August 25, 1845: Birth of Ludwig II, King of Bavaria

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Duchess Sophie in Bavaria, Duke in Bavaria, German Empire, Herrenchiemsee, House of Wittelsbach, King Ludwig II of Bavaria, King Maximilian II of Bavaria, Linderhof Palace, Marie of Prussia, Neuschwanstein Castle, Richard Wagner

Ludwig II (August 25, 1845 – June 13, 1886) was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He is sometimes called the Swan King or the Fairy Tale King. He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria, Duke of Franconia, and Duke in Swabia.

Early life

Born at Nymphenburg Palace (located in what is today part of central Munich), he was the elder son of Maximilian II of Bavaria and Marie of Prussia, Crown Prince and Princess of Bavaria, who became King and Queen in 1848 after the abdication of the former’s father, Ludwig I, during the German Revolution.

His mother, Marie of Prussia, was the daughter of Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, a younger brother of King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia, and his wife, Landgravine Marie Anna of Hesse-Homburg.

In her youth, Marie was seriously considered as a wife for Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, (elder brother of Prince Albert , husband of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom) until her engagement to Maximilian was announced.

Ludwig II, King of Bavaria

His parents intended to name him Otto, but his grandfather insisted that his grandson be named after him, since their common birthday, August 25, is the feast day of Saint Louis IX of France, patron saint of Bavaria (with “Ludwig” being the German form of “Louis”). His full name was Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm. His younger brother, born three years later, was named Otto.

Like many young heirs in an age when kings governed most of Europe, Ludwig was continually reminded of his royal status. King Maximilian II wanted to instruct both of his sons in the burdens of royal duty from an early age. Ludwig was both extremely indulged and severely controlled by his tutors and subjected to a strict regimen of study and exercise. Some point to these stresses of growing up in a royal family as the causes for much of his odd behavior as an adult.

Ludwig was not close to either of his parents. King Maximilian’s advisers had suggested that on his daily walks he might like, at times, to be accompanied by his future successor. The King replied, “But what am I to say to him? After all, my son takes no interest in what other people tell him.” Later, Ludwig would refer to his mother as “my predecessor’s consort”. He was far closer to his grandfather, the deposed and notorious King Ludwig I.

Marie of Prussia, mother of Ludwig II, King of Bavaria

Ludwig ascended to the throne in 1864 at the age of 18. Two years later, Bavaria and Austria fought a war against Prussia lasting only a matter of weeks, which they lost. However, in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, Bavaria sided with Prussia in their successful war against France.

Despite Ludwig’s reluctance to support the Unification of Germany, Bavaria and 21 other monarchies became part of the new German Empire with Wilhelm I, the King of Prussia and Ludwig’s cousin, as the German Emperor. Bavaria retained a large degree of autonomy within the Empire under the new Imperial Constitution.

The greatest stress of Ludwig’s early reign was pressure to produce an heir. This issue came to the forefront in 1867. Ludwig became engaged to Duchess Sophie in Bavaria, his cousin and the youngest sister of his dear friend, Empress Elisabeth of Austria, wife of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary.

Duchess Sophie in Bavaria was a daughter of Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria and Princess Ludovika of Bavaria. The ninth of ten children born to her parents, she was known as Sopherl within the family.

King Ludwig II of Bavaria and his fiancé Duchess Sophie in Bavaria

Princess Ludovika of Bavaria was the sixth child of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and his second wife, Caroline of Baden, and the mother of Empress Elisabeth of Austria.

Maximilian Joseph, Duke in Bavaria, was born at Bamberg, the only son of Duke Pius August in Bavaria (1786–1837) and his wife, Princess Amélie Louise of Arenberg (1789-1823).

Duke in Bavaria

After the Landshut War of Succession primogeniture was established in the House of Wittelsbach and therefore there could only be one Duke of Bavaria anymore, resulting in the actually quite unprecedented decision to create a title of Duke in Bavaria for the rest of the family, which all members of the House took for themselves, even the older Palatine branch – the other major Wittelsbach possession.

King Ludwig II and Duchess Sophie shared a deep interest in the works of Wagner. The engagement was announced on January 22, 1867; a few days earlier, Ludwig had written Sophie, “The main substance of our relationship has always been … Richard Wagner’s remarkable and deeply moving destiny.” Ludwig repeatedly postponed the wedding date, and finally cancelled the engagement in October.

Duchess Sophie in Bavaria

After the engagement was broken off, Ludwig wrote to his former fiancée, “My beloved Elsa! Your cruel father has torn us apart. Eternally yours, Heinrich.” (The names Elsa and Heinrich came from characters in Wagner’s opera Lohengrin.) Sophie later married Prince Ferdinand, Duke of Alençon, grandson of French King Louis Philippe I, at Possenhofen Castle at which Ludwig II unexpectedly attended the reception.

Ludwig never married nor had any known mistresses. His diary, private letters, and other documents reveal his strong homosexual desires, which he struggled to suppress to remain true to the teachings of the Catholic Church. Homosexuality had not been punishable in Bavaria since 1813, but the unification of Germany under Prussian hegemony in 1871 instated Paragraph 175, which criminalized homosexual acts between males.

Throughout his reign, Ludwig had a succession of close friendships with men, including his aide-de-camp the Bavarian prince Paul von Thurn und Taxis, his chief equerry and master of the horse, Richard Hornig, the Hungarian theater actor Josef Kainz, and courtier Alfons Weber. Letters from Ludwig reveal that the quartermaster of the royal stables, Karl Hesselschwerdt, acted as his male procurer.

Ludwig’s original diaries from 1869 onward were lost during World War II, and all that remain today are copies of entries made during the 1886 plot to depose him. Some earlier diaries have survived in the Geheimes Hausarchiv (‘secret archives’) in Munich, and extracts starting in 1858 were published by Evers in 1986.

Linderhof Palace (my personal favorite)

Ludwig increasingly withdrew from day-to-day affairs of state in favour of extravagant artistic and architectural projects. He commissioned the construction of lavish palaces: Neuschwanstein Castle, Linderhof Palace and Herrenchiemsee. He was also a devoted patron of the composer Richard Wagner.

Ludwig spent all his own private royal revenues (although not state funds as is commonly thought) on these projects, borrowed extensively, and defied all attempts by his ministers to restrain him. This extravagance was used against him to declare him insane, an accusation that has since come under scrutiny.

Ludwig was taken into custody and effectively deposed on June 12, 1886, and he and his doctor were found dead on the following day. His death was ruled to be a suicide but this too has been disputed. Today, his architectural and artistic legacy includes many of Bavaria’s most important tourist attractions.

June 6, 1654: Abdication of Queen Christina of Sweden. Part I

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Abdication, Holy Roman Empire, House of Hohenzollern, House of Vasa, House of Wittelsbach, King Gustaf II Adolph of Sweden, Maria Eleonora of Prussia, Queen Christina of Sweden, Thirty Years War

Christina (December 18, 1626 – April 19, 1689), a member of the House of Vasa, was Queen of Sweden from 1632 until her abdication in 1654. She succeeded her father Gustaf II Adolph upon his death at the Battle of Lützen in 1632, but began ruling the Swedish Empire when she reached the age of eighteen in 1644.

Christina was born in the royal castle Tre Kronor. Her parents were the Swedish king Gustaf II Adolph and his German wife, Maria Eleonorana of the House of Hohenzollern and a daughter of Johann Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg, and Anna, Duchess of Prussia, daughter of Albrecht Friedrich, Duke of Prussia.

In 1620, Maria Eleonora married Gustaf II Adolph with her mother’s consent, but against the will of her brother Georg Wilhelm, Elector of Brandenburg.

They had already had three children: two daughters (a stillborn princess in 1621, then the first Princess Christina, who was born in 1623 and died the following year) and a stilborn son in May 1625.

Excited expectations surrounded Maria Eleonora’s fourth pregnancy in 1626. When the baby was born, it was first thought to be a boy as it was “hairy” and screamed “with a strong, hoarse voice.”

She later wrote in her autobiography that, “Deep embarrassment spread among the women when they discovered their mistake.” The king, though, was very happy, stating, “She’ll be clever, she has made fools of us all!” From most accounts, Gustaf II Adolph appears to have been closely attached to his daughter, and she appears to have admired him greatly.

The Crown of Sweden was hereditary in the House of Vasa, but from King Carl IX’s time onward (reigned 1604–11), it excluded Vasa princes descended from a deposed brother (Eric XIV of Sweden) and a deposed nephew (Sigismund III of Poland). Gusta II Adolph’s legitimate younger brothers had died years earlier.

The one legitimate female left, his half-sister Catharine, came to be excluded in 1615 when she married a non-Lutheran. So Christina became the undisputed heir presumptive. From Christina’s birth, King Gustaf II Adolph recognized her eligibility even as a female heir, and although called “queen”, the official title she held as of her coronation by the Riksdag in February 1633 was king.

Before Gustaf II Adolph left for the Holy Roman Empire to defend Protestantism in the Thirty Years’ War, he secured his daughter’s right to inherit the throne, in case he never returned, and gave orders to Axel Gustafsson Banér, his marshal, that Christina should receive an education of the type normally only afforded to boys.

Christina was educated as a royal male would have been. The theologian Johannes Matthiae Gothus became her tutor; he gave her lessons in religion, philosophy, Greek and Latin. Chancellor Oxenstierna taught her politics and discussed Tacitus with her. Oxenstierna wrote proudly of the 14-year-old girl that, “She is not at all like a female” and that she had “a bright intelligence”. Christina seemed happy to study ten hours a day. Besides Swedish she learned at least seven other languages: German, Dutch, Danish, French, Italian, Arabic and Hebrew.

Already at the age of nine Christina was impressed by the Catholic religion and the merits of celibacy. She read a biography on the virgin queen Elizabeth I of England with interest. Christina understood that it was expected of her to provide an heir to the Swedish throne.

Her first cousin Carl Gustaf of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg was infatuated with her, and they became secretly engaged before he left in 1642 to serve in the Swedish army in the Holy Roman Empire for three years.

Carl Gustaf was the son of the Johann Casimir, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg of the Bavarian Wittelsbach family and Catherine of Sweden. Catherine of Sweden was the daughter of King Cark IX of Sweden and his first spouse Maria of the Palatinate-Simmern (also a member of the Wittelsbach family).

Christina revealed in her autobiography that she felt “an insurmountable distaste for marriage” and “for all the things that females talked about and did.” She once stated, “It takes more courage to marry than to go to war.

On February 26, 1649, Christina announced that she had decided not to marry and instead wanted her first cousin Carl to be heir to the throne. While the nobility objected to this, the three other estates – clergy, burghers, and peasants – accepted it. The coronation took place on October 22, 1650.

March 7, 1550: Death of Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria

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Albrecht V of Bavaria, Bishop of Rome, Counter Reformation, Duke Ludwig X of Bavaria, Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria, Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich III, House of Wittelsbach, Philipp of Baden, Pope Clement VII

Wilhelm IV (November 13, 1493 – March 7, 1550) was Duke of Bavaria from 1508 to 1550, until 1545 together with his younger brother Ludwig X, Duke of Bavaria. He was born in Munich to Albrecht IV and Archduchess Kunigunde of Austria, a daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich III and his wife Infanta Eleanor of Portugal.

Though his father had determined the everlasting succession of the firstborn prince in 1506, his younger brother Ludwig refused a spiritual career with the argument that he was born before the edict became valid.

With support of his mother and the States-General, Ludwig forced Wilhelm to accept him as co-regent in 1516. Ludwig then ruled the districts of Landshut and Straubing, in general in concord with his brother.

Wilhelm initially sympathized with the Reformation but changed his mind as it grew more popular in Bavaria.

In 1522 Wilhelm issued the first Bavarian religion mandate, banning the promulgation of Martin Luther’s works. After an agreement with Pope Clement VII in 1524 Wilhelm became a political leader of the German Counter Reformation, although he remained in opposition to the Habsburgs since his brother Ludwig X claimed the Bohemian crown.

Both dukes also suppressed the peasant uprising in South Germany in an alliance with the archbishop of Salzburg in 1525.

The conflict with the Habsburgs ended in 1534 when both dukes reached an agreement with Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I in Linz. Wilheln then supported Charles V in his war against the Schmalkaldic League in 1546, but however he did not succeed in preserving the Palatine electoral dignity. Wilhelm’s chancellor for 35 years was the forceful Leonhard von Eck.

On April 23, 1516, before a committee consisting of gentry and knights in Ingolstadt, Wilhelm issued his famous purity regulation for the brewing of Bavarian Beer, stating that only barley, hops, and water could be used. This regulation remained in force until it was abolished as a binding obligation in 1986 by Paneuropean regulations of the European Union.

In 1522 Wilhelm IV married his cousin Princess Maria Jacobäa of Baden,(1507–1580), a daughter of Margrave Philipp I of Baden and his consort Princess Elisabeth of the Palatinate. Princess Elizabeth of the Palatinate was a daughter of the elector Philipp (1448–1508) from his marriage to Margaret of Bavaria (1456–1501), daughter of Duke Ludwig IX of Bavaria-Landshut.

In 1523 with the appointment of Ludwig Senfl began the rise of the Bavarian State Orchestra. Of particular importance is the Eckbibel Johann Eck wrote on behalf of Wilhelm, a biblical translation from 1537, which is theologically directly against Luther and therefore belongs to the Catholic correction bibles. It is also significant in terms of linguistics because it is not written in the East German Saxon, but in Bavarian Upper German.

Wilhelm IV was a significant collector and commissioner of art. Among other works he commissioned an important suite of paintings from various artists, including the Battle of Issus by Albrecht Altdorfer.

This, like most of Wilhelm IV’s collection, is now housed in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. With his order to expand the Neuveste with the so-called Rundstubenbau and to set up the first Court Garden began the history of the Munich Residenz as a representative palace.

To the history cycle of the garden pavilion belonged Albrecht Altdorfer’s painting. In 1546, he and his son Albrecht V ordered the construction of Dachau Palace from a Gothic ruin into a Renaissance style four-winged palace with a court garden which later became the favored residence of the rulers of Bavaria.

Wilhelm IV died in 1550 in Munich and was succeeded by his son Albrecht V. He is buried in the Frauenkirche in Munich.

November 13, 1797: Birth of Princess Caroline of Baden

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Caroline of Baden, Elector of Bavaria, Emperor Franz II, Emperor Franz-Joseph of Austria, Holy Roman Empire, House of Wittelsbach, Kingdom of Bavaria, Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, Queen of Bavaria, Twins

Caroline of Baden (July 13, 1776 – November 13, 1841) was by marriage an Electress of Bavaria and later the first Queen consort of Bavaria by marriage to Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria.

Early life

Caroline of Baden was the eldest child of Charles Ludwig, Hereditary Prince of Baden, and his wife Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt, the daughter of Ludwig IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and Henriette Caroline of Palatine-Zweibrücken. Caroline was born July 13, 1776, twin sister of Catharina Amalie Christiane Luise of Baden.

Caroline of Baden, Queen of Bavaria

Caroline was considered as a bride for Louis Antoine Henri de Bourbon, Duke of Enghien, but the fear of attracting opposition from France made her family hesitate.

Marriage

On March 9, 1797, in Karlsruhe, she became the second spouse of Maximilian, Duke of Palatine-Zweibrücken from 1795 to 1799. Two years later would inherit the Electorate of Bavaria and became Prince-Elector as Maximilian IV Joseph from 1799 to 1806. He was a member of the House of Palatinate-Birkenfeld-Zweibrücken, a branch of the House of Wittelsbach.

Maximilian’s first wife was Princess Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt, daughter of Prince Georg Wilhelm of Hesse-Darmstadt. They were married on September 30, 1785 in Darmstadt. In March 1796 Augusta Wilhelmine, who had always had delicate lungs, finally succumbed and died at Rohrbach. She was buried in the Schlosskirche in Darmstadt.

As a result of the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the rank of Elector became obsolete, and the ruler of Bavaria was promoted to the rank of King. As a result, Caroline became Queen of Bavaria. Caroline had seven children with her husband, including two pairs of twins, an interesting occurrence considering Caroline was also a twin herself.

Caroline was allowed to keep her Protestant religion and had her own Protestant pastor, which was unique for a Bavarian queen. She was described as a very dignified consort and hostess of the Bavarian court and raised her daughters to have a strong sense of duty.

Death and funeral

Caroline of Baden died November 13, 1841, outliving her husband by sixteen years and one month. Due to her Protestant religion, her funeral was conducted with so little royal dignity that there were public protests.

By order of the Catholic archbishop of Munich, Lothar Anselm von Gebsattel, all participating Catholic clergy were dressed in ordinary clothes instead of church vestments. The Protestant clergy were halted at the church door and not allowed to proceed inside for the service, so Ludwig Friedrich Schmidt gave the funeral sermon there.

Afterward, the funeral procession dissipated, and the coffin was placed in the burial crypt without ceremony. This treatment of his beloved stepmother permanently softened the attitude of Caroline’s stepson King Ludwig I of Bavaria, who up until that time had been a strong opponent of Protestantism despite his marriage to the Protestant Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen.

One of Caroline’s daughters was Princess Sophie of Bavaria (January 27, 1805 – May 28, 1872) Sophie was the identical twin sister of Princess Maria Anna of Bavaria, Queen of Saxony as wife of Friedrich August II of Saxony.

Sophie was said to be her father’s favorite daughter although she was more attached to her mother, Caroline, whom she loved dearly. Sophie adored her twin sister Maria Anna and was very close to all her sisters.

On November 4, 1824, Sophie married Archduke Franz Charles of Austria. Her paternal half-sister, Caroline Augusta of Bavaria, had married the groom’s widowed father, the last Holy Roman Emperor, Franz II, in 1816. Sophie and Franz Charles had six children, among them were, her eldest son Franz Joseph who reigned as Emperor of Austria, and King of Hungary; her second son was Maximilian briefly reigned as Emperor of Mexico.

Princess Elizabeth Stuart of England, Scotland and Ireland, Queen of Bohemia. Part II.

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Bavaria, Elizabeth Stuart, Frederick V of the Rhine, Holy Roman Empire, House of Wittelsbach, Prince-Elector, Princess of England, Scotland and Ireland

The man chosen for Elizabeth was Friedrich V, Count Palatine of the Rhine. Friedrich was of undeniably high lineage. His ancestors included the kings of Aragon and Sicily, the landgraves of Hesse, the dukes of Brabant and Saxony, and the counts of Nassau and Leuven. He and Elizabeth also shared a common ancestor in Henry II of England. He was “a senior Prince of the Empire” and a staunch defender of the Protestant faith.

Here is some background information on Friedrich and how the two became to be betrothed. He was an intellectual, a mystic, and a Calvinist. He was responsible for the construction of the famous Hortus Palatinus gardens in Heidelberg.

On September 19, 1610, Friedrich’s father, Friedrich IV, Prince-Elector of the Palatinate, died from “extravagant living”; his son being 14 years old at the time. Under the terms of the Golden Bull of 1356, Friedrich’s closest male relative would serve as his guardian and as regent of the Palatinate until Friedrich reached the age of majority.

However, his nearest male relative, Wolfgang Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg, was a Catholic, so, shortly before his death, Friedrich IV had named another Wittelsbach relative, Johann II, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, as his son’s guardian. Friedrich V welcomed Johann to Heidelberg, whereas Wolfgang Wilhelm was denied entry. This led to a heated dispute among the princes of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1613, Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor intervened in the dispute, with the result being that Friedrich V was able to begin his personal rule in the Palatinate even though he was still underage.

Friedrich IV’s marriage policy had been designed to solidify the Palatinate’s position within the Reformed camp in Europe. Two of Friedrich V’s sisters were married to leading Protestant princes: his sister Luise Juliane to his one-time guardian Johann II, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, and his sister Elizabeth Charlotte to Georg Wilhelm, Elector of Brandenburg. Friedrich IV had hoped that his daughter Katharina would marry the future Gustavus II Adolphus of Sweden, although this never came to pass.

In keeping with his father’s policy, Friedrich V sought a marriage to Elizabeth Stuart of England. James had initially considered marrying Elizabeth to Louis XIII of France, but these plans were rejected by his advisors. Friedrich’s advisors in the Palatinate were worried that if Elizabeth were married to a Catholic prince, this would upset the confessional balance of Europe, and they were thus resolved that she should marry Frederick V. Hans Meinhard von Schönberg, who had served as Frederick V’s Hofmeister since his return to Heidelberg, was sent to London to court the princess in spring 1612. After intense negotiations, a marriage contract was signed on May 26, 1612.

Courtship

Friedrich arrived in England on October 16, 1612, and the match seemed to please them both from the beginning. Their contemporaries noted how Friedrich seemed to “delight in nothing but her company and conversation”. Friedrich also struck up a friendship with Elizabeth’s elder brother, Prince Henry, which delighted his prospective bride immensely.

King James did not take into consideration the couple’s happiness, but saw the match as “one step in a larger process of achieving domestic and European concord”. The only person seemingly unhappy with the match was Elizabeth’s mother Queen Anne (born a princessof Denmark). As the daughter of a king, the sister of a king, the wife of a king, and the mother of a future king, Queen Anne also desired to be the mother of a queen. She is said to have been somewhat fond of Friedrich mild manner and generous nature but simply felt that he was of too low of stock.

On November 6, 1612 Henry, Prince of Wales, died. His death took an emotional toll on Elizabeth, and her new position as second in line to the throne made her an even more desirable match. Queen Anne and those like-minded who had “always considered Friedrich of the Rhine to be an unworthy match for her, were emboldened in their opposition”. Elizabeth stood by Friedrich, whom her brother had approved, and whom she found to have the sentiments of a fine gentleman. Above all, he was “regarded as the future head of the Protestant interest in Germany.

The wedding took place on February 14, 1613 at the royal chapel at the Palace of Whitehall and was a grand occasion that saw more royalty than ever visit the court of England. The marriage was an enormously popular match and was the occasion for an outpouring of public affection with the ceremony described as “a wonder of ceremonial and magnificence even for that extravagant age”.

It was celebrated with lavish and sophisticated festivities both in London and Heidelberg, including mass feasts and lavish furnishings that cost nearly £50,000, and nearly bankrupted King James. Among many celebratory writings of the events was John Donne’s “Epithalamion, Or Marriage Song on the Lady Elizabeth, and Count Palatine being married on St Valentine’s Day”. A contemporary author viewed the whole marriage as a prestigious event that saw England “lend her rarest gem, to enrich the Rhine”.

Electress Palatine

After almost a two-month stay in London for continued celebrations, the couple began their journey to join the Electoral court in Heidelberg. The journey was filled with meeting people, sampling foods and wines, and being entertained by a wide variety of performers and companies. At each place the young couple stopped, Elizabeth was expected to distribute presents. The cash to allow her to do so was not readily available, so she had to use one of her own jewels as collateral so that the goldsmith Abraham Harderet would “provide her with suitable presents on credit.

Her arrival in Heidelberg was seen as “the crowning achievement of a policy which tried to give the Palatinate a central place in international politics” and was long anticipated and welcomed. Elizabeth’s new husband transformed his seat at Heidelberg Castle, creating between 1610 and 1613 the Englischer Bau (i.e., English Building) for her, a monkey-house, a menagerie, and the beginnings of a new garden in the Italian Renaissance garden style popular in England at the time. The garden, the Hortus Palatinus, was constructed by Elizabeth’s former tutor, Salomon de Caus. It was dubbed the “Eighth Wonder of the World” by contemporaries.

Although Elizabeth and Friedrich were considered to be genuinely in love and remained a romantic couple throughout the course of their marriage, problems already had begun to arise. Before the couple had left England, King James had made Friedrich promise that Elizabeth “would take precedence over his mother, of Louise Juliana of Orange-Nassau, the daughter of Willem I the Silent, Prince of Orange, and Charlotte de Bourbon-Montpensier. James further had Friedrich promise his daughter would always be treated as if she were a Queen”. This at times made life in the Palatinate uncomfortable for Elizabeth, as Friedrich’s mother Louise Juliana had “not expected to be demoted in favour of her young daughter-in-law” and, as such, their relationship was never more than cordial.

Issue:

Elizabeth gave birth to three children in Heidelberg, Heinrich Friedrich, Hereditary Prince of the Palatinate, was born in 1614, Charles Ludwig in 1617, (the future Prince-Elector Palatine of the Rhine) and Elisabeth in 1619.

The rest of the children born to Friedrich and Elizabeth were:

Prince Rupert, Duke of Cumberland (fought with his uncle King Charles I of England in the English Civil Wars)
Prince Maurice
Louise Hollandine, Abbess of Maubuisson
Prince Ludwig
Prince Eduard, Count Palatine of Simmern
Princess Henriette Marie
Prince Philipp Friedrich
Princess Charlotte
Sophia, Electress of Hanover (mother of King George I of Great Britain)
Prince Gustavus Adolphus

September 28, 1322: Battle of Mühldorf.

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Battle of Müldorf, Electoral Collage, Frederick I of Austria, Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV, House of Habsburg, House of Luxembourg, House of Wittelsbach, Imperial Elector, John the Blind of Bohemia

From The Emperor’s Desk: I generally am not too interested in wars and battles but this was an important battle in the History of the Holy Roman Empire.

The Battle of Mühldorf (also Battle of Ampfing) was fought near Mühldorf am Inn on September 28, 1322 between the Duchy of (Upper) Bavaria and Austria. The Bavarians were led by the Holy Roman Emperor Ludwig IV of the Bavarian House of Wittelsbach, while the Austrians were under the command of his cousin, Friedrich the Fair from the House of Habsburg, was Duke of Austria and Styria from 1308 as Friedrich I as well as King of Germany (King of the Romans) from 1314 (anti-king until 1325) as Friedrich III until his death.

picture: Friedrich I of Austria

Background

The early 14th century had the powerful dynasties of Habsburg, Luxembourg, and Wittelsbach rivaling for the rule over the Holy Roman Empire, while the Prince-Electors were anxious not to allow one noble family to install their dynasty permanently turning the Holy Roman Empire into a hereditary monarchy.

After the death of Emperor Heinrich VII of the House of Luxembourg in 1313, the Electoral Collage denied the succession of his son Johann, (1296 – 1346) who was the Count of Luxembourg from 1313 and King of Bohemia from 1310 and titular King of Poland.

Instead the Electoral Collage accorded its favor to Ludwig of Wittelsbach and Friedrich of Habsburg, but were split over the question of whom to choose. I’ve already mentioned the credentials of Friedrich the Fair, here is some background on Ludwig of Wittelsbach.

He was the son of Ludwig II, Duke of Upper Bavaria and Count Palatine of the Rhine, and Matilda of Austria, a daughter of King Rudolph I of Germany, of the House of Habsburg. Ludwig (III) was Duke of Upper Bavaria from 1294/1301 together with his elder brother Rudolf I, served as Margrave of Brandenburg until 1323, and as Count Palatine of the Rhine until 1329, and he became Duke of Lower Bavaria.

Therefore, because the Electoral Collage was split in 1314, a double election took place at Frankfurt. Cologne, the Electorate of the Palatinate, Bohemia, and the Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg voted for Friedrich of Habsburg as Rex Romanorum.

Mainz, Archbishopric of Trier, Brandenburg and Elector Johann II of Saxe-Lauenburg (whose electoral dignity was denied by their Saxe-Wittenberg cousins) adopted Ludwig of Bavaria.

The draw resulted in a protracted conflict with violent fights, in which both sides tried to gain the support of the Imperial estates. In addition, Ludwig had to settle the domestic dispute with his brother Count Palatine Rudolf I (who had voted against him), which finally ended with Rudolf’s death in 1319.

Meanwhile, Friedrich continued his campaigns into Bavaria, devastating Ludwig’s’ duchy several times without meeting much resistance.

The battle

In 1322, Friedrich, encouraged by his previous expeditions, allied with the Bishop of Passau and the Salzburg Archbishopric. Their armed forces met on September 24 near Mühldorf on the Inn River, where Friedrich expected the arrival of further troops from Further Austria, led by his brother Leopold.

The battle did not go well for the Austrians. Ludwig had forged an alliance with King Johann of Bohemia and Burggrave Friedrich IV of Nuremberg (of the House of Hohenzollern) and on September 28 reached Mühldorf with a sizable army, including 1,800 knights and 500-600 mounted Hungarian archers.

Meanwhile, Leopold’s relief troops were barred from reaching the battlefield in time. Despite this unfavorable situation Friedrich agreed to meet Ludwig’s knights at once.

Friedrich’s army was defeated by Ludwig’s army outnumbering forces under high losses on both sides. More than 1,000 noblemen from Austria and Salzburg were captured, as was Friedrich himself and his younger brother, Heinrich the Friendly.

Aftermath

Though Emperor Ludwig IV had prevailed, his Imperial title remained contested, especially by Pope John XXII and Friedrich’s brother Leopold, who remained a fierce opponent.

After three years Emperor Ludwig IV had to release Friedrich from captivity and reconcile with him, even offering him a joint rule and the Rex Romanorum title in return for his support to receive the Imperial crown.

Neither the House of Wittelsbach nor the Habsburgs were able to defend their claims to the royal title, which after Ludwig IV’svdeath in 1347 again passed to Charles IV from the House of Luxembourg.

Birth of Albert IV of Austria. House of Babenburg and Habsburg

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Duke Albert IV of Austria, House of Babenburg, House of Habsburg, House of Wittelsbach, King Richard I of England, Leopold V of Austria, Luitpoldings, Robertians, The Second Crusade

Albert IV of Austria (19 September 1377 – 14 September 1404) was a Duke of Austria.

He was born in Vienna, the son of Albert III of Austria and Beatrix of Nuremberg. He was the Duke of Austria from 1395 until 1404, which then included roughly today’s Lower Austria and most of Upper Austria, as the other Habsburg dominions were at that time ruled by his relatives of the Leopoldinian Line of the family.

Albert’s rule was characterized by quarrels with that part of his family and with members of the Luxemburg dynasty, Wenceslaus and Sigismund.

Albert died at Klosterneuburg, Lower Austria, in 1404. He is buried in the Ducal Crypt in the Stephansdom in Vienna. He was succeeded by his son Albert. Through his maternal grandmother, Elisabeth of Meissen, Albert IV descended from Babenberg dukes of Austria.

He was married in Vienna 24 April 1390 to Joanna Sophia of Bavaria, daughter of Albrecht I, Duke of Bavaria-Straubing and Margarete of Brieg.

I have not mentioned the House of Babenburg on this blog and since Albert IV of the House of Habsburg brings the blood of the House of Babenburg back into Austria, I’ll give some basic information on this Royal House.

House of Babenberg

The House of Babenberg was a noble dynasty of Austrian margraves and dukes. Originally from Bamberg in the Duchy of Franconia (present-day Bavaria), the Babenbergs ruled the Imperial Margraviate of Austria from its creation in 976 AD until its elevation to a duchy in 1156, and from then until the extinction of the line in 1246, whereafter they were succeeded by the House of Habsburg.

The Babenberg family can be broken down into two distinct groups: 1) The Franconian Babenbergs, the so-called Elder House of Babenberg, whose name refers to Babenburg Castle, the present site of Bamberg Cathedral. Also called Popponids after their progenitor Count Poppo of Grapfeld (d. 839-41), they were related to the Frankish Robertian dynasty and ancestors of the Franconian Counts of Henneberg and of Schweinfurt.

The aforementioned Robertians, (sometimes called the Robertines in modern scholarship), are the proposed Frankish family which was ancestral to the Capetian dynasty, and thus to the royal families of France and of many other countries.

2) The Austrian Babenbergs, descendants of Margrave Leopold I, who ruled Austria from 976 onwards. This second group claimed to have originated from the first, however, scholars have not been able to verify that claim. This branch of the House of Babenburg is theorized to be connected to the The Luitpoldings who were a medieval dynasty which ruled the German stem duchy of Bavaria from some time in the late ninth century off and on until 985. The Babenburg and Luitpoldings May have an affiliation with the Bavarian House of Wittelsbach is possible though not proven.

Leopold V (1157 – 1194), was Duke of Austria from 1177 and Duke of Styria from 1192 until his death. He was a member of the House of Babenberg and was the Austrian Duke who captured King Richard I of England and held him for ransom after the Second Crusade.

The Babenbergs and the Habsburgs

The next dynasty in Austria—the Habsburgs—were originally not descendants of the Babenbergs. It was not until the children of Albert I of Germany that the Babenberg blood was brought into the Habsburg line, though this blood was from the pre-ducal Babenbergs. A side effect of this marriage was the use of the Babenberg name Leopold by the Habsburgs for one of their sons.

The Habsburgs did eventually gain descent from the Babenberg dukes, though at different times. The first Habsburg line to be descended from the Babenbergs was the Albertine line. This was achieved through the marriage of Albert III, Duke of Austria to Beatrix of Nuremberg. As such, their son, Albert IV, Duke of Austria, was the first Habsburg duke who was descended from the Babenberg dukes. However, the male line of that branch of the Habsburgs died out in 1457 with Ladislas V Posthumus of Bohemia.

The next Habsburg line to gain Babenberg blood was the Styrian line, which occurred with the children of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary, the latter of whom descended from Babenberg dukes. It was actually from Elizabeth of Austria, the sister of Ladislas V Posthumus of Bohemia, that the Styrian line gained their Babenberg blood.

The Spanish line was the last Habsburg line to gain Babenberg blood. Again it was via the previous Habsburg line to gain Babenberg blood (i.e. the Styrian) that the Spanish Habsburg gained their descent from the Babenbergs — Anna of Austria, the wife of Felipe II of Spain and mother of Philip (from whom all subsequent Spanish Habsburgs were descended), was a male-line granddaughter of Ferdinand and Anna. As a result, after 1598, all Habsburg scions descended from the Babenberg Dukes.

August 26, 1596: Birth of Friedrich V, King of Bohemia.

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Elizabeth Stuart, Frederick V of Bohemia, Frederick V of the Rhine, House of Habsburg, House of Wittelsbach, king James I-VI of England and Scotland, Sophia of the Rhine (Electress Sophia), Thirty Years War

Friedrich V. (August 26, 1596 – November 29, 1632) was the Elector Palatine of the Rhine in the Holy Roman Empire from 1610 to 1623, and reigned as King of Bohemia from 1619 to 1620. He was forced to abdicate both roles, and the brevity of his reign in Bohemia earned him the derisive sobriquet “the Winter King”.

Friedrich V was born at the Jagdschloss Deinschwang (a hunting lodge) near Amberg in the Upper Palatinate. He was the son of Friedrich IV and of Louise Juliana of Orange-Nassau, the daughter of Willem I the Silent Prince of Orange and Charlotte de Bourbon-Montpensier. An intellectual, a mystic, and a Calvinist, he succeeded his father as Prince-Elector of the Rhenish Palatinate in 1610. He was responsible for the construction of the famous Hortus Palatinus gardens in Heidelberg.

Friedrich IV’s marriage policy had been designed to solidify the Palatinate’s position within the Reformed camp in Europe. Two of Frederick V’s sisters were married to leading Protestant princes: his sister Luise Juliane to his one-time guardian Johann II, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, and his sister Elizabeth Charlotte to Georg Wilhelm, Elector of Brandenburg. Friedrich IV had hoped that his daughter Katharina would marry the future King Gustaf II Adolph of Sweden, although this never came to pass.

In keeping with his father’s policy, Friedrich V sought a marriage to Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of James I-VI of England and Scotland. James had initially considered marrying Elizabeth to Louis XIII of France, but these plans were rejected by his advisors. Friedrich’s advisors in the Palatinate were worried that if Elizabeth were married to a Catholic prince, this would upset the confessional balance of Europe, and they were thus resolved that she should marry Friedrich V.

Hans Meinhard von Schönberg, who had served as Friedrich V’s Hofmeister since his return to Heidelberg, was sent to London to court the princess in spring 1612. After intense negotiations, a marriage contract was signed on May 26, 1612, over the objection of her mother, Queen Anne.

Friedrich V travelled to London to collect his bride, landing on English soil on October 16, 1612. Friedrich and Elizabeth, who had previously corresponded in French, now met each other for the first time, and got on well together. They were formally engaged in January 1613 and married on February 14, 1613 at the royal chapel at the Palace of Whitehall.

In 1618 the largely Protestant estates of Bohemia rebelled against their Catholic King Ferdinand, triggering the outbreak of the Thirty Years’ War. Friedrich was asked to assume the crown of Bohemia. He accepted the offer and was crowned on 4 November 1619, as Friedrich I. The estates chose Friedrich since he was the leader of the Protestant Union, a military alliance founded by his father, and hoped for the support of Friedrich’s father-in-law, James I- VI of England and Scotland.

However, James opposed the takeover of Bohemia from the Habsburgs and Friedrich’s allies in the Protestant Union failed to support him militarily by signing the Treaty of Ulm (1620). His brief reign as King of Bohemia ended with his defeat at the Battle of White Mountain on 8 November 1620 – a year and four days after his coronation.

After the battle, the Imperial forces invaded Friedrich’s Palatine lands and he had to flee to his uncle Prince Maurice, Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic in 1622. An Imperial edict formally deprived him of the Palatinate in 1623. He lived the rest of his life in exile with his wife and family, mostly at The Hague, and died in Mainz in 1632.

His eldest surviving son Charles I Ludwig, Elector Palatine, returned to power in 1648 with the end of the war. Another son was Prince Rupert of the Rhine, one of the most colourful figures of his time. His daughter Princess Sophia was eventually named heiress presumptive to the British throne, and is the founder of the Hanoverian line of kings.

July 11, 1662: Birth of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria

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Elector of Bavaria, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, House of Wittelsbach, King Carlos II of Spain, Maximilian II Emanuel of Bavaria, Prince Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria, War of the Spanish Succession

Maximilian II Emanuel (July 11, 1662 – February 26, 1726), also known as Max Emanuel or Maximilian Emanuel, was a Wittelsbach ruler of Bavaria and a Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire. He was also the last governor of the Spanish Netherlands and Duke of Luxembourg. An able soldier, his ambition led to conflicts that limited his ultimate dynastic achievements. By virtue of his electoral title, the Elector of Bavaria was a member of the Council of Electors in the Imperial Diet as well as Archsteward of the Holy Roman Empire.

Maximilian II Emanuel, Prince-Imperial Elector of Bavaria

He was born in Munich to Ferdinand-Maria, Elector of Bavaria and Princess Henriette-Adelaide of Savoy (d.1676). His maternal grandparents were Victor-Amadeus I of Savoy and Christine Marie of France, daughter of King Henri IV.

Maximilian II Emanuel inherited the elector’s mantle while still a minor in 1679 and remained under his uncle Maximilian-Philipp’s regency until 1680. By 1683 he was already embarked on a military career, fighting in the defence of Vienna against the attempt of the Ottoman Empire to extend their possessions further into Europe.

He returned to court for long enough to marry Archduchess Maria-Antonia of Austria, (Maria Antonia Josepha Benedicta Rosalia Petronella; January 18, 1669 – December 24, 1692) daughter of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor and Infanta Margaret-Theresa of Spain. She was the heir to the Spanish throne after her maternal uncle Carlos II of Spain from 1673 until her death.

The birth of Archduchess Maria-Antonia of Austria was the result of the inbreeding chronic in the Habsburg family during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Her father Leopold was her mother’s maternal uncle and paternal first cousin once removed. Also, her maternal grandparents, King Felipe IV of Spain and Queen Mariana, were uncle and niece.

Archduchess Maria-Antonia of Austria

The marriage between Elector Maximilian II Emanuel and Archduchess Maria-Antonia of Austria occurred on July 15, 1685 in Vienna, Austria. This marriage was very unhappy since the couple disliked each other, but it was successful in producing the desired heir for both Bavaria and the Spanish monarchy. Maximilian II Emanuel’s fame was assured when, in 1688, he led the capture of Belgrade from the Turks, with the full support of Serbian insurgents under the command of Jovan Monasterlija.

In the War of the Grand Alliance he again fought on the Habsburgs’ side, protecting the Rhine frontier, and, being the Emperor’s son-in-law and the husband of the King of Spain’s niece, was appointed governor of the Spanish Netherlands in late 1691.

Maximilian II Emanuel, by virtue of his marriage to Archduchess Maria-Antonia, the sole child of Emperor Leopold I’d Spanish marriage, was one of the more serious claimants to the Spanish inheritance of Carlos II of Spain, and the birth of his son Joseph-Ferdinand in October 1692 immediately created a new pretender to the Spanish throne.

In October 1698, William III of England and Louis XIV of France concluded the First Partition Treaty, which gave the Spanish crown with the Indies to Joseph-Ferdinand, Milan to Emperor Joseph’s younger son Archduke Charles, and the rest of Spanish Italy to France.

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor

The unexpected death of Joseph-Ferdinand four months later voided this plan and in the Second Partition Treaty, the Bavarian portion of the inheritance was allotted to Archduke Charles. By the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1701, Maximilian II Emanuel, who had long-term imperial aspirations, had hoped that his governorship of the Spanish Netherlands might yet reap the reward of a share of the Spanish inheritance from either Leopold or, failing him, Louis XIV. Allying himself with the French against Austria, his campaign against Tyrol in 1703 did not have success and his plans were then frustrated by the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Blenheim in 1704.

Elector Maximilian II Emanuel was again forced to flee the Netherlands after the Battle of Ramillies on May 23, 1706 and found refuge at the French court in Versailles where his late sister Archduchess Maria-Anna (1660–1690) had been the wife of Prince Louis, the Grand Dauphin.

Back in Bavaria, Maximilian II Emanuel focused on architecture projects to balance the failure of his political ambitions. It was bitter for him to witness the royal elevation of the German princes Augustus II the Strong of Saxony became King of Poland (1697), Elector Friedrich III of Brandenburg became King Friedrich I in Prussia (1701) and Elector Georg-Ludwig of Hanover became King George I of Great Britain and Ireland 1714) as well as of his cousin Victor-Amadeus II of Savoy became the King of Sardinia (1713) while his own political dreams could not be realized.

Maximilian II Emanuel supported the new wars of the Habsburg against the Turks with Bavarian auxiliary forces (1717). In 1724 he created a union of all lines of the Wittelsbach dynasty to increase the influence of his house. The Wittelsbach Prince-Elector Maximilian II Emanuel, his son Clemens-August of Cologne, Charles III Philipp, Elector Palatine of the Rhine and Franz-Ludwig of Trier had at that time four votes at their disposal for the next imperial election.

Theresa Kunegunda Sobieska of Poland

Maximilian II Emanuel second marriage was to Theresa Kunegunda (Polish: Teresa Kunegunda Sobieska, German: Kurfürstin Therese Kunigunde) (March 4, 1676 – March 10, 1730) was a Polish princess, She also served as Regent of the Palatinate in 1704–05.

She was a daughter of John III Sobieski King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania and Marie Casimire Louise de La Grange d’Arquien. Theresa was baptized in Jaworow on July 19, 1676, having for godfather Charles II, king of England and for godmother Marie-Thérèse of Austria, wife of Louis XIV.

The crown of the Holy Roman Empire was sought for either Maximilian II Emanuel or his son Charles-Albert. Already in 1722 Charles-Albert had been married to the Habsburg princess Archduchess Maria-Amalia of Austria. Charles-Albert was elected Holy Roman Emperor as Charles VII (1697-1745) in 1742. A member of the House of Wittelsbach, as the son of Maximilian II Emanuel, Charles VII’s reign marked the end of three centuries of uninterrupted Habsburg imperial rule.

Charles VII Albert, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles VII was, however, related to the Habsburgs both by blood and by marriage. After the death of emperor Charles VI in 1740 he claimed the Archduchy of Austria due to his marriage to Archduchess Maria-Amalia of Austria, the niece of Charles VI, and was from 1741 to 1743 as Charles III briefly King of Bohemia.

In 1726, Maximilian II Emanuel died of a stroke. He is buried in the crypt of the Theatinerkirche in Munich.

July 7, 1528: Birth of Archduchess Anna of Austria, Duchess consort of Bavaria.

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Albert V of Bavaria, Archduchess Anna of Austria, Archduke of Austria, Archduke of Austria and Johanna, Barbara, Catherine, Charles II, Duchess consort of Bavaria, Duchess of Ferrara, Duchess of Mantua, Duchess of Tuscany, Eleanor, Elizabeth, Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, House of Habsburg, House of Wittelsbach, Maximilian II, Queen of Poland

Archduchess Anna of Austria (July 7, 1528 – October 16, 1590), was a member of the Imperial House of Habsburg, and she was Duchess of Bavaria from 1550 until 1579, by her marriage with Duke Albrecht V.

Born at the Bohemian court in Prague, Anna was the third of fifteen children of King Ferdinand I (1503–1564) from his marriage with the Jagiellonian princess Anna of Bohemia and Hungary (1503–1547). Her siblings included: Elizabeth, Queen of Poland, Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria, Catherine, Queen of Poland, Eleanor, Duchess of Mantua, Barbara, Duchess of Ferrara, Charles II, Archduke of Austria and Johanna, Duchess of Tuscany.

Archduchess Anna of Austria

Anna’s paternal grandparents were King Felipe I of Castile and his wife Queen Joanna I. Her maternal grandparents were King Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary and his third wife Anne de Foix.

Life

Young Anna was engaged several times as a child, first to Prince Theodor of Bavaria (1526–1534), the eldest son of Duke Wilhelm IV, then to Charles d’Orléans (1522–1545). However, both died at a young age.

Anna finally married on July 4, 1546 in Regensburg at the age of 17, Duke Albrecht V of Bavaria the younger brother of her first fiancé. Duke Albrecht V of Bavaria (1528-1579) was Duke of Bavaria from 1550 until his death. He was born in Munich to Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria and Princess Maria Jacobäa of Baden.

The wedding gift was 50,000 Guilder. This marriage was part of a web of alliances in which her uncle Emperor Charles V hoped to secure Duke Wilhelm IV’s support before embarking on the Schmalkaldic Wars. Indeed, Duke Wilhelm IV, though he remained formally neutral, granted the passage of Imperial troops to march against the forces of the Schmalkaldic League which besieged the Ingolstadt fortress.

Albrecht V, Duke of Bavaria

After their marriage, the young couple lived at the Trausnitz Castle in Landshut, until Albrecht became duke upon his father’s death on March 7, 1550. At the Munich Residenz, Anna and Albrecht had great influence on the spiritual life in the Duchy of Bavaria, and enhanced the reputation of Munich as a city of art, by founding several museums and laying the foundations for the Bavarian State Library.

Anna and Albrecht were also patrons to the painter Hans Muelich and the Franco-Flemish composer Orlande de Lassus. In 1552, the duke commissioned an inventory of the jewelry in the couple’s possession. The resulting manuscript, still held by the Bavarian State Library, was the Jewel Book of the Duchess Anna of Bavaria (“Kleinodienbuch der Herzogin Anna von Bayern“), and contains 110 drawings by Hans Muelich.

A religious woman, Anna made extensive donations to the Catholic abbey of Vadstena in Sweden and generously supported the Franciscan Order. She also provided a strict education of her grandson, the later Elector Maximilian I of Bavaria.

When her husband died on October 24, 1579 and was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, Wilhelm V, Anna as Dowager Duchess maintained her own court at the Munich Residenz. 150 years after her death in 1590, her descendant Elector Charles I of Bavaria used her marriage treaty with Albrecht as a pretext to claim the Austrian and Bohemian crown lands of the Habsburg Monarchy.