Maximilian Emanuel of Württemberg-Winnental

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Maximilian Emanuel of Württemberg-Winnental (February 27, 1689 – September 25, 1709) was a German noble who served as a volunteer in King Charles XII of Sweden’s army during the Great Northern War. The son of Frederick Charles and Eleonore Juliane of Brandenburg-Ansbach, he was nicknamed the “Little Prince” for his youth in the army. At 14 he joined Charles XII’s Polish campaign before the Battle of Pułtusk. On June 18, 1708, he was wounded at the Berezina while shielding the king, but recovered to fight at Holowczyn. He later became colonel of Buchwald’s Dragoons. At the Battle of Poltava he was captured by the Russians and released soon after. He died on the way home in Dubno, Volhynia. Charles XII mourned him as his best and truest friend. His heart was buried at St. Gumbertus Church in Ansbach.