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Wolfgang, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken

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Spouse(s)
  
Anna of Hesse

Name
  
Wolfgang, Palatine

Buried
  
Meisenheim

Mother
  
Elisabeth of Hesse


Wolfgang, Count Palatine of Zweibrucken

Father
  
Louis II, Count Palatine of Zweibrucken

Born
  
26 September 1526 Zweibrucken (
1526-09-26
)

Died
  
11 June 1569(1569-06-11) (aged 42) Nexon, Haute-Vienne

Noble family
  
House of Wittelsbach

Count Palatine Wolfgang of Zweibrücken (German: Pfalzgraf Wolfgang von Zweibrücken; 26 September 1526 – 11 June 1569) was member of the Wittelsbach family of the Counts Palatine and Duke of Zweibrücken 1532–1559.

Contents

Biography

He was the only son of Louis II, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken and his wife Elisabeth of Hesse, daughter of William I, Landgrave of Hesse. His father died in 1532, so the regency of Palatinate-Zweibrücken passed to Louis' younger brother Rupert until 1543. In 1557 Wolfgang received the territory of Palatinate-Neuburg in accordance with the Contract of Heidelberg. In 1548 the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V occupied his Protestant territories and reintroduced Catholic practices. This imposition ended in 1552. The Peace of Augsburg of 1555 ended the religious conflict, and in 1557 several ecclesiastical states in Germany were secularised, a few of which Wolfgang obtained. In 1566 he served as a cavalry officer in the Turkish Wars.

Wolfgang, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

In 1569 he came to the aid of French Huguenots with 14,000 mercenaries during the "Third War" of the French Wars of Religion (his intervention was financed by Queen Elizabeth I of England). He invaded Burgundy, but was killed in the conflict.

He was buried in Meisenheim.

Succession

After his death Wolfgang's land was split among his five sons who then created three branches: Philip Louis (House of Palatinate-Neuburg), John (House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken) and Charles (House of Palatinate-Birkenfeld). Otto Henry and Frederick had no surviving sons.

The House of Palatinate-Neuburg inherited the Electorate of the Palatinate in 1685 and by its cadet branch Palatinate-Sulzbach also Bavaria in 1777. The House of Palatinate-Birkenfeld then inherited the Electorate of the Palatinate and Bavaria in 1799. The House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken contributed to the monarchy in Sweden from 1654 onwards through its cadet branch Palatinate-Zweibrücken-Kleeburg.

Family and children

He was married in 1545 to Anna of Hesse, daughter of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. They had the following children:

  • Countess Palatine Christine (1546 – 1619).
  • Philipp Ludwig of Pfalz-Neuburg (1547–1614), married Anna of Cleves (1552–1632), daughter of William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg. Their grandson was Philip William, Elector Palatine.
  • John I, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken (1550–1604), married his sister-in-law Magdalene (1553–1633), daughter of William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg. Their grandson was Charles X Gustav of Sweden.
  • Countess Palatine Dorothea Agnes (1551–1552).
  • Countess Palatine Elisabeth (1553–1554).
  • Countess Palatine Anna (1554–1576).
  • Countess Palatine Elisabeth (1555–1625).
  • Otto Henry, Count Palatine of Sulzbach (1556–1604), married Dorothea Maria of Württemberg.
  • Frederick, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Vohenstrauss-Parkstein (1557–1597), married Katharina Sophie of Legnica.
  • Countess Palatine Barbara of Zweibrücken-Neuburg (1559 – 1618), married on 7 November 1591 Gottfried, Count of Oettingen-Oettingen.
  • Charles I, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld (1560–1600), married Dorothea of Brunswick-Lüneburg and became ancestor to the line of Palatinate-Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld and the Dukes in Bavaria and later Kings of Bavaria.
  • Countess Palatine Maria Elisabeth (1561–1629), married in 1585 Emich XII, Count of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Hardenburg.
  • Countess Palatine Susanna (1564–1565).

    • References

    Wolfgang, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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