Elector of the Palatinate

The Elector of the Palatinate () ruled the Electorate of the Palatinate of the Rhine in the Kingdom of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire from 915 to 1803.
== Counts Palatine of Lotharingia, 915–1085 ==
The Palatinate emerged from the County Palatine of Lotharingia, which came into existence in the 10th century.
* Wigeric of Lotharingia, count of the Bidgau (c. 915/916–922)
* Godfrey, count of the Jülichgau (c. 940)
===House of Ezzonen===
During the 11th century, the Palatinate was dominated by the Ezzonian dynasty, who governed several counties on both banks of the Rhine. These territories were centered around Cologne-Bonn, but extended south to the Mosel and Nahe Rivers. The southernmost point was near Alzey.
* Hermann I of Lotharingia, 945–994
* Ezzo of Lotharingia, 994–1034
* Otto I of Lotharingia, 1034–45 (Duke of Swabia 1045–47)
* Heinrich I of Lotharingia, 1045–61
* Hermann II of Lotharingia, 1061–85 (in tutelage to Anno II, archbishop of Cologne until 1064)
== Counts Palatine of the Rhine, 1085–1356 ==
From about 1085/1086, after the death of the last Ezzonian palatine count, Herman II of Lotharingia, 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.
* Heinrich II of Laach, 1085–95
* Sigfried of Ballenstadt, 1095–1113
* Gottfried of Kalw, 1113–29
* William of Ballenstedt, 1129–39
* Henry IV Jasomirgott, 1139–42
* Hermann III of Stahleck, 1142–55
===Hohenstaufen Counts Palatine===
The first hereditary Count Palatine of the Rhine was Conrad of Hohenstaufen who was the younger brother of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. The territories attached to this hereditary office started from those held by the Hohenstaufens in Franconia and Rhineland (other branches of the Hohenstaufens received other areas including Swabian lands and Franche-Comté). Much of this originated from their imperial ancestors, the Franconian emperors, and a part from Conrad's maternal ancestry, the Saarbrücken. This background helps to explain the composition of the inheritance that comprised the Upper and Rhenish Palatinate in the following centuries.
* Conrad of Hohenstaufen 1156–95
===Welf Counts Palatine===
In 1195, the Palatinate passed to the House of Welf through the marriage of Agnes, heir to the Staufen count.
* Henry V of Welf, 1195–1213
* Henry VI of Welf, 1213–14
===Wittelsbach Counts Palatine===
In the early 13th century, with the marriage of the Welf heiress Agnes, the territory fell to the Wittelsbach Dukes of Bavaria, who were also dukes and counts palatine of Bavaria.
* Louis I, 1214–27
* Otto II, 1227–53
* Louis II (Duke of Upper Bavaria), 1253–94
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 territories in the Bavarian "Nordgau" (Bavaria north of the Danube river) with the centre around the town of Amberg. As this region was politically connected to the Rhenish Palatinate, the name Upper Palatinate (Oberpfalz) became common from the early 16th century in contrast to the Lower Palatinate along the Rhine.
* Rudolf I, 1294–1317
* Adolf, 1317–27
With the Treaty of Pavia in 1329, the emperor Louis IV, a son of Louis II, returned the Palatinate to his nephews Rudolf and Rupert.
* Rudolf II, 1329–53
* Rupert I, 1353–56
== Electors Palatine, 1356–1777 ==
In the Golden Bull of 1356, the Palatinate was recognized as one of the secular electorates, and given the hereditary offices of archsteward (Erztruchseß) 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 (Kurfürst von der Pfalz). The position as prince-elector had already existed earlier (for example, two rival kings of Germany were elected in 1257: Richard of Cornwall and Alfonso of Castile) though it is difficult to determine the exact start of that office.
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 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, adopted Lutheranism in the 1530s and Calvinism in the 1550s.
===First Electorate, 1356–1648===
Wittelsbach dynasty 	Wittelsbach dynasty 	Wittelsbach dynasty 	Wittelsbach dynasty 	Wittelsbach dynasty
Image 	Name 	Began 	Ended 	Notes
 	Rupert IRuprecht I 	10 January 1356 	16 February 1390 	As Rupert I above
 	Rupert IIRuprecht II 	16 February 1390 	6 January 1398 	Nephew of Rupert I, son of Adolf
 	Rupert IIIRuprecht III 	6 January 1398 	18 May 1410 	Son of Rupert II, elected King of Germany in 1400
 	Louis IIILudwig III 	18 May 1410 	30 December 1436 	Son of Rupert III
 	Louis IVLudwig IV 	30 December 1436 	13 August 1449 	Son of Louis III
 	Frederick IFriedrich I 	13 August 1449 	12 December 1476 	Brother of Louis IV
 	PhilipPhilipp 	12 December 1476 	28 February 1508 	Son of Louis IV
 	Louis VLudwig V 	28 February 1508 	16 March 1544 	Son of Philip
 	Frederick IIFriedrich II 	16 March 1544 	26 February 1556 	Brother of Louis V
 	Otto HenryOttheinrich 	26 February 1556 	12 February 1559 	Nephew of Frederick II, son of Rupert of Freising
Line of Simmern 	Line of Simmern 	Line of Simmern 	Line of Simmern 	Line of Simmern
Image 	Name 	Began 	Ended 	Notes
 	Frederick IIIFriedrich III	12 February 1559 	26 October 1576 	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.
80px 	Louis VILudwig VI 	26 October 1576 	22 October 1583 	Son of Frederick III
 	Frederick IVFriedrich IV 	22 October 1583 	19 September 1610 	Son of Louis VI. With his adviser Christian of Anhalt, founded the Evangelical Union of Protestant states in 1608.
 	Frederick VFriedrich V 	19 September 1610 	23 February 1623 	Son of Frederick IV and married to Elizabeth, daughter of James I of England. In 1619, he accepted the throne of Bohemia from the Bohemian estates. 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. Called "the Winter King", because his reign in Bohemia only lasted one winter. In 1623, Frederick was put under the ban of the Empire.
House of Bavaria, 1623–48	House of Bavaria, 1623–48 	House of Bavaria, 1623–48	House of Bavaria, 1623–48	House of Bavaria, 1623–48
Image 	Name 	Began 	Ended 	Notes
 	Maximilian I of Bavaria 	23 February 1623 	24 October 1648 	Frederick V's territories and his position as Elector were transferred to the Duke of Bavaria, Maximilian I, of a distantly related branch of the House of Wittelsbach. Although technically Elector Palatine, he was known as the Elector of Bavaria. From 1648 he ruled in Bavaria and the Upper Palatinate alone, but retained all his Electoral dignities and the seniority of the Palatinate Electorate; see further Electorate of Bavaria.
===Second Electorate, 1648–1777===
Restored Simmern Line	Restored Simmern Line 	Restored Simmern Line	Restored Simmern Line	Restored Simmern Line
Image 	Name 	Began 	Ended 	Notes
 	Charles I LouisKarl I Ludwig 	24 October 1648 	28 August 1680 	Son of Frederick V. By the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, Charles Louis was restored to the Lower Palatinate, and given a new electoral title, also called "Elector Palatine", but lower in precedence than the other electorates.
 	Charles IIKarl II 	28 August 1680 	26 May 1685 	Son of Charles I Louis. Last of the Simmern line.
Neuburg Line 	Neuburg Line 	Neuburg Line 	Neuburg Line 	Neuburg Line
Image 	Name 	Began 	Ended 	Notes
 	Philip WilliamPhilipp Wilhelm 	26 May 1685 	2 September 1690 	In 1685, the Simmern line died out, and the Palatinate was inherited by Philip William, Count Palatine of Neuburg (also Duke of Jülich and Berg), a Catholic.
 	John WilliamJohann Wilhelm 	2 September 1690 	8 June 1716 	Son of Philip William
 	Charles III PhilipKarl III Philipp	8 June 1716 	31 December 1742 	Brother of John William. Last of the Neuburg line. Moved the capital of the Palatinate from Heidelberg to Mannheim in 1720.
Sulzbach Line 	Sulzbach Line 	Sulzbach Line 	Sulzbach Line 	Sulzbach Line
Image 	Name 	Began 	Ended 	Notes
 	Charles IV TheodoreKarl IV Theodor	31 December 1742 	16 February 1799 	The Palatinate was inherited by Duke Charles Theodore of Sulzbach. Charles Theodore also inherited the Electorate of Bavaria when its ruling line became extinct in 1777.
== Electors of Bavaria and Counts Palatine of the Rhine, 1777–1803 ==
Sulzbach Line 	Sulzbach Line 	Sulzbach Line 	Sulzbach Line 	Sulzbach Line
Image 	Name 	Began 	Ended 	Notes
 	Charles IV TheodoreKarl IV Theodor	30 December 1777	16 February 1799	The title and authority of Elector Palatine were subsumed into the Electorate of Bavaria, Charles Theodore and his heirs retaining only the single vote and precedence of the Bavarian elector. They continued to use the title "Count Palatine of the Rhine" (, ).
Zweibrücken Line	Zweibrücken Line 	Zweibrücken Line	Zweibrücken Line	Zweibrücken Line
Image 	Name 	Began 	Ended 	Notes
 	Maximilian II Joseph 	16 February 1799	27 April 1803 	Charles Theodore's 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; then, in 1803, its right bank territories were taken by the Margrave of Baden. The Rhenish Palatinate, as a distinct territory, disappeared. In 1806, the Holy Roman Empire was abolished, and all the rights and responsibilities of the electors with it.
==Younger history==
Only after the great restorations of 1815, the (Rhenish or Lower) Palatinate, albeit without any prince-electoral role any longer, was restored as one of then eight Bavarian Districts (= provinces). After WW II the American Military Government for Germany took it away from Bavaria and put it together with neighbouring territories to form a new state called Rhenania-Palatinate (German: Rheinland-Pfalz) with Mainz as the state capital. 
The people - as far as the Palatinian share amongst them was concerned, having felt a deep sense of neglet from the side of the distant governments in Munich for generations - later approved by plebiscite.
==Notes==
Category:Germany
Category:History