Electoral Palatinate

This article is about the former country. For other uses, seePalatinate.

"Kurpfalz" redirects here. For the modern area, seeKurpfalz (region).

Electorate of the Palatinate Kurfürstentum Pfalz(German) Kurferschdendom Palz(Palatine German)
1085–1803
Top: Flag until 1776 Bottom: Flag design of 1604 Electoral arms (1356–1803)
Map of the districts of the western part of Palatinate-Bavaria around 1789: 1: Frankenthal, 2: Mannheim, 3, 17: Heidelberg, 4: Alzey, 5: Bacharach, 6: Germersheim, 7: Kreuznach, 8: Neustadt, 9: Lautern, 10: Lauterecken, 11: Oppenheim, 12: Simmern, 13: Stromberg, 14: Veldenz, 15: Boxberg, 16: Bretten, 18: Ladenburg, 19: Lindenfels, 20: Mosbach, 21: Otzberg, 22: Umstadt
Territory of the Electoral Palatinate in 1618, prior to theThirty Years' War
Status	Stateof theHoly Roman Empire
Capital	Heidelberg (1085–1690) Düsseldorf (1690–1720) Mannheim (1720–1803) 49°30′N8°01′E
Common languages	German Palatine German
Religion	Population:Roman Catholic(to 1556),Lutheran(1556–1563) andCalvinist(from 1563). Elector: Catholic (to 1530s, from 1685), Lutheran (1530s–1559, 1575–1583), Calvinist (1559–1575, 1583–1685).
Government	Hereditary monarchy
Elector
• 1085–1095	Henry of Laach(first)
• 1799–1803	Maximilian Joseph(last)
Historical era	Middle Ages Renaissance
• Demotion of the Count Palatine ofLotharingia	1085
•Confirmed as Electorate	10 January 1356
•Peace of Westphalia	15 May – 24 October 1648
• Subsumed byBavaria	30 December 1777
•Treaty of Lunéville	9 February 1801
•AnnexedbyBaden	27 April 1803
Preceded by Succeeded by Rhenish Franconia Margraviate of the Nordgau Bohemian Palatinate Palatinate-Sulzbach Palatinate-Neuburg Electorate of Baden Mont-Tonnerre Electorate of Bavaria
Today part of	Germany France

TheElectoral Palatinate(German:Kurpfalz) or thePalatinate(Pfalz), officially theElectorate of the Palatinate(Kurfürstentum Pfalz), was aconstituent stateof theHoly Roman Empire.The electorate had its origins under the rulership of theCounts Palatine of Lotharingiain 915; it was then restructured under theCounts Palatine of the Rhinein 1085. From 1214 until the Electoral Palatinate was merged into theKingdom of Bavariain 1805, theHouse of Wittelsbachprovided the Counts Palatine or Electors. These counts palatine of the Rhine would serve asprince-electors(Kurfürsten) from "time immemorial", and were noted as such in apapal letterof 1261; they were confirmed as electors by theGolden Bull of 1356.

The territory stretched from the left bank of theUpper Rhine,from theHunsrückmountain range in what is today thePalatinateregion in the German federal state ofRhineland-Palatinateand the adjacent parts of the French regions ofAlsaceandLorraine(bailiwick ofSeltzfrom 1418 to 1766) to the opposite territory on the east bank of the Rhine in present-dayHesseandBaden-Württembergup to theOdenwaldrange and the southernKraichgauregion, containing the capital cities ofHeidelbergandMannheim.

The counts palatine of the Rhine held the office ofimperial vicarsin the territories underFrankish law(inFranconia,Swabiaand theRhineland) and ranked among the most significant secularPrinces of the Holy Roman Empire.In 1541 electorOtto Henryconverted toLutheranism.Their climax and decline is marked by the rule of Elector PalatineFrederick V,whose coronation asking of Bohemiain 1619 sparked theThirty Years' War.After the 1648Peace of Westphalia,the ravaged lands were further afflicted by theReunion campaignslaunched by KingLouis XIVof France, culminating in theNine Years' War(1688–97). Ruled in personal union with theElectorate of Bavariafrom 1777, the Palatinate was finally disestablished with theGerman mediatizationand annexation byBadenon 27 April 1803 and the rest eventually to the Kingdom of Bavaria as theCircle of the Rhine.

History

Background

Arms of the Duke of Lotharingia

The comital office of Count Palatine at the Frankish court of KingChildebert Iwas already mentioned about 535. The Counts Palatine were the permanent representatives of the king in particular geographic areas, in contrast to the semi-independent authority of the dukes (and their successors). Under theMerovingian dynasty,the position had been a purely appointed one, but by the Middle Ages had evolved into an hereditary one.

Up to the tenth century, the Frankish empire was centered at the royal palace (Pfalz) inAachen,in what had become theCarolingiankingdom ofLotharingia.Consequently, the Count Palatine of Lotharingia became the most important of the Counts Palatine. Marital alliances meant that, by the Middle Ages, most Count Palatine positions had been inherited by the duke of the associated province, but the importance of the Count Palatine of Lotharingia enabled it to remain as an independent position.

In 985,Herman I,a scion of theEzzonids,is mentioned as count palatine of Lotharingia (which by then had been divided into Upper andLower Lotharingia). While his Palatine authority operated over the whole ofUpper Lorraine,the feudal territories of his family were instead scattered around south-western Franconia, including parts of the Rhineland aroundCologneandBonn,and areas around the riversMoselleandNahe.

In continual conflicts with the rivallingArchbishops of Cologne,he changed the emphasis of his rule to the southernEifelregion and further to the Upper Rhine, where theEzzoniddynasty governed several counties on both banks of the river. The southernmost point was nearAlzey.

Palatine Lion,arms of the Count Palatine

From about 1085/86, after the death of the last Ezzonian count palatineHerman II,Palatinate authority ceased to have any military significance in Lotharingia. In practice, the Count Palatinate's Palatine authority had collapsed, reducing his successor (Henry of Laach) to a mere feudal magnate over his own territories – along the Upper Rhine in south-western Franconia. From this time on, his territory became known as the County Palatine of the Rhine (not because Palatine authority existed there, but as an acknowledgement that the Count still held the title, if not the authority, of Count Palatine).

Various noble dynasties competed to be enfeoffed with the Palatinate by theHoly Roman Emperor– among them theHouse of Ascania,theHouse of Salm(CountOtto I of Salmin 1040) and theHouse of Babenberg(Henry Jasomirgottin 1140/41).

The first hereditary Count Palatine of the Rhine wasConrad,a member of theHouse of Hohenstaufenand younger half-brother of EmperorFrederick Barbarossa.The territories attached to this hereditary office in 1156 started from those held by the Hohenstaufens in theDonnersberg,Nahegau,Haardt,Bergstraßeand Kraichgau regions (other branches of the Hohenstaufens received lands in theDuchy of Swabia,Franche-Comté,and so forth). Much of this was from their imperial ancestors, theSalianemperors, and apart from Conrad's maternal ancestry, the Counts ofSaarbrücken.These backgrounds explain the composition of Upper and Rhenish Palatinate in the inheritance centuries onwards. About 1182, Conrad moved his residence fromStahleck CastlenearBacharachup the Rhine river toHeidelberg.

Territory of the Palatinate (1329) along theRhine

Upon Conrad's death in 1195, the Palatinate passed to theHouse of Welfthrough the (secret) marriage of his daughterAgneswithHenry of Brunswick.When Henry's sonHenry the Youngerdied without heirs in 1214, the Hohenstaufen kingFrederick IIenfeoffed theWittelsbachDukeLouis I of Bavaria,whose son,Otto II of Bavaria,marriedAgnes of the Palatinate,daughter ofHenry of BrunswickandAgnes of Hohenstaufen,in 1222. The Bavarian House of Wittelsbach eventually held the Palatinate territories until 1918.

During a later division of territory among the heirs of DukeLouis II, Duke of Upper Bavaria,in 1294, the elder branch of the Wittelsbachs came into possession of both the Rhenish Palatinate and the territories in theBavarian Nordgau(Bavaria north of the Danube river) with the centre around the town ofAmberg.As this region was politically connected to the Rhenish Palatinate, the nameUpper Palatinate(German:Oberpfalz) became common from the early 16th century in contrast to the Lower Palatinate along the Rhine.

With theTreaty of Paviain 1329, the Wittelsbach EmperorLouis IV,a son of Louis II, returned the Palatinate to his nephewsRudolfandRupert I.

The Palatinate (1505)

In theGolden Bull of 1356,the Palatinate was recognized as one of the secular electorates, and given the hereditary offices of archsteward (German:Erztruchseß,Latin:Archidapifer) of the Empire and imperial vicar (Reichsverweser) of Franconia, Swabia, the Rhine, and southern Germany. From that time forth, the Count Palatine of the Rhine was usually known as the Elector Palatine (German:Kurfürst von der Pfalz,Latin:Palatinus elector). In 1386, Rupert I helped establish theUniversity of Heidelberg,the oldest University inGermany.

In 1400, the Elector Palatine,Rupert III,was elected asKing of the Romans,but he was never crowned as Holy Roman Emperor because he was defeated in Italy while attempting to travel to Rome for a coronation.

Due to the practice of dividing territories among different branches of the family, by the early 16th century junior lines of the Palatine Wittelsbachs came to rule inSimmern,Kaiserslautern,andZweibrückenin the Lower Palatinate, and inNeuburgandSulzbachin the Upper Palatinate. The Elector Palatine, now based in Heidelberg, adopted Lutheranism in the 1530s; when the senior branch of the family died out in 1559, the electorate passed toFrederick IIIof Simmern, a staunchCalvinist,and the Palatinate became one of the major centers of Calvinism in Europe, supporting Calvinist rebellions in both theNetherlandsandFrance.ElectorFrederick IVbecame the leader of theProtestant Unionin 1608.

Thirty Years' War

Main article:Palatinate campaign

In 1619, the ProtestantFrederick V,Elector Palatine, accepted the throne ofBohemiafrom theBohemian Diet.This initiated the 1618–1648Thirty Years' War,one of the most destructive conflicts in human history; it caused over eight million fatalities from military action, violence, famine, and plague in the vast majority in the German states of the Holy Roman Empire.In terms of proportional German casualties and destruction, it was surpassed only by the period January to May 1945 and remains the single greatest war trauma in German memory.

Frederick I,King of Bohemia(1619–1620)

Frederick was evicted from Bohemia in 1620 following his defeat by the forces ofFerdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor,at theBattle of the White Mountain.Over the period 1621–1622, the Palatinate was occupied by Spanish and Bavarian troops and Frederick was exiled to theDutch Republic.His territories and electoral rights were transferred to the distantly related but CatholicMaximilian I of Bavaria,who now becameElector of Bavaria.

After his death in 1632, Frederick's daughterPrincess Elizabethand wifeElizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia,worked tirelessly to have the Palatinate restored to her sonCharles Louisand the Protestant cause. When thePeace of Westphaliaended the war in 1648, he regained the Lower Palatinate and the title 'Elector Palatine' but now ranked lower in precedence than the others. He was succeeded byCharles II, Elector Palatine,in 1680, but the Simmern branch became extinct in the male line after he died in 1685.

In 1670, Charles II's sisterElizabeth Charlotte of the PalatinatemarriedPhilippe of Orléans,younger brother ofLouis XIV;on this basis, Louis claimed the Rhineland territories of the Palatinate for France. However, he was outmaneuvered byLeopold I, Holy Roman Emperor,whose third wife wasEleonore-Magdalena of Pfalz-Neuburg,eldest daughter ofPhilip William,a Catholic who was the closest male heir in the direct line. Leopold installed his father-in-law as Elector Palatine, ensuring that his electoral vote and this strategic region remained in Imperial control.

Nine Years' War

Heidelberg Castle,destroyed by the French in 1689 and never rebuilt

When France invaded the Palatinate in September 1688 to enforce its claim, these wider connections meant the conflict rapidly escalated, leading to the outbreak of theNine Years' War.The French were forced to withdraw in 1689 but before doing so, destroyed much of Heidelberg, another 20 substantial towns and numerous villages.This destruction was systematically applied across a large section of the Rhineland but especially the Palatinate, which was raided again in 1693; the devastation shocked much of Europe.France later renounced its claim to the region in the 1697Treaty of Ryswick.

Johann Wilhelmsucceeded as elector in 1690, changing his residence first toDüsseldorf,then back to Heidelberg and finallyMannheimin 1720. Like his father, he was a Catholic, which under the 1555Peace of Augsburgmeant the Protestant majority in the Palatinate was theoretically obliged to convert to Catholicism. The 1705 'Palatine Church Division' compromised by allocating five-sevenths of public church property to the Reformed or Calvinist church and the remainder to Catholicism, while excluding the Lutheran Church, whose membership exceeded 40% of the population in some areas.

In 1716,Charles Philipsucceeded his brother as elector and in January 1742, helped his cousinCharles Albertbecome the first non-Habsburg emperor in over 300 years.He died in December and the Palatinate passed toCharles Theodore,then Duke ofSulzbach,who also inherited theElectorate of Bavariain 1777. The title and authority of the two electorates were combined, Charles and his heirs retaining only the vote and precedence of the Bavarian elector, although continuing to use the title 'Count Palatine of the Rhine'.

Mediatisation

Main article:German mediatisation

Maximilian Joseph,Elector of Bavaria (1799–1806)

The Palatine territories on theleft bank of the Rhinewere annexed byFrancein 1795, mainly becoming part of theMont-Tonnerredepartment. In 1799 Elector Charles Theodore died and the territory was inherited by the Duke ofPalatine Zweibrücken,uniting all the Wittelsbach lands. The loss of the left bank territories was accepted by the new ElectorMaximilian Josephin theTreaty of Paris.Those on the right were taken by theElector of Baden,after the 1805Peace of Pressburgdissolved the Holy Roman Empire; the remaining Wittelsbach territories were united by Maximilian Joseph as theKingdom of Bavaria.

Coat of arms and flag

See also:Palatine Lion

Coat of arms of the Electoral Palatinate
Armiger	Elector of the Palatinate

In 1156Conrad of Hohenstaufen,brother of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, became Count Palatine. The old coat of arms of theHouse of Hohenstaufen,the single lion, became coat of arms of the Palatinate.

By marriage, the Palatinate's arms also becamequartered with those of Welf and later Wittelsbach.The arms of Bavaria were used with reference to the elector's holdings in Bavaria. This was extended to quartering of the lion and the Bavarian Arms upon the ascension ofMaximilian Ito the position of elector of the Palatinate in 1623, used concurrently with the arms shown. From 1356 onwards, theorbrepresented their position as Arch-Stewardof the Holy Roman Empire.

• Coats of arms:
• 
  House of Hohenstaufen(beforeconfirmation as Electorate)
• 
  House of Wittelsbach(Electoral Palatinate)
• 
  House of Palatinate-Simmern(Electoral Palatinate)
• 
  House of Palatinate-Simmern(variant)
• 
  Greater Coat of arms from1703

• Flags:
• 
  1329–1776
  Heraldic flagof the Palatinate
• 
  The variant used byWittelsbachswho inherited the Palatinate in the mid-14th century
• 
  1604design
• 
  The colors of the country (Landesfarben) ensign (alternate flag)
• 
  1776–1789
  (merged withBavaria)

Legacy

Coat of arms of Rhineland-Palatinate

In 1806,Badenwas raised to a grand duchy and parts of the former Palatinate including Mannheim became part of it. At theCongress of Viennain 1814 and 1815, southern parts of the left-bank Palatinate were restored and enlarged by mediatisation (consuming the formerPrince-Bishopric of Speyer,the Free Imperial City ofSpeyer,and others) up to the new border with France, and given (temporarily) to the HabsburgAustrian Empire;after this time, it wasthis new regionthat was principally known as "the Palatinate". The right-bank Palatinate remained with Baden while northern parts became part ofPrussia(Rhine Province) andHesse(Rhenish Hesse).

In 1816, the Palatinate became a formal part of the WittelsbachKingdom of Bavaria(theRheinkreisorCircle of the Rhine) in a pre-arranged exchange forTyrol,which Bavaria returned to Austria. Most of the area remained a part of Bavaria until after the Second World War (after 1918 theFree State of Bavaria), withsome western partsbecoming part of theTerritory of the Saar Basinafter World War I.

In September 1946 the territory was made part of the federal state ofRhineland-Palatinate,along with former left bank territories ofPrussia(southern part of the Rhine Province, including the formerPrincipality of Birkenfeldwhich had been an exclave ofOldenburguntil 1937, and western parts of theProvince of Nassau) and Rhenish Hesse. The former Territory of the Saar Basin was reinstated and expanded to create the FrenchSaar Protectorate,which returned to Germany in 1956 as the modern state ofSaarland.

See also

• Count palatine
• German Palatines
• List of Counts Palatine of the Rhine

Sources

• Beiler, Rosalind (2008).Immigrant and Entrepreneur: The Atlantic World of Caspar Wistar, 1650–1750.The Pennsylvania State University Press. pp. 60–61.ISBN978-0-271-03595-6.Retrieved28 October2018.
• Dosquet, Emilie (2016). "The Desolation of the Palatinate as a European News Event in News Networks in Early Modern Europe".News Networks in Early Modern Europe.Brill: 643–644.ISBN978-90-04-27717-5.JSTOR10.1163/j.ctt1w8h1ng.35.
• Jackson, Clare (2021).Devil Land; England under Siege 1588 - 1688.Allen Lane.ISBN978-0241285817.
• Lindsay, J. O. (1957).The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume 7, The Old Regime, 1713–1763.Cambridge University Press; New edition. p. 420.ISBN978-0-521-04545-2.
• Lynn, John (1999).The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667–1714.Longman.ISBN978-0-582-05629-9.
• Nicholls, David (1999).Napoleon: A Biographical Companion.ABC-CLIO. p.18.ISBN978-0-87436-957-1.
• Wilson, Peter H. (2009).Europe's Tragedy: A History of the Thirty Years War.Allen Lane.ISBN978-0-7139-9592-3.

Further reading

• Sophia of Hanover(2013).Memoirs (1630–1680).The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe: The Toronto Series, 25. Edited and translated by Sean Ward. Toronto: Iter Inc. &Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies.ISBN978-0-7727-2148-8.LCCN2013496220.OCLC857794451.OL31002050M.