Georg I

George I (1776-1855) was the fifth King of Brasland. He was the son of Paul I.

When George was born in 1776, his uncle Frederick III had been king for nine years and had been married for seventeen, without issue. So, in these circumstances, his birth was a great relief to the House of Balkronn, which had no male heirs.

George grew up in Markund with his family. His father was the heir to the throne and, although quite different in character and disposition to his brother the King, was a close advisor to the monarch.

In 1801 he married Archduchess Amalia of Austria, a match arranged by Frederick III, who wanted an alliance with the House of Habsburg. The couple had eleven children: Marie Caroline (born 1802), Maria Theresia (1803-1818), Elisabeth (born and died 1805), George II (born 1806), Maria Pia (1808-1820), Heinrich (born 1809), Otto (born 1810), Clemens (born and died 1812), Marie Antonia (born and died 1814), Louise (born 1816) and Leopoldine (born 1819).

In 1806, King Frederick III died and Prince Paul succeeded the throne. George became Crown Prince and he and his family settled at Reutherhof Palace. Sixteen years later, Paul died and George became King of Brasland.

During George's reign, Parliament gradually became an important institution. While George continued his father's policies modernising Brasland, during his last years of reign civil society was divided between those who supported the absolutist monarchy and those who sought a system similar to the United Kingdom, where there was a constitutional monarchy with limited powers. Tensions in Parliament and in society erupted, and there were demands towards a restriction of the Crown's prerrogatives. In 1852, as the King refused to give up, Parliament passed a law declaring him incompetent to rule, appointing Crown Prince George as Regent. The reluctant prince was forced to assume this position, while his father's health declined due to the shock of the events.

King George I died in 1855, and was succeeded by his son, George II.