Religion Calvinism Founded 1505 | Languages Austro-Bavarian Date dissolved 1808 | |
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Palatine Neuburg (German: Herzogtum Pfalz-Neuburg) was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire, founded in 1505 by a branch of the House of Wittelsbach. Its capital was Neuburg an der Donau. Its area was about 2,750 km², with a population of some 100,000.
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History
The Duchy of Pfalz-Neuburg was created in 1505 as the result of the Landshut War of Succession and existed until 1799 or 1808. After the so-called Kölner Spruch (Verdict of Cologne) the duchy was created from the territories north of the Danube for Otto Henry and Philipp, the sons of Ruprecht of the Palatinate. While they were minors, their grandfather Philip, Elector Palatine, ruled the duchy until his death in 1508, followed by Elector Frederick II. In 1557 Otto Henry ceded his duchy (the so-called Young Palatinate) to Count Palaine Wolfgang of Zweibrücken. The eldest son of Wolfgang, Philipp Louis, founded in 1569 the elder line of Palatine Zweibrücken-Neuburg, from which the Palatine Sulzbach lineage was separated in 1614.
Pfalz-Neuburg joined the Protestant Union in 1608. In 1800, the duchy was invaded by the France and on June 26, 1800, the Habsburg, Württemberg and Bavarian armies fought a battle there. After fighting for most of a day, the Coalition armies withdrew. Neuburg was occupied by the French, and General Ney established his headquarters in the castle there.
The Duchy of Palatine Neuburg was abolished in 1808. In the partition of Bavaria in 1837 Pfalz-Neuburg was joined with Swabia but became a part of Upper Bavaria in the 1970s.
Dukes of Palatine Neuburg
House of Palatine Zweibrücken-Neuburg
With the death of Elector Charles Philip in 1742 all his territories including the state of Palatine Neuburg passed to the Palatine Sulzbach line of the Wittelsbach dynasty. Charles Theodor of the Sulzbach line was a descendant of Augustus, Count Palatine of Sulzbach, a brother of Wolfgang Wilhelm.