page_title: History of Bavaria
section_title: Upper Bavaria
hierarchical_section_title: History of Bavaria / Under the Wittelsbach dynasty / Upper Bavaria
context_page_description: The history of Bavaria stretches from its earliest settlement and its formation as a stem duchy in the 6th century through its inclusion in the Holy Roman Empire to its status as an independent kingdom and finally as a large Bundesland of the Federal Republic of Germany. Originally settled by Celtic peoples such as the Boii, by the 1st century BC it was eventually conquered and incorporated into the Roman Empire as the provinces of Raetia and Noricum.
context_section_description: In the course of a long reign, Louis II, called "the Stern", became the most powerful prince in southern Germany. He served as the guardian of his nephew Conradin of Hohenstaufen, and after Conradin's execution in Italy in 1268, Louis and his brother Henry inherited the domains of the Hohenstaufens in Swabia and elsewhere. He supported Count Rudolph I of Habsburg, in his efforts to secure the German throne in 1273, married the new king's daughter Mechtild, and aided him in campaigns in Bohemia.
  For some years after Louis' death in 1294, his sons Rudolph I and Louis, afterward the emperor Louis IV, ruled their duchy in common; but as their relations were never harmonious, a division of Upper Bavaria occurred in 1310, by which Rudolph received the land east of the Isar together with the town of Munich, and Louis the district between the Isar and the Lech. It was not long, however, before this arrangement led to war between the brothers, with the result that in 1317, three years after he had become German king, Louis compelled Rudolph to abdicate, and for twelve years ruled alone over the whole of Upper Bavaria. But in 1329 a series of events induced him to conclude the Treaty of Pavia with Rudolph's sons, Rudolph and Rupert, to whom he transferred the Electorate of the Palatinate (which the Wittelsbach family had owned since 1214) and also a portion of Bavaria north of the Danube, afterward called the Upper Palatinate (Oberpfalz).
  At the same time, the two lines of the Wittelsbach family decided to exercise the electoral vote alternately, and that in the event of the extinction of either branch of the family, the surviving branch should inherit its possessions.
  The consolidation of Bavaria under Louis IV lasted for seven years, during which the emperor was able to improve the condition of the country. When he died in 1347 he left six sons to share his possessions, who agreed upon a division of Bavaria in 1349. Its history, however, was complicated by its connections with Brandenburg, Holland, Hainaut and Tirol, all of which the emperor had also left to his sons. All the six brothers exercised some authority in Bavaria; but three alone left issue, and of these, the eldest, Louis V, Duke of Bavaria—also margrave of Brandenburg and count of Tyrol—died in 1361 and was followed to the grave two years later by his only son, the childless Meinhard. Tyrol then passed to the Habsburgs. Brandenburg was lost in 1373.
  The two remaining brothers, Stephen II and Albert I, ruled over Bavaria-Landshut and Bavaria-Straubing respectively and when Stephen died in 1375 his three sons governed his portion of Bavaria jointly. In 1392, on the extinction of all the lines except those of Stephen and Albert, an important partition took place, which subdivided the greater part of the duchy amongst Stephen's three sons, Stephen III, Frederick and John II, who founded respectively the lines of Ingolstadt, Landshut and Munich.
  The main result of the threefold division of 1392 proved to be a succession of civil wars which led to the temporary eclipse of Bavaria as a force in German politics. Neighboring states encroached upon its borders, and the nobles ignored the authority of the dukes, who, deprived of the electoral vote, were mainly occupied for fifty years with internal strife.
  This condition of affairs, however, had some benefits. The government of the country and the control of the finances passed mainly into the hands of an assembly called the Landtag or Landschaft, organized in 1392. The towns, assuming certain independence, became strong and wealthy as trade increased, and the citizens of Munich and Regensburg often proved formidable antagonists to the dukes. Thus, a period of disorder saw the growth of representative institutions and the establishment of a strong civic spirit.
caption: Emperor Louis IV.
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