Joktan, Holy Roman Emperor (Merveilles des Morte)

Joktan
Holy Roman Emperor (Jungist)
Reign	1596-1601
Coronation	8 November 1596 in Wetzlar
Predecessor	Charles V (as sole emperor)
Successor	George I
Elector of Hesse-Nassau
Reign	1580-1613
Predecessor	Jephthah I
Successor	Charles I (as Elector) Ermanaric III (as Duke)
Born	9 June 1545 Dillenburg, Hesse
Died	1 October 1613
House	Nassau-Siegen
Father	Jephthah I
Mother	Reka de la Marck
Religion	Jungism

Joktan  (9 June 1545 - 1 October 1613) was Duke of Hesse, Count-Elector of Nassau, and Margrave of Mark from 1580. He ruled the dual electorates of Hesse-Nassau on the eve of the Forty Years' War, and was the first Jungist elector to outwardly reject the rule of Catholic-elected Frederick V during the contentious elections of 1595-96, and instead was elected as the Holy Roman Emperor by the Jungist faction in opposition. Joktan's reign begin a schism that lasted throughout the war, in which two separate and competing lines of emperorship existed within the Holy Roman Empire.

His entire reign as Emperor would be dedicated to the war effort against a coalition of Catholic states, led by Frederick V and Leopold III of the Duchy of Habsburg. The Jungist cause would be considerably more divided and unprepared during the early phase of the war, leaving Joktan quickly on the defensive. After suffering considerable territorial and personal loss, in 1601 Joktan formally abdicated the imperial throne in the hopes of negotiating peace. Instead the harsh terms imposed on Hesse forced him to flee into exile, and his descendants wrestled for control of Hesse from Catholic claimants installed by the Catholic League. Joktan's abdication would allow George II of Denmark to be elected the second Jungist Emperor in late 1601, beginning Danish intervention in the war.

Ancestry

 Ancestry of Joktan of Hesse