George II of Great Britain

Born in northern Germany in 1683, George Augustus inherited the British throne in 1727 through his grandmother's Protestant lineage under the Act of Settlement. He married Princess Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach and had eight children, spending twelve summers in Hanover where he wielded direct control over policy - more than he ever managed in Britain, where Parliament held the reins. His relationship with his eldest son Frederick turned bitter when the prince joined the opposition; Frederick's sudden death in 1751 meant George would be succeeded by his grandson, George III. He survived the last Jacobite uprising in 1745, an attempt by Catholic claimants to seize his crown. He died in 1760, remembered for centuries afterward mainly for his mistresses and temper - until scholars began noticing the foreign policy decisions that had quietly carried his fingerprints all along.