Lower Hesse a historic designation for an area in northern Hesse

Hesse

Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

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The term Lower Hesse originated in the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 for the so-called "lower principality" of Hesse, which was separated until 1450 from the so-called "upper principality" (Upper Hesse) by the area Ziegenhain

Schwalmstadt

Schwalmstadt is the largest town in the Schwalm-Eder district, in northern Hesse, Germany. It was established only in 1970 with the amalgamation of the towns of Treysa and Ziegenhain together with some outlying villages to form the town of Schwalmstadt.-Location:Schwalmstadt lies in the Schwalm...

. It covered the area at the lower part of the Fulda and Eder

Eder

The Eder is a 177 km long river in Germany, and a tributary of the Fulda River. It was first mentioned by the Roman historian Tacitus as the Adrana in the territory of the Chatti....

 rivers, and the Schwalm

Schwalm

The Schwalm is a river in Hesse, Germany, right tributary of the Eder. It rises on the north side of the Vogelsberg Mountains. It flows north through Alsfeld, Schwalmstadt and Borken...

, Werra

Werra

The Werra is a river in central Germany, the right-source river of the Weser. The Werra has its source near Eisfeld in southern Thuringia. After 293 km the Werra joins the river Fulda in the town of Hann. Münden, forming the Weser....

 and Upper Weser rivers, including the towns of Kassel

Kassel

Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...

, Homberg (Efze)

Homberg (Efze)

Homberg is a small town in northern state of Hesse in central Germany with about 15,000 inhabitants. It is the seat of the Schwalm-Eder district.-Geography:...

, Melsungen

Melsungen

Melsungen is a small climatic spa in the Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse, Germany.-Geography:Melsungen lies on the river Fulda in the North Hesse Highland. The brooks Pfieffe and Kehrenbach flow into the Fulda here...

, and Rotenburg an der Fulda

Rotenburg an der Fulda

Rotenburg an der Fulda is a town in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany lying, as the name says, on the river Fulda.- Geography :- Location :...

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Following the death in 1567 of Landgrave

Landgrave

Landgrave was a title used in the Holy Roman Empire and later on by its former territories. The title refers to a count who had feudal duty directly to the Holy Roman Emperor...

 Philip the Magnanimous, Hesse was divided up among his four sons, with Lower Hesse becoming the heart of the new Hesse-Kassel

Hesse-Kassel

The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel or Hesse-Cassel was a state in the Holy Roman Empire under Imperial immediacy that came into existence when the Landgraviate of Hesse was divided in 1567 upon the death of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. His eldest son William IV inherited the northern half and the...

, which went to his son William IV

William IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel

William IV of Hesse-Kassel , also called William the Wise, was the first Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel . He was the founder of the oldest line, which survives to this day.-Life:...

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