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House of Wittelsbach

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House of Wittelsbach
CountryGermany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Greece
Founded1180
FounderOtto I Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria
Current headFranz, Duke of Bavaria
Final rulerLudwig III of Bavaria
TitlesDuke of Bavaria
King of Bavaria
Elector Palatine
Holy Roman Emperor
King of the Romans
King of Denmark
King of Sweden
King of Norway
King of Greece
Estate(s)Bavaria
Dissolution1918
Cadet branchesHouse of Palatinate-Simmern (extinct)

House of Palatinate-Sulzbach (extinct)
House of Palatinate-Neumarkt (extinct)
House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken (extinct)

House of Palatinate-Birkenfeld

The Wittelsbach family is a European royal family and a German dynasty from Bavaria.

Members of the family served as Dukes, Electors and Kings of Bavaria (1180–1918), Counts Palatine of the Rhine (1214–1803 and 1816–1918), Margraves of Brandenburg (1323–1373), Counts of Holland, Hainaut and Zeeland (1345–1432), Elector-Archbishops of Cologne (1583–1761), Dukes of Jülich and Berg (1614–1794/1806), Kings of Sweden (1441–1448 and 1654–1720) and Dukes of Bremen-Verden (1654–1719).

The family also provided two Holy Roman Emperors (1328/1742), one King of the Romans (1400), two Anti-Kings of Bohemia (1619/1742), one King of Hungary (1305), one King of Denmark and Norway (1440) and a King of Greece (1832–1862).

The family's head, since 1996, is Franz, Duke of Bavaria.

Origin

Berthold, Margrave in Bavaria (died 980), was the ancestor of Otto I, Count of Scheyern (died 1072), whose 3rd son Otto II, Count of Dachau acquired the castle of Wittelsbach (near Aichach). The Counts of Scheyern left Burg Scheyern ("Scheyern Castle", constructed in about 940) in 1119 for Burg Wittelsbach ("Wittelsbach Castle").

Count Otto II was the ancestor of the Count palatine of Bavaria Otto IV (died 1156), whose son Otto was invested with the Duchy of Bavaria in 1180 after the fall of Henry the Lion. Duke Otto's son Louis I, Duke of Bavaria acquired also the Palatinate in 1214.

Reign in the Holy Roman Empire

Wittelsbach Coat of Arms: With the Palatinate the Wittelsbach acquired also the lion as heraldic symbol, with the county of Bogen the white and blue coloured lozenge flag was acquired in 1240

The Wittelsbach family was the ruling dynasty of the German territories of Bavaria from 1180 to 1918 and of the Electoral Palatinate from 1214 until 1805; in 1815 the latter territory was partly incorporated as Rhine Palatinate into Bavaria, which was elevated to a kingdom by Napoleon in 1806.

On Duke Otto II's death in 1253, the Wittelsbach possessions were divided between his sons: Henry became Duke of Lower Bavaria, and Louis II Duke of Upper Bavaria and Count Palatine of the Rhine. When Henry's branch died out in 1340 the duchy was reunited under Emperor Louis IV, a son of Duke Louis II.

The family provided two Holy Roman Emperors: Louis IV (1314–1347) and Charles VII (1742–1745), both members of the Bavarian branch of the family, and one German King with Rupert of the Palatinate (1400–1410), a member of the Palatinate branch.

The House of Wittelsbach split into these two branches in 1329: Under the Treaty of Pavia, Emperor Louis IV granted the Palatinate including the Bavarian Upper Palatinate to his brother Duke Rudolf's descendants, Rudolf II, Rupert I and Rupert II. Rudolf I this way became the ancestor of the older (Palatinate) line of the Wittelsbach dynasty, which returned to power also in Bavaria in 1777 after the extinction of the younger (Bavarian) line, the descendants of Louis IV.

Bavarian branch

The Bavarian branch kept the duchy of Bavaria until its extinction in 1777.

The Wittelsbach Emperor Louis IV acquired Brandenburg, Tyrol, Holland and Hainaut for his House but he had also released the Upper Palatinate for the Palatinate branch of the Wittelsbach in 1329. His sons succeeded him as Duke of Bavaria and Count of Holland and Hainaut. So for half a century, from 1323 until 1373, the younger branch of the dynasty also ruled Brandenburg in the north-east of Germany. In the south Tyrol was kept between 1342 and 1363. Between 1345 and 1432, they governed also in Holland, Zeeland and Hainaut in the north-west of the former German Empire. Tyrol was lost with the death of duke Meinhard and the following Peace of Schärding when Tyrol was finally renounced to the Habsburgs in 1369. In 1373 Otto, the last Wittelsbach regent of Brandenburg, released the country to the House of Luxembourg. On Duke Albert's death in 1404, he was succeeded in the Netherlands by his eldest son, William. A younger son, John III, became Bishop of Liège. However, on William's death in 1417, a war of succession broke out between John and William's daughter Jacqueline of Hainaut. This would be the last episode of the Hook and Cod wars and finally place the counties into Burgundian hands in 1432.

Trausnitz Castle of the Bavarian dukes

Emperor Louis IV had reunited Bavaria in 1340 but from 1349 onwards Bavaria was split among the descendants of Louis IV, who created the branches Bavaria-Landshut, Bavaria-Straubing, Bavaria-Ingolstadt and Bavaria-Munich. With the Landshut War of Succession Bavaria was reunited in 1505 against the claim of the Palatinate branch under the Bavarian branch Bavaria-Munich.

The Wittelsbach dominions within the Holy Roman Empire (Bavaria, The Netherlands and Palatinate) AD 1373 are shown as      Wittelsbach, among the houses of      Luxembourg which acquired Brandenburg that year and      Habsburg which had acquired Tyrol in 1369

From 1549 to 1567 the Wittelsbach owned the County of Kladsko in Bohemia. A strict Catholic by upbringing, the Bavarian dukes were leaders of the German Counter-Reformation. From 1583 to 1761, the Bavarian branch of the dynasty provided the Prince-electors and Archbishops of Cologne and many other Bishops of the Holy Roman Empire. Wittelsbach princes served for example as Bishops of Regensburg, Freising, Liege, Münster, Hildesheim, Paderborn and Osnabrück, and as Grand Masters of the Teutonic Order.

In 1623 under Maximilian I the dukes were invested with the electoral dignity. His grandson Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria served also as Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands (1692–1706) and as Duke of Luxembourg (1712–1714). His son Emperor Charles VII was also king of Bohemia (1741–1743). With the death of Charles' son Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria the Bavarian branch died out in 1777.

Palatinate branch

The Palatinate branch kept the Palatinate until 1918 and succeeded also in Bavaria in 1777. With the Golden Bull of 1356 the Counts Palatine were invested with the electoral dignity.

After the death of the Wittelsbach king Rupert of Germany in 1410 began the split of Palatinate lands under numerous branches such as Neumarkt, Simmern, Zweibrücken, Birkenfeld, Neuburg and Sulzbach.

Heidelberg Castle of the Electors of Palatinate

The one of cadet branches of the Palatinate branch kept also the Duchy of Jülich and Berg from 1614 onwards. When the last duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg died without direct heirs in 1609, the War of the Jülich succession broke out, ended by the 1614 Treaty of Xanten, which divided the separate duchies between Palatinate-Neuburg and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. Jülich and Berg fell to the Wittelsbach Count Palatine Wolfgang William of Neuburg.

In 1619, the Protestant Frederick V, Elector Palatine was King of Bohemia but was defeated by the Catholic Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, a member of the Bavarian branch. As a result the Upper Palatinate had to be ceded to the Bavarian branch in 1623. When the Thirty Years' War concluded with the Treaty of Münster (also called the Peace of Westphalia) in 1648, a new additional electorate was created for the Count Palatine of the Rhine. During their exile Frederick sons, namely Prince Rupert of the Rhine, gained fame in England. The house of Palatinate of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg as heir to the Swedish throne ruled simultaneously the duchy of Bremen-Verden (1654–1719).

Also princes of the Palatinate branch served as Bishops of the Empire, also as Elector-Archbishops of Mainz and Elector-Archbishops of Trier.

The Electorate (1778) and the Kingdom of Bavaria (1816)

After the extinction of the Bavarian branch, a succession dispute and the brief War of the Bavarian Succession, the Palatinate branch under Charles Theodore succeeded in Bavaria in 1777.

With the death of Elector Charles Theodore in 1799 all Wittelsbach land in Bavaria and the Palatinate was reunited under Maximilian IV Joseph, a member of the branch Palatinate-Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld. At the time there were two surviving branches of the Wittelsbach family: Zweibrücken (headed by Maximilian Joseph) and Birkenfeld (headed by Count Palatine William). Maximilian Joseph inherited Charles Thedore's title of Elector of Bavaria, while William was compensated with the title of Duke in Bavaria. The form Duke in Bavaria was selected because in 1506 primogeniture had been established in the House of Wittelsbach resulting in there being only one Reigning Duke of Bavaria at any given time. Maximillian Joseph assumed the title of king as Maximilian I Joseph on January 1, 1806. The new king still served as an Prince-elector until the Kingdom of Bavaria left the Holy Roman Empire (1 August 1806).

Under Maximilian's descendants, Bavaria became the third most powerful German state, behind only Prussia and Austria. It was also far and away the most powerful secondary state. When the German Empire was formed in 1871, Bavaria became the new empire's second most powerful state after Prussia. The Wittlesbachs reigned as kings of Bavaria until Ludwig III issued the Anif declaration (German: Anifer Erklärung), Ludwig III on 12 November 1918 at Anif Palace, Austria,[1] in which he released his soldiers and officials from their oath of loyalty to him, ended the 738-year rule of the House of Wittelsbach in Bavaria.[2]

Reign outside the Holy Roman Empire

With Duke Otto III of Lower Bavaria, who was a maternal grandson of Béla IV of Hungary and was elected anti-king of Hungary and Croatia as Bela V (1305–1308) the Wittelsbach dynasty came to power outside the Holy Roman Empire for the first time. Otto abdicated the Hungarian throne already in 1308.

Palatinate branch

Christopher III of the Palatinate branch was king of Denmark, Sweden and Norway in 1440/1442–1448, but he left no descendants. The House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken contributed to the monarchy of Sweden again 1654–1720 under Charles X, Charles XI, Charles XII and Ulrika Eleonora.

The Wittelsbach princess Sophia of Hanover (1630–1714) was the mother of George I of Great Britain; she died as Heiress Presumptive of Great Britain a few weeks before the case of succession. The line of Jacobite succession is currently within the House of Wittelsbach. Franz, Hereditary Prince of Bavaria is recognised by the Jacobites as "Francis II".

The Wittelsbach prince Otto of Bavaria was elected king of newly independent Greece in 1832 and was forced to abdicate in 1862.

Bavarian branch

Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria, Prince of Asturias, a son of Maximilian II Emanuel, was the favored choice of England and the Netherlands to succeed as the ruler of Spain, young Charles II of Spain chose him as his heir. Due to the unexpected death of Joseph Ferdinand in 1699 the Wittelsbach did not come to power in Spain.

Kingdom of Sweden

The Swedish Empire following the Treaty of Roskilde of 1658

Queen Christina of Sweden abdicated her throne on 5 June 1654 in favor of her cousin Charles X Gustavus, a member of the Wittelsbach branch Palatinate-Zweibrücken. It was the second term for the rule of the Wittelsbach in Sweden since already until 1448 Christopher III of the Palatinate branch was king of Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

Sweden reached its largest territorial extent under the rule of Charles X after the treaty of Roskilde in 1658. Charles' son, Charles XI, rebuilt the economy and refitted the army. His legacy to his son, Charles XII, was one of the finest arsenals in the world, a large standing army and a great fleet. Charles XII was a skilled military leader and tactician. However, although he was also skilled as a politician, he was reluctant in making peace. Although Sweden achieved several large scale military successes early on, and won the most battles, the Great Northern War eventually ended in Sweden's defeat and the end of the Swedish Empire. Charles was succeeded to the Swedish throne by his sister, Ulrika Eleonora. Her abdication in 1720 marked the end of the Wittelsbach rule in Sweden.

Kingdom of Greece

Greece in 1843 after independence.

The Wittelsbach Otto I was made the first modern King of Greece in 1832 under the Convention of London, whereby Greece became a new independent kingdom under the protection of the Great Powers (the United Kingdom, France and the Russian Empire). Throughout his reign, Otto faced political challenges concerning Greece's financial weakness and the role of the government in the affairs of the Church. The politics of Greece of this era was based on affiliations with the three Great Powers, and Otto’s ability to maintain the support of the powers was key to his remaining in power. To remain strong, Otto had to play the interests of each of the Great Powers’ Greek adherents against the others, while not aggravating the Great Powers. When Greece was blockaded by the (British) Royal Navy in 1850 and again in 1853, to stop Greece from attacking the Ottoman Empire during the Crimean War, Otto’s standing amongst Greeks suffered. As a result, there was an assassination attempt on the Queen and finally, in 1862, Otto was deposed while in the countryside.

The law of succession to the throne of Greece was defined by a supplementary article to the convention of 7 May 1832 awarding the Greek Throne to Otto I. It instituted a semi-salic order with an important rule prevented the union of the crown on the same head with any other crown, especially that of Bavaria. Under the terms of the succession law, a Wittelsbach claim to the throne would have passed on Otto's death in 1867 to his younger brother Luitpold, who was regent of Bavaria from 1886 to 1912; and after him to Ludwig who became king Ludwig III of Bavaria in 1913. At this point, tracing the claim becomes impossible as the same branch of the Wittelsbach became heir to both thrones, and a subsequent monarch or pretender should have issued a renunciation to one of the two thrones, which none did. In the end, neither Luitpold nor his son Ludwig actively pursued a claim to the Greek throne inherited from Otto I, and the throne of Bavaria itself disappeared in 1918, leaving the future of the claim to be decided by a further arrangement that never occurred.[3]

Major members of the family

Patrilineal descent

Franz's patriline is the line from which he is descended father to son. Patrilineal descent is the principle behind membership in royal houses, as it can be traced back through the generations - which means that Franz’s royal house, the House of Wittelsbach, ultimately originates from the Luitpolding dynasty.

  1. Luitpold, Margrave of Bavaria, d. 907
  2. Arnulf, Duke of Bavaria, d. 937
  3. Berthold of Bavaria, 915–980
  4. Henry I of Schweinfurt, 960–1017
  5. Henry II of Schweinfurt, 1017–1043
  6. Otto I, Count of Scheyern, 1044–1072
  7. Otto II, Count of Scheyern, d. 1108
  8. Otto IV, Count of Wittelsbach, 1083–1156
  9. Otto I Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria, 1117–1183
  10. Louis I, Duke of Bavaria, 1173–1231
  11. Otto II Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria, 1206–1253
  12. Louis II, Duke of Bavaria, 1229–1294
  13. Rudolf I, Duke of Bavaria, 1274–1319
  14. Adolf, Count Palatine of the Rhine, 1300–1327
  15. Rupert II, Elector Palatine, 1325–1398
  16. Rupert of Germany, 1352–1410
  17. Stefan, Count Palatine of Simmern-Zweibrücken, 1385–1459
  18. Louis I, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, 1424–1489
  19. Alexander, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, 1462–1514
  20. Louis II, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, 1502–1532
  21. Wolfgang, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, 1526–1569
  22. Charles I, Count Palatine of Birkenfeld, 1560–1600
  23. Christian I, Count Palatine of Birkenfeld, 1598–1654
  24. Christian II, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, 1637–1717
  25. Christian III, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, 1674–1735
  26. Count Palatine Frederick Michael of Zweibrücken, 1724–1767
  27. Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, 1756–1825
  28. Ludwig I of Bavaria, 1786–1868
  29. Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria, 1821–1912
  30. Ludwig III of Bavaria, 1845–1921
  31. Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria, 1869–1955
  32. Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria, 1905–1996
  33. Franz, Duke of Bavaria, b. 1933

Bavarian branch

Palatinate branch

Several other women in the family are known as Elisabeth of Bavaria.

Family tree

See also

References

  1. ^ Germany: Bavaria: Heads of State: 1806-1918 archontology.org, accessed: 14 June 2008
  2. ^ Manfred Berger (2003). "Rupprecht, Maria Luitpold Ferdinand, Kronprinz von Bayern, Pfalzgraf bei Rhein, Herzog von Bayern, Franken und in Schwaben usw.". In Bautz, Traugott (ed.). Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL) (in German). Vol. 22. Nordhausen: Bautz. cols. 1173–1186. ISBN 3-88309-133-2.
  3. ^ François Velde (30 April 2005). "The Succession Laws of the Greek Monarchy". Heraldica. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
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