Ernest Louis, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt

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Ernest Louis
Portrait of Ernst Ludwig by Johann Christian Fiedler
Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt
Reign	31 August 1678 – 12 September 1739
Predecessor	Louis VII
Successor	Louis VIII
Born	15 December 1667 Gotha
Died	12 September 1739(1739-09-12) (aged 71) Jägersburg Castle, Einhausen
Spouse	Dorothea Charlotte of Brandenburg-Ansbach ​ ​ (m. 1687; died 1705)​ Luise Sophie von Spiegel zum Desenberg ​ ​ (m. 1727)​
Issue	Dorothea Sophie Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt Charles William Francis Ernest Friederike Charlotte
House	Hesse-Darmstadt
Father	Louis VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt
Mother	Elisabeth Dorothea of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg

Ernest Louis of Hesse-Darmstadt (German: Ernst Ludwig) (15 December 1667 – 12 September 1739) was Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt from 1678 to 1739. His parents were Landgrave Louis VI of Hesse-Darmstadt and Elisabeth Dorothea of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1640–1709).

Ernest Louis's desire to emulate the French court under Louis XIV ran his country into debt. Among those patronized in this cultural milieu were the Baroque composer Christoph Graupner and the gambist Ernst Christian Hesse; also bringing into his service architect Louis Remy de la Fosse for his extensive building program. Upon his death in 1739, his country's debt was 4 million gulden, ten times the annual revenue.^[1]