ratified by the Imperial Diet during the course of the War of Spanish Succession, by which time Ernestus Augustus had long dead.[[/note]] and the hereditary (and purely ceremonial) arch-treasurer[[note]]The arms of that office - the golden imperial crown on red - are on the central shield of the dynastic arms seen at the top of this page.[[/note]] of the HolyRomanEmpire. George married his first cousin, Sophia Dorothea of Brunswick-Celle, for her huge tracts of land (to wit, the adjoining duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Celle) and an accompanying income of 1,000 ''thaler'' per year; this marriage was [[ArrangedMarriaged engineered by George's mother]], who was famously shrewd at arranging strategic marriages for her children and other relatives, even if both bride and groom had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the marriage (as happened in the case of George and Sophia Dorothea). She was suspected of cheating on him. Her supposed lover was murdered, possibly with George's knowledge, and after the ensuing divorce she was placed in a LuxuryPrisonSuite for the ''rest of her life''. [[ReallyGetsAround He never remarried, but had numerous mistresses,]] two of whom became known to the British people as [[EmbarrassingNickname "the ugly one" and "the fat one".]]

George I (German: ''Georg'') did not become King of Great Britain and Ireland until the age of 54, and had possibly less interest in ruling the country than any other actual monarch before or since. During his early life, he'd served in the wars against Louis XIV of France, for which he was made a prince-elector[[note]] Theoretically his father had already been made an elector in 1692, but that promotion was only ratified by the Imperial Diet during the course of the War of Spanish Succession, by which time Ernestus Augustus had long dead.[[/note]] and the hereditary (and purely ceremonial) arch-treasurer[[note]]The arms of that office - the golden imperial crown on red - are on the central shield of the dynastic arms seen at the top of this page.[[/note]] of the HolyRomanEmpire. George married his first cousin for her huge tracts of land (to wit, the adjoining duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Celle); later she was suspected of cheating on him. Her supposed lover was murdered, possibly with George's knowledge, and after the ensuing divorce she was placed in a LuxuryPrisonSuite for the ''rest of her life''. [[ReallyGetsAround He never remarried, but had numerous mistresses,]] two of whom became known to the British people as [[EmbarrassingNickname "the ugly one" and "the fat one".]]

The royal dynasty that ruled Great Britain and Ireland from 1714 to 1901. UsefulNotes/VictorianBritain and QueenVicky get separate entries, since Victoria spent so long on the throne. [[UsefulNotes/TheEdwardianEra King Edward VII]] and his successors (UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor) have their own pages, and are ''not'' Hanoverians (instead being of Queen Victoria's Prince Consort Albert's house of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) due to the whole male succession thing.

After Princess Charlotte's death, he married Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen in a double ceremony with his brother Prince Edward, who married Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (the mother of QueenVicky). It was happy marriage, though Adelaide couldn't produce the coveted heir, giving birth to two daughters, one who died shortly after birth and one who lived only four months, and two stillborn boys. Because of her tragic history of childbirth and personal piety and modesty (and for taming her husband), Adelaide was very popular with the British people; when the new colony of [[UsefulNotes/AustralianStatesAndTerritories South Australia]] was established in 1836, they named its capital city [[UsefulNotes/OtherAustralianTownsAndCities Adelaide]] after her.

!!'''[[QueenVicky Victoria of the United Kingdom]]'''

William IV outlived both of his legitimate children, so when he died the Crown came to his niece, Victoria. (Hanover itself, meanwhile, passed out of personal union with Great Britain and into the hands of William's younger brother Ernest Augustus, as the throne of Hanover couldn't be inherited by a woman.) Her reign was long and eventful; she became both the longest-lived British sovereign (the third time this had occurred in the last five monarchs) and longest-reigning monarch in British history, only surpassed in either category by the present Queen Elizabeth II. See QueenVicky, VictorianBritain, and VictorianLondon for more on this period. Her eldest son, Edward VII, marked the beginning of The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (from the house name of Prince Albert), known today as UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor.

His return to Britain in the late 1820s (The House of Commons would only increase his allowance if his young son was being reared locally) heralded his return to politics including fierce opposition to Catholic Emancipation, rumors of him siring a child on [[BrotherSisterIncest his sister Princess Sophia]], and loose talk from the Orange Order Lodges he had backed for years shunting aside Heir Apparent [[QueenVicky Victoria of Kent]] in favor of the Duke of Cumberland.

Born in Berlin and spending most of his formative years in Britain, he was 18 when he arrived in Hanover as the new Crown Prince... and completely blind due to childhood illnesses. His father had some hopes of getting him married off to [[RoyalInbreeding his first cousin]] [[QueenVicky Victoria of Kent]] with an eye toward reuniting Great Britain and Hanover in the next generation, but that did not work out. Ernst August ''did'' override all attempts to set his only living child aside from the Hanoverian succession due to his blindness and instructed his son in the art of rulership.

* King James I is referenced a few times in Disney's ''Disney/Pocahontas''. Most notably, he appears in Governor Ratcliffe's ImagineSpot during the song "Mine, Mine, Mine". In the DirectToVideo sequel ''Disney/PocahontasIIJourneyToANewWorld'', King James appears in person as a supporting character, voiced by Creator/JimCummings and portrayed as an easily manipulated buffoon.

Four major events happened during his reign: the [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution American]] and [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution French Revolutions]], the Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland (1800), and the UsefulNotes/NapoleonicWars, after which the electorate of Hanover was upgraded to a kingdom. Since George was content to let Parliament run things most of the time (particularly when the Tories were in charge), it's best to just read those articles for further information.

* Any work taking place in the UsefulNotes/NapoleonicWars, though those stories tend to focus on the fighting as opposed to the Hanover dynasty.

William IV outlived both of his legitimate children, so when he died the Crown came to his niece, Victoria. (Hanover itself, meanwhile, passed out of personal union with Great Britain and into the hands of William's younger brother Ernest Augustus, as the throne of Hanover couldn't be inherited by a woman.) Her reign was long and eventful; she became both the longest-lived British sovereign (the third time this had occurred in the last five monarchs), still outlived only by the present Queen Elizabeth II, and remains the longest-reigning monarch in British history. See QueenVicky, VictorianBritain, and VictorianLondon for more on this period. Her eldest son, Edward VII, marked the beginning of The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (from the house name of Prince Albert), known today as UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor.

George I (German: ''Georg'') did not become King of Great Britain and Ireland until the age of 54, and had possibly less interest in ruling the country than any other actual monarch before or since. During his early life, he'd served in the wars against Louis XIV of France, for which he was made a prince-elector[[note]] Theoretically his father had already been made an elector in 1692, but that promotion was only ratified by the Imperial Diet during the course of the War of Spanish Succession, by which time Ernestus Augustus had long dead.]] and the hereditary (and purely ceremonial) arch-treasurer[[note]]The arms of that office - the golden imperial crown on red - are on the central shield of the dynastic arms seen at the top of this page.[[/note]] of the HolyRomanEmpire. George married his first cousin for her huge tracts of land (to wit, the adjoining duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Celle); later she was suspected of cheating on him. Her supposed lover was murdered, possibly with George's knowledge, and after the ensuing divorce she was placed in a LuxuryPrisonSuite for the ''rest of her life''. [[ReallyGetsAround He never remarried, but had numerous mistresses,]] two of whom became known to the British people as [[EmbarrassingNickname "the ugly one" and "the fat one".]]

We should note here that it was a grand Hanoverian tradition for the Hanoverians to get into personal disputes and pissing contests with their eldest sons; this had a few lasting effects[[note]]Sir UsefulNotes/RobertWalpole's rise to the position of Prime Minister was in part the product of his mediation of George I's problems with the future George II, and many of the modern royal duties of the monarchy -- cutting ribbons, going on state visits to friendly countries, etc. -- were established because they were concessions Victoria made to her son Edward, who was constantly angry at her for not giving him enough to do.[[/note]] but more importantly the disputes are often ''hilarious'' in hindsight.

The South Sea Company held a monopoly on English trade with South America, particularly the Transatlantic Slave Trade, which was really getting going at this time (one of the effects of the UsefulNotes/WarOfTheSpanishSuccession was that Britain obtained the ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assiento asiento]]'', the exclusive right to sell slaves to Spanish colonies). The company was granted this monopoly by promising to finance England's ever rising national debt, racked up after years of uninterrupted global warfare. The monopoly, unfortunately, was much less profitable than expected, so the company changed gears and ran what could be considered a proto-Ponzi scheme to make up for the cash difference.

Thus, bought a large portion of the British national debt and begun selling shares by the thousands. Engaging in practices that were distinctly dodgy to drive up the price, such as bribery, paying people to buy shares, and "selling" shares to politicians. The politicians didn't actually pay for them and then sold them back, thus increasing the share price. There were also increasingly ludicrous rumours profits being circulated by Company shills, including for a time, one Creator/DanielDefoe.

The South Sea Company held a monopoly on English trade with South America, particularly the Transatlantic Slave Trade, which was really getting going at this time (one of the effects of the UsefulNotes/WarOfTheSpanishSuccession was that Britain obtained the ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assiento asiento]]'', the exclusive right to sell slaves to Spanish colonies). This unfortunately was much less profitable than expected, so the company changed gears and ran what could be considered a proto-Ponzi scheme to make up for the cash difference.

It bought a large portion of the British national debt, by selling shares. Engaging in practices that were distinctly dodgy to drive up the price, such as "selling" shares to politicians. The politicians didn't actually pay for them and then sold them back, thus increasing the price. There were also false rumours of potential profits.

Other companies joined in. (Some choice example are the company for inventing a wheel for perpetual motion, capital one million, and the notorious company "for carrying on an Undertaking of great Advantage; but nobody to know what it is." The proprietor of the latter company raised the then-huge sum of two thousand pounds in one day, and promptly skipped town.)

By 1720, the price had reached its peak and people were selling en masse. Those who had bought shares on credit saw the price collapse and many ended up bankrupt. The banks had to write off a load of debt they could not get back. Parliament was recalled, investigated and found massive fraud going on. This was not the first "bubble"[[note]]The Dutch had famously suffered a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania tulip bubble]] in the 1630s, and there were probably others before then[[/note]] and it certainly wasn't the last.

The South Sea Company held a monopoly on English trade with South America, particularly the Transatlantic Slave Trade, which was really getting going at this time (one of the effects of the UsefulNotes/WarOfTheSpanishSuccession was that Britain obtained the ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assiento asiento]]'', the exclusive right to sell slaves to Spanish colonies).

William IV outlived both of his legitimate children, so when he died the Crown came to his niece, Victoria. (Hanover itself, meanwhile, passed out of personal union with Great Britain and into the hands of William's younger brother Ernest Augustus, as the throne of Hanover couldn't be inherited by a woman.) Her reign was long and eventful; she became both the longest-lived British sovereign (the third time this had occurred in the last five monarchs), still outlived only by the present Queen Elizabeth II, and remains the longest-reigning monarch in British history. See QueenVicky, VictorianBritain, and VictorianLondon for more on this period. Her eldest son, Edward VII, marked the beginning of The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (from the house name of Prince Albert), known today as TheHouseOfWindsor.

!!'''George V of Hanover'''[[note]]Yes, [[TheHouseOfWindsor relation]][[/note]]

The royal dynasty that ruled Great Britain and Ireland from 1714 to 1901. UsefulNotes/VictorianBritain and QueenVicky get separate entries, since Victoria spent so long on the throne. [[UsefulNotes/TheEdwardianEra King Edward VII]] and his successors (UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor) have their own pages, and technically speaking ''not'' Hanoverians (instead being of Queen Victoria's Prince Consort Albert's house of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) due to the whole male succession thing.

Originated from the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg (also known as Hanover, the largest city in it), in what is now essentially the [[UsefulNotes/TheSixteenLandsOfDeutschland German state of Lower Saxony]].[[note]]So we suppose [[UsefulNotes/AngloSaxons the Saxons]] did take back the country, eh?[[/note]] The House of Hanover then was the younger branch of the House of Brunswick, which is descended from the medieval House of Welf (Romanized: Guelph), whose first dynastic contact with Britain took place in 1168, when Duke Henry the Lion married Matilda, daughter of King Henry II of England. Since the House of Hanover was officially called the House of Brunswick-Luneburg (Braunschweig-Lüneburg), it is no surprise to see the Canadian province of New Brunswick being so named in 1784, even though the city of Brunswick lay outside George III's German realm.

George I (German: ''Georg'') did not become King of Great Britain and Ireland until the age of 54, and had possibly less interest in ruling the country than any other actual monarch before or since. During his early life, he'd served in the wars against Louis XIV of France, for which he was made a prince-elector[[note]] Theoretically his father had already been made an elector in 1692, but that promotion was only ratified by the Imperial Diet during the course of the War of Spanish Succession, by which time Ernestus Augustus had already died (in 1698).]] and the hereditary (and purely ceremonial) arch-treasurer[[note]]The arms of that office - the golden imperial crown on red - are on the central shield of the dynastic arms seen at the top of this page.[[/note]] of the HolyRomanEmpire. George married his first cousin for her huge tracts of land (to wit, the adjoining duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Celle); later she was suspected of cheating on him. Her supposed lover was murdered, possibly with George's knowledge, and after the ensuing divorce she was placed in a LuxuryPrisonSuite for the ''rest of her life''. [[ReallyGetsAround He never remarried, but had numerous mistresses,]] two of whom became known to the British people as [[EmbarrassingNickname "the ugly one" and "the fat one".]]

'''Parents''': Ernest Augustus, ''Elector of Hanover'' and ''Princess'' Sophia of the Palatinate

George I (German: ''Georg'') did not become King of Great Britain and Ireland until the age of 54, and had possibly less interest in ruling the country than any other actual monarch before or since. During his early life, he'd served in a couple of wars against Louis XIV of France, for which his father was made a prince-elector and the hereditary (and purely ceremonial) arch-treasurer[[note]]The arms of that office - the golden imperial crown on red - are on the central shield of the dynastic arms seen at the top of this page.[[/note]] of the HolyRomanEmpire. George married his first cousin for her huge tracts of land (to wit, the adjoining duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Celle); later she was suspected of cheating on him. Her supposed lover was murdered, possibly with George's knowledge, and after the ensuing divorce she was placed in a LuxuryPrisonSuite for the ''rest of her life''. [[ReallyGetsAround He never remarried, but had numerous mistresses,]] two of whom became known to the British people as [[EmbarrassingNickname "the ugly one" and "the fat one".]]

Ascended to the dukedom of Hanover in 1698 on the death of his father. The removal of Catholics from the line of succession to the British throne (56 of them were ahead of his family), and the death of the incumbent first-in-line, rather unexpectedly placed his mother Sophia--a granddaughter of James I--as heir presumptive to the reigning Queen Anne. Sophia was hardly young and died in 1714, just before Anne herself. George found himself heir and headed for the UK, but got stuck for a while at The Hague due to wind problems.

Four major events happened during his reign: the [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution American]] and [[TheFrenchRevolution French Revolutions]], the Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland (1800), and the UsefulNotes/NapoleonicWars, after which the electorate of Hanover was upgraded to a kingdom. Since George was content to let Parliament run things most of the time (particularly when the Tories were in charge), it's best to just read those articles for further information.

The fifth son of George III, he was sent to Hanover in his youth for education, military training, and to get him away from the influence of the heir. By 1793 had received a lifelong facial scar on the front lines of [[TheFrenchRevolution The War of the First Coalition]], and was created Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale six years later. Of course his time on the continent helped develop his arch-conservative political views, which alongside scandals up to and including actual interference in the elections for a seat in the House of Commons made him increasingly unpopular in Britain. He moved to Berlin with his new wife (twice widowed, the second time ''conveniently'' after meeting Ernest) in 1818, but being happily married upon the death of his only legitimate niece gave him a real chance at the British throne.

The House of Hanover, in the shape of Georg's grandson Ernst August, eventually made up with the House of Hohenzollern, the ruling dynasty of Prussia, which had meantime unified Germany, in 1913. Ernst August married Emperor Wilhelm II's only daughter Viktoria Luise and at the same time was made reigning Duke of Brunswick (the duchy had been administered by regents following the death of the last male heir of the elder line of the House of Brunswick). But during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI the Titles Deprivation Act of 1917 stripped the House of Hanover of their titles of nobility in UK. In 1918 Ernst August was forced to abdicate in the course of the November Revolution, and the new Weimar Republic then abolished all German titles of nobility, including those of the House of Hanover. Some of them would go on to support the Nazis in 1930s, only to to turn against them in 1940s, as many German nationalists did, and wound up in concentration camps by the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII for their troubles.

The House of Hanover, in the shape of Georg's grandson Ernst August, eventually made up with the House of Prussia, which had unified Germany in 1913. Ernst August married Emperor Wilhelm II's only daughter Viktoria Luise and at the same time was made reigning Duke of Brunswick (the duchy had been administered by regents following the death of the last male heir of the elder line of the House of Brunswick). But during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI the Titles Deprivation Act of 1917 stripped the House of Hanover of their titles of nobility in UK. In 1918 Ernst August was forced to abdicate in the course of the November Revolution, and the new Weimar Republic then abolished all German titles of nobility, including those of the House of Hanover. Some of them would go on to support the Nazis in 1930s, only to to turn against them in 1940s, as many German nationalists did, and wound up in concentration camps by the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII for their troubles.

A perhaps atypically-successful family man for a British monarch, George and his queen Charlotte had a happy marriage (despite first meeting only on their wedding day, when he was already King) and 15 children, of whom eleven lived to the age of at least 60. He was also a remarkably relaxed king, preferring to live in the countryside and much more informally than many of his more traditional courtiers would like; Queen Charlotte agreed with him, going on walks through country towns with him [[KingIncognito without any servants]]. A man of great personal piety (spending hours in prayer daily) and morality (never taking a [[TheMistress mistress]] and never drinking to excess, and abhorring the [[ReallyGetsAround womanizing]], [[TheAlcoholic boozing]], card-playing habits of his brothers and, later, his sons), he is generally remembered as a good king in Britain. The Americans [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution have a more complex perspective]], but even then most historians believe him to be MisBlamed--he only had a significant role in the American crisis after the Boston Tea Party (which was beginning of the revolt's [[MoralEventHorizon turn toward anti-monarchical sentiment]]), at which point his support for a military response was just one of several trump cards the hawks in Parliament had over the doves. It's worth noting that after the USA achieved independence, he commented that "I was the last person to consent to the separation [of America and Britain], but I will be the first to accept the friendship of the United States as an independent power." (We should also note that until ''very'' shortly before the beginning of the War of Independence, many Americans liked him too--and they liked his wife even more: both Charlotte, North Carolina and Mecklenburg County in which it sits are named for her). He opposed Catholic Emancipation, but only because he believed it would violate the coronation oath he took to 'defend the [Protestant] faith'. Alas, he is also remembered for going quite insane (probably due to porphyria), leading to...