A palatinate is a territory administered by a count palatine, originally the direct representative of the sovereign, but later the hereditary ruler of the territory subject to the crown's overlordship. This article discusses the historical territory of the Holy Roman Empire, known as the Palatinate of the Rhine or Electoral Palatinate (German: Pfalzgrafschaft bei Rhein, Kurpfalz). Graf is a German noble title equal in rank to a count or an earl. ... A monarch (see sovereign) is a type of ruler or head of state. ... For the scientific journal Heredity see Heredity (journal) Heredity (the adjective is hereditary) is the transfer of characters from parent to offspring, either through their genes or through the social institution called inheritance (for example, a title of nobility is passed from individual to individual according to relevant customs and... The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (German: Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation ▶(?), Latin Sacrum Romanum Imperium Nationis Germanicae, see names and designations of the empire) was a political conglomeration of lands in Central Europe in the Middle Ages and the early modern period. ...

For other palatinates see Palatinate (disambiguation). Palatinate or Pfalz (German) can refer to: the Palatinate or Electoral Palatinate (German: Kurpfalz), a historic state within the Holy Roman Empire. ...

The historical Electoral Palatinate was a much larger territory than that which later became known as the Rhenish Palatinate (Rheinpfalz), on the left bank of the Rhine. The Electoral Palatinate also included territory that lay on the right bank of the Rhine, containing the cities of Heidelberg and Mannheim. The Rhenish Palatinate (German: Rheinpfalz) or Lower Palatinate (Niederpfalz) occupies rather more than a quarter of the German Bundesland (federal state) of Rhineland-Palatinate Rheinland-Pfalz) and contains the towns of Ludwigshafen, Kaiserslautern, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, Pirmasens, Landau, and Speyer. ... Heidelberg (halfway between Stuttgart and Frankfurt) is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. ... Basic information Country: Germany Federal state: Land Baden-Württemberg Regions: Rhein-Neckar District: Independent municipality Population: 324,787 (Mai 2005) Additional information Area: 144. ...

History

The Palatinate emerged from the County Palatine of Lotharingia, which came into existence in the 10th century. During the 11th century it was dominated by the Ezzonian dynasty, who governed several counties on both banks of the Rhine. From about 1085/1086, after the death of the last Ezzonian palatine count, Herman II of Lotharingia (+1085), the Palatinate lost its military importance in Lotharingia. The territorial authority of the count palatine was reduced to his counties along the Rhine, from then on called County Palatine of the Rhine.

In the early 13th century, the territory fell to the Wittelsbach Dukes of Bavaria, who were also count palatine of Bavaria. During a later division of territory among the heirs of Duke Louis II of Upper Bavaria in 1294, the elder branch of the Wittelsbachs came into possession of both the Rhenish Palatinate and the Bavarian Palatinate (Upper Bavaria, which was north of the Danube, and also called the Upper Palatinate (Oberpfalz), in contrast to the Lower Palatinate along the Rhine). The Wittelsbach family is a European royal family and a German dynasty from Bavaria. ...

In the Golden Bull of 1356, the Palatinate was made one of the secular electorates, and given the hereditary offices of Archsteward of the Empire and Imperial Vicar of the western half of Germany. From this time forth, the Count Palatine of the Rhine was usually known as the Elector Palatine. The Golden Bull of 1356 issued by Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV. A Golden Bull or chrysobull was a golden ornament representing a seal (a bulla aurea or golden seal in Latin), attached to a decree issued by monarchs in Europe and the Byzantine Empire during the Middle Ages and... Events January 20 - Edward Balliol surrenders title as King of Scotland to Edward III of England April 16 — the King of the Serbian Kingdom of RaÅ¡ka Stefan DuÅ¡an is proclaimed Tsar (Emperor) of all Serbs, Arbanasses and Greeks in Skopje by the Serbian Orthodox Christian Patriarch of a... The prince-electors or electoral princes of the Holy Roman Empire — German: Kurfürst (singular) Kurfürsten (plural) — were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Emperors of Germany. ...

Due to the practice of division of territories among different branches of the family, by the early 16th century junior lines of the Palatine Wittelsbachs came to rule in Simmern, Kaiserslautern, and Zweibrücken in the Lower Palatinate, and in Neuburg and Sulzbach in the Upper Palatinate. The Elector Palatine, now based in Heidelberg, converted to Lutheranism in the 1530s. Simmern (pronounced zi-MANN), town in Germany in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate and seat of the Simmern enclave of the Rhein-Hunsrück district or Kreis. ... Kaiserslautern is a town in the south of the Land Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. ... Zweibrücken is a city of Germany in Rhineland-Palatinate, on the Schwarzbach River at the border of the Palatine Forest. ... Neuburg can refer to: Neuburg an der Donau, a town which is the administrative seat of the Neuburg-Schrobenhausen district, in the state of Bavaria, Germany Neuburg-Schrobenhausen, a district in the state of Bavaria in Germany The Count Palatine of Neuburg — see Palatinate This is a disambiguation page — a... Heidelberg (halfway between Stuttgart and Frankfurt) is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. ...

When the senior branch of the family died out in 1559, the Electorate passed to Frederick III of Simmern, a staunch Calvinist, and the Palatinate became one of the major centers of Calvinism in Europe, supporting Calvinist rebellions in both the Netherlands and France. Frederick III's grandson, Frederick IV, and his adviser, Christian of Anhalt, founded the Evangelical Union of Protestant states in 1608. In 1619 Elector Frederick V (the "Winter King") (the son-in-law of King James I of England) accepted the throne of Bohemia from rebellious Protestant noblemen. He was soon defeated by the forces of Emperor Ferdinand II at the Battle of White Mountain in 1620, and Spanish and Bavarian troops soon occupied the Palatinate itself. In 1623, Frederick was put under the ban of the Empire, and his territories and Electoral dignity granted to the Duke (now Elector) of Bavaria, Maximilian I. Events January 15 - Elizabeth I of England is crowned in Westminster Abbey. ... In an unadorned church, the 17th century congregation stands to hear the sermon. ... Frederick IV, Elector Palatine of the Rhine (March 5, 1574-September 19, 1610), only surviving son of Louis VI, Elector Palatine, called Frederick the Righteous (in German, Friedrich Der Aufrichtige; in French Frédéric IV le juste). ... Christian of Anhalt (1568–1630) Christian of Anhalt, 1568–1630, prince of Anhalt (1603–30). ... The Protestant Union or Evangelical Union was a coalition of Protestant German states that formed in the 1600s. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... Events March 18 - Sissinios formally crowned Emperor of Ethiopia May 14 - Protestant Union founded in Auhausen. ... Events May 13 - Dutch statesman Johan van Oldenbarnevelt is executed in The Hague after having been accused of treason. ... Frederick is also called the Winter King of Bohemia because he reigned for less than three winter months in 1620 after he was installed by a rebellious Protestant faction. ... James VI of Scotland and James I of England and Ireland (occasionally known as King James the Vain) (Charles James) (19 June 1566–27 March 1625) was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland. ... Bohemia This article is about the historical region in central Europe; for other uses, see Bohemia (disambiguation). ... Categories: People stubs | Holy Roman emperors | Rulers of Austria | Rulers of Styria | Hungarian monarchs | Bohemian monarchs | Dukes of Carinthia | 1578 births | 1637 deaths ... The Battle of White Mountain, November 8, 1620 (Bílá hora is the name of White Mountain in Czech) was an early battle in the Thirty Years War in which an army of 20,000 Bohemians and mercenaries under Christian of Anhalt were routed by 25,000 men of the... Events September 6 - English emigrants on the Mayflower depart from Plymouth, England for the future New England and arrive at the end of the year. ... Maximilian I, Elector and Duke of Bavaria and his second wife, Maria Anna of Austria Maximilian I, Elector and Duke of Bavaria (17 April 1573 – 27 September 1651), called the Great,, was a Wittelsbach ruler of Bavaria and an prince-elector (Kurfürst) of the Holy Roman Empire. ...

By the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, Frederick V's son, Charles Louis, was restored to the Lower Palatinate, and given a new electoral title, but the Upper Palatinate and the senior electoral title remained with the Bavarian line. In 1685, the Simmern line died out, and the Palatinate was inherited by Philip William, Count Palatine of Neuburg ( and who was also Duke of Jülich and Berg), a Catholic. The Neuburg line, which moved the capital from Heidelberg to Mannheim in 1720, lasted until 1742, when it, too, became extinct, and the Palatinate was inherited by Duke Karl Theodor of Sulzbach. The childless Karl Theodor also inherited Bavaria when its electoral line became extinct in 1777. His heir, Maximilian Joseph, Duke of Zweibrücken (on the French border), brought all the Wittelsbach territories under a single rule in 1799. The Palatinate was dissolved in the Wars of the French Revolution - first its left bank territories were occupied, and then annexed, by France starting in 1795, and then, in 1803, its right bank territories were taken by the Margrave of Baden. In 1806, Baden was raised to a Grand Duchy. The Ratification of the Treaty of Münster by Gerard Terborch (1648) Banquet of the Amsterdam Civic Guard in Celebration of the Peace of Münster by Bartholomeus van der Helst, 1648 The Peace of Westphalia, also known as the Treaties of Münster and Osnabrück, refers to the... // Events Peace treaty signed at Westphalia ends the Thirty Years War. ... Karl I Ludwig, Elector Palatine (22 December 1617 - 28 August 1680) was the second son of Friedrich V, the Winter King, and his wife, Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of King James I of England. ... Events February 6 - James Stuart, Duke of York becomes King James II of England and Ireland and King James VII of Scotland. ... Philipp Wilhelm of Neuburg, Elector Palatine (24 November 1615 - 2 September 1690), was Count Palatine of Neuburg and Duke of Jülich and Berg from 1653 to 1690. ... The Duchy of Jülich was a state of the Holy Roman Empire in present Germany (part of North Rhine-Westphalia) and the Netherlands (part of Limburg). ... Berg was a medieval territory in todays North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... Basic information Country: Germany Federal state: Land Baden-Württemberg Regions: Rhein-Neckar District: Independent municipality Population: 324,787 (Mai 2005) Additional information Area: 144. ... // Events January 6 - The Committee of Inquiry on the South Sea Bubble publishes its findings February 11 - Sweden and Prussia sign the (2nd Treaty of Stockholm) declaring peace. ... // Events January 24 - Charles VII Albert becomes Holy Roman Emperor. ... Karl Theodor Karl Theodor (born in 1724) reigned as Elector and Prince of the Palatinate from 1742 until his death 1799, and also as Duke of Bavaria from 1777 (until his death in 1799). ... The Free State of Bavaria  (German: Freistaat Bayern), with an area of 70,553 km² (27,241 square miles) and 12. ... 1777 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Maximilian I Joseph, King of Bavaria. ... 1799 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1795 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1803 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... For other uses, see Baden (disambiguation). ... 1806 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... A grand duchy is a form of principality, monarchy which has a Grand Duke or a Grand Duchess as head of state. ...

At the Congress of Vienna in 1814 and 1815, the Left Bank Palatinate was returned to the Wittelsbachs and became a formal part of the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1816 (to the displeasure of most Palatines, it should be noted here), and after this time, it was this region that was principally known as the Palatinate. The area remained a part of Bavaria until after the Second World War, when it was separated and became a part of the new state of Rhineland-Palatinate, along with former left bank territories of Prussia and Hesse-Darmstadt. This article does not cite its references or sources. ... 1814 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... The Battle of New Orleans 1815 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1816 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... The Rhenish Palatinate (Rheinpfalz, sometimes Lower Palatinate or Niederpfalz) occupies rather more than a quarter of the German Bundesland (federal state) of Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz) and contains the towns of Ludwigshafen, Kaiserslautern, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, Pirmasens, Landau and Speyer. ... The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Prussia, 1701-1918 The word Prussia (German: Preußen, Polish: Prusy, Lithuanian: Prūsai, Latin: Borussia) has had various (often contradictory) meanings: The land of the Baltic Prussians (in what is now parts of southern Lithuania, the Kaliningrad exclave of Russia and... The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt came into existence in 1568, as the portion of George, youngest of the four sons of Landgrave Philipp of Hesse. ...

Counts Palatine of Lotharingia, 915–1085

• Wigeric of Lotharingia, count of the Bidgau (abt. 915/916–922)
• Godfrey, count of the Jülichgau (abt.940)
• Hermann I of Lotharingia 945–994
• Ezzo of Lotharingia 994–1034
• Otto I of Lotharingia, 1034–1045 (Duke of Swabia 1045–1047)
• Heinrich I of Lotharingia 1045–1061
• Hermann II of Lotharingia 1061–1085 (between 1061–1064 in tutelage to Archbishop Anno II of Cologne)

Ezzo or Ehrenfried (c. ...

Counts Palatine of the Rhine, 1085–1356

• Heinrich II of Laach 1085–1095
• Sigfried of Ballenstadt 1095–1113
• Gottfried of Kalw 1113–1129
• Wilhelm of Ballenstadt 1129–1139
• Henry IV Jasomirgott 1139–1142
• Hermann III of Stahleck 1142–1155
• Conrad of Hohenstaufen 1156–1195
• Henry V of Welf 1195–1211
• Henry VI of Welf 1211–1214

House of Wittelsbach, also dukes of Bavaria Heinrich (Henry) II, (born 1107, died January 13, 1177), Count Palatine of the Rhine 1140-1141, Margrave of Austria from 1141 to 1156, Duke of Bavaria from 1143 to 1156, Duke of Austria 1156-1177, was a prince from the dynasty of Babenberg. ... The Wittelsbach family is a European royal family and a German dynasty from Bavaria. ... The Free State of Bavaria  (German: Freistaat Bayern), with an area of 70,553 km² (27,241 square miles) and 12. ...

• Louis I 1214–1227
• Otto II 1227–1253
• Louis II 1253–1294
• Rudolf I 1294–1317
• Adolf 1317–1327
• Rudolf II 1327–1353
• Rupert I 1353–1356

Duke Louis I of Bavaria was born 23 December 1173 in Kehlheim and died 15 September 1231 in Kehlheim. ... Duke Otto II of Bavaria was born 7 April 1206 in Kehlheim and died 29 November 1253 in Landshut. ... Duke Louis II of Bavaria (born 13 April 1229 in Heidelberg; died 2 February 1294 in Heidelberg) (German: Ludwig II der Strenge , Herzog von Bayern, Pfalzgraf bei Rhein), from 1253 Duke of Bavaria and Count Palatine of the Rhine (see Palatinate). ... Duke Rudolf I of Bavaria (born October 4, 1274 in Basle; died August 12, 1319, (German: Rudolf I , Herzog von Bayern, Pfalzgraf bei Rhein), since 1294 Duke of Bavaria and Count Palatinate. ...

Electors Palatine, 1356–1803

• Rupert I 1356–1390
• Rupert II 1390–1398
• Rupert III 1398–1410
• Louis III 1410–1436
• Louis IV 1436–1449
• Frederick I 1449–1476
• Philip 1476–1508
• Louis V 1508–1544
• Frederick II 1544–1556
• Otto Henry 1556–1559

House of Palatinate-Simmern Rupert of the house of Wittelsbach (1352 - 1410) succeeded his father Rupert II as Rupert III, Count Palatine of the Rhine (see Palatinate) and one of the foremost rulers in western Germany in 1398. ...

• Frederick III 1559–1576
• Louis VI 1576–1583
• Frederick IV 1583–1610
• Frederick V 1610–1623

House of Bavaria Frederick IV, Elector Palatine of the Rhine (March 5, 1574-September 19, 1610), only surviving son of Louis VI, Elector Palatine, called Frederick the Righteous (in German, Friedrich Der Aufrichtige; in French Frédéric IV le juste). ... Frederick is also called the Winter King of Bohemia because he reigned for less than three winter months in 1620 after he was installed by a rebellious Protestant faction. ...

• Maximilian I of Bavaria 1623–1648

House of Palatinate-Simmern (restored) Maximilian I, Elector and Duke of Bavaria and his second wife, Maria Anna of Austria Maximilian I, Elector and Duke of Bavaria (17 April 1573 – 27 September 1651), called the Great,, was a Wittelsbach ruler of Bavaria and an prince-elector (Kurfürst) of the Holy Roman Empire. ...

• Charles I Louis 1648–1680
• Charles II 1680–1685

House of Palatinate-Neuburg Karl I Ludwig, Elector Palatine (22 December 1617 - 28 August 1680) was the second son of Friedrich V, the Winter King, and his wife, Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of King James I of England. ... Karl II, Elector Palatine (31 March 1651 - 26 May 1685) was Elector Palatine from 1680 to 1685. ...

• Philip William 1685–1690
• John William II 1690–1716
• Charles III Philip 1716–1742

House of Palatinate-Sulzbach Philipp Wilhelm of Neuburg, Elector Palatine (24 November 1615 - 2 September 1690), was Count Palatine of Neuburg and Duke of Jülich and Berg from 1653 to 1690. ... Johann Wilhelm II, Elector Palatine, also known as Johann Wilhelm von Pfalz-Neuburg, (April 19, 1658 – June 8, 1716) was Elector Palatine (1690-1716), Duke Palatine of Neuburg/Danube (1690-1716), Duke of Jülich and Berg (1679-1716), and Duke of Oberpfalz and Cham (1707-1714). ... Karl III Philip, Elector Palatine (November 4, 1661 in Neuburg – December 31, 1742 in Mannheim) was also Duke of Jülich and Berg. ...

• Charles IV Theodor (also Elector of Bavaria from 1777) 1742–1799

House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken Karl Theodor (born in 1724) reigned as Duke of Bavaria from 1777 until his death in 1799. ... The Free State of Bavaria  (German: Freistaat Bayern), with an area of 70,553 km² (27,241 square miles) and 12. ...

• Maximilian Joseph 1799–1803 (d.1825)

Maximilian I Joseph, King of Bavaria. ...

External links

• Heidelberg and the Palatine elaborate information on history and architecture illustrated with many pictures