Charles II, Elector Palatine

Charles II, Elector Palatine
Charles II, Elector Palatine
Born	(1651-04-10)10 April 1651 (O.S.: 31 March 1651) Heidelberg
Died	26 May 1685(1685-05-26) (aged 34) Heidelberg
Noble family	Wittelsbach
Spouse(s)	Princess Wilhelmina Ernestine of Denmark
Father	Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine
Mother	Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel

Charles II (German: Karl II.; 10 April 1651, Heidelberg – 26 May 1685, Heidelberg) was Elector Palatine from 1680 to 1685. He was the son of Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine and Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel.

Rule

His short reign was not glamorous. He appointed his incompetent former tutor Paul Hachenberg as chief minister, leaving his half-siblings, the "Raugraves", out of favor. He brought back his mother from Kassel and paid her immense debts. Charles was of a weak and timid nature, marked by familial childhood experiences. He showed a superficial enthusiasm for military life. Charles was a strict Calvinist. In 1671, his aunt, Electress Sophia of Hanover, arranged his marriage to Princess Wilhelmine Ernestine of Denmark, daughter of King Frederick III of Denmark. Their marriage was childless.

Upon his death, the Electoral Palatinate passed to the Catholic Neuburg branch of the family. The rival claims to the Palatinate of his sister, Elizabeth Charlotte, Duchess of Orleans, Louis XIV of France's sister-in-law, was the pretext for the French invasion of the Palatinate in 1688, which began the Nine Years War.

Ancestry

Family of Charles II, Elector Palatine

16. Louis VI, Elector Palatine 8. Frederick IV, Elector Palatine 17. Elisabeth of Hesse 4. Frederick V, Elector Palatine 18. William the Silent (=30) 9. Louise Juliana of Nassau 19. Charlotte of Bourbon (=31) 2. Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine 20. Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley 10. James I, King of England 21. Mary, Queen of Scots 5. Elizabeth of England 22. Frederick II of Denmark 11. Anne of Denmark 23. Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow 1. Charles II, Elector Palatine 24. William IV, Landgrave of Hesse 12. Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel 25. Sabine of Württemberg 6. William V, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel 26. Count John George of Solms-Laubach 13. Agnes of Solms-Laubach 27. Margaret I of Schönburg-Glauchau 3. Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel 28. Philipp Ludwig I, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg 14. Philip Louis II, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg 29. Countess Magdalena of Waldeck 7. Amalie Elisabeth of Hanau-Münzenberg 30. William the Silent (=18) 15. Catharina Belgica of Nassau 31. Charlotte of Bourbon (=19)