George I, Elector and King

The English Monarchs

by Ragnhild Hatton

In 1714 George Ludwig, the 58-year-old elector of Brunswick-Luneburg, became, as George I, the first of the Hanoverian dynasty to rule Britain. Until his death in 1727 George served as both elector of Hanover and British monarch.An enigmatic figure whose real character has long been concealed by anti-Hanoverian propaganda, George emerges in this groundbreaking biography as an impressive ruler who welcomed the responsibilities the accession brought him and set out to bring culture to what he considered the unsophisticated English nation.Ragnhild Hatton's biography is the only comprehensive account of George's life and reign. It draws on a wide range of archival sources in several languages to illuminate the fascinating details of George's early life and dynastic crises, his plans and ambitions for the British nation, the impact of his rationalist ideas, and his accomplishments as king.The book also examines the king's private life, his family relationships in both Prussia and England, his private interest in music and the arts, and the improvement of his British and Hanoverian properties.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Germany, Royalty, 18th Century, British Literature

416 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Ragnhild Marie Hatton was an historian who specialized in seventeenth and eighteenth century Europe. After moving to London from Norway she taught at the London School of Economics from 1949 until her retirement.

Reviews

[John Anthony]

A well written and comprehensively researched book. I knew little about the man apart from the fact that he locked his wife up for committing adultery.

The author describes an astute man who played his cards pretty close to his chest. He had a reasonably successful career, fighting in the many battles in Europe. After the end of the war with France c. 1713 he began to see his interests and those of his 2 countries (Hanover and Great Britain) as being best served by an alliance with France against Spain. But that is to over simplify: I found his foreign policies very difficult to follow. His political stock went up in Europe when he became king of GB. Inevitably, he was criticised by the English for favouring Hanover's interests over GB (and vice versa of course by the Hanoverians!) His foreignness was exploited by the Jacobites. It must have been quite bizarre at the time – a foreign ruler whose knowledge of the English language was limited (though his command of it was much better than it was supposed, apparently).

A measure of his success was that he weathered the Jacobite rebellions, particularly that of 1715. He was, necessarily, pretty well travelled. A patron of the arts in rather more than name, especially music – he was a great admirer of Handel and furthered his career (H was Kapellmeister at Hanover). George was quite a builder in England and Hanover. He was pretty tolerant as far as his subject's religious practices were concerned. Dissenters did rather better in his reign than previously.

George I was the first and probably the only Hanoverian monarch to have a good relationship with his father. He fathered a number of illegitimate children. That apart, he was not perhaps the most exuberant of men and monarchs. However, he was probably more able and a better egg than he's generally given credit for.

[Teddy Dodger]

Didn't enjoy this one as much as Jeremy Black's G2+G3 or EA Smith's G4. Sentences felt too long, narrative confused (I was constantly googling things to know what year we were in) and the focus on 1714-1721, as Black says in the foreward to the new edition, feels unjust.

Nontheless a good sketch of a more obscure king who managed to pull off quite a lot in a short period of time, and survive some challenges which may have overcome weaker figures (The '15, the south sea bubble). Like the recent shift in scholarship for G2-G4 as outline above, G1 was not Walpole's captive, and did what he thought was right both for Britain and Hanover.

[Gayla Bassham]

I think this is the only full-length biography of George I, so my expectations for a life full of incident were low, but Hatton does a good job of making his subject seem interesting and real as well as explaining the impacts of his reign. The writing doesn't exactly sing but it's reasonably accessible and very informative.

[Jeremy Perron]

Ragnhild Hatton wrote a very good biography of a very forgotten--yet important--King of Great Britain. `Lucky George' was the good fortune recipient of the Civil Wars that plagued Britain during the seventeenth century. He became the patriarch of the modern British dynasty, although they have since changed their name. George I's rise to the British throne was really the pinnacle of an already successful political and military career. Although England's patron saint since the time of Edward III was St. George, England never had a `King George' until this monarch. They would go on to have five after him. This man did indeed live an interesting life.

Born in Germany in the final phase of what was call the Holy Roman Empire. His father Ernst August did everything he could to have his Duke of Hanover title converted into an electoral one. George's destiny would be even greater where his dad became an elector he became a king.

The reputation that King George I has is that of a boring stand in. During the reigns of William III and Anne there were rumors that the Old Pretender was a changeling switched with a dead baby. This gave at least a hint of legitimacy to their rule. But there was no pretending with the House of Hanover, with over fifty people were better claims, they knew they owed their crown to a revolution, despite whether or not they wanted to admit it. The prettier, charismatic Stuarts seem to gain a great deal of sympathy against the boring, plain German dynasty.

This book debunks a lot of the myths about George I. Far from being a boring old king, he was general who led armies of the Holy Roman Empire during the War of Spanish Succession. Becoming King of Great Britain was a literal crowning achievement of an already spectacular career. He also, despite his reputation, acquired a working knowledge of English. When people say `constitutional monarchy' what they mean is ceremonial figurehead. However that does not really describe King George I, he was an actually ruler who governed his kingdom with his ministers but understood and accepted that the King was restrained by law.

The only downside to this book is capitalization. No titles in this book are capitalized. In the text you have king George, prince Fredrick, and emperor Charles. It is very annoying. Despite this one drawback it is a quite good biography.