George I of Great Britain

Born in Hanover in 1660, George Louis inherited German lands from his father and uncles, married his cousin Sophia Dorothea of Celle in 1682, and divorced her twelve years later. European wars expanded his territories, and he became prince-elector of Hanover in 1708. In 1714, after the deaths of his mother Sophia and his second cousin Queen Anne, he inherited the British throne as the senior Protestant descendant of James VI and I — the first monarch of the House of Hanover. His reign saw the powers of the monarchy diminish and the rise of cabinet government, with Robert Walpole emerging as Br…