THE STRUGGLE FOR POWER 1737–8

Carl Alexander's death was followed by a period of confusion as various groups jostled for power within the duchy. From this situation there emerged a compromise between the regency and the worthies who dominated the estates. This was brought about by the need of both to fight off threats to their positions and solve the politically sensitive question of troop reductions. In this compromise the regency government traded political protection to the worthies for their final recognition of the army's permanence and the estates' obligation to fund it. In many ways this represented the achievement of the aim of the dukes over the last forty years. However, as Carl Eugen was to find out after he achieved his majority in 1744, the framework of this compromise prevented any further expansion of ducal power in the manner attempted by Carl Alexander. In order to understand how this compromise came about and how it affected the duchy's political structure, we need to analyse the respective positions of the various groups in Württemberg in 1737.

Carl Eugen was a mere nine years old when his father died. According to the late duke's will, direction of affairs was entrusted to a tripartite junta of his Catholic wife, Maria Augusta, his friend and adviser Friedrich Carl von Schönborn (1674–1746), bishop of Bamberg and Würzburg and his uncle, Carl Rudolph von Württemberg-Neuenstadt.