This article is about the specific polity Electoral Palatinate and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.
If you are looking for the page with the statistics about this polity you can find it here:All Statistics
Was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of Lotharingia from 915, it was then restructured under the Counts Palatine of the Rhine in 1085. It divided and reunited several times, but only the division of Upper Palatinate is considered effective in the model, as derived from the maps in G. Droysen, “Historischer Handatlas” (1886).
Establishment
January 1086: In 1085, the Palatinate emerged from the County Palatine of Lotharingia.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
Was a war that resulted from a dispute between the duchies of Bavaria-Munich (Bayern-München in German) and Bavaria-Landshut (Bayern-Landshut) in the succession of the latter.
December 1503: George, Duke of Bavaria-Landshut, and his wife Hedwig Jagiellon failed to produce a male heir, so George named his daughter Elisabeth (spuse of Ruprecht, Count Palatine of the Rhine) as his heir.
August 1504: On August 9th, troops from the Palatinate conquered Kufstein.
August 1504: Braunau conquered by the Electoral Palatinate.
January 1505: In 1504, Emperor Maximilian I of the Habsburg Dynasty captured the town of Kufstein in the Austrian Tyrol region. This victory allowed the Habsburgs to expand their territories and strengthen their control over the region.
January 1505: In the name of their underage sons, the Councilors of the Palatinate nevertheless continued the war, and their commander Georg von Wisbeck succeeded in conquering Vohburg an der Donau.
January 1505: Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, took control of Kufstein in 1504 during the War of the Succession of Landshut. Kufstein was previously under the rule of the Duchy of Bavaria, which Maximilian sought to expand his territory.
January 1505: The forces of Nuremberg conquered Lauf, Hersbruck and Altdorf near Nuremberg.
Were a series of wars in Europe (and the overseas possessions of European countries) the 16th, 17th and early 18th that started after the Protestant Reformation. Although the immediate causes of the wars were religious, the motives were complex and also included territorial ambitions.
2.1.Thirty Years' War
Was a war that took place mainly in central Europe between 1618 and 1648. The war began as a religious conflict between Catholics and Protestant in the Holy Roman Empire but then escalated into a conflict for the hegemony in Europe between Habsburg Spain and Austria, Sweden and France.
2.1.1.Bohemian-Palatine period
Was the first period of the Thirty Years' War. It started with a protestant revolt in Bohemia, at the time a territory of the Habsburg Domains.
2.1.1.1.War in Palatinate
Was the theatre of war in Palatinate during the first phase of the Thirty Years' War.
September 1620: Ambrosio Spinola was a Spanish general who led the military occupation of the Left Rhine territories of the Palatinate in 1620. Spinola was known for his successful campaigns in Flanders and was tasked with expanding Spanish control in the region.
June 1621: Frederick V, Elector Palatine and his wife Elizabeth Stuart withdrew to Flanders in the spring of 1621 after losing the Battle of White Mountain in the Left Rhine territories of the Palatinate.
January 1622: After the defeat of Elector Friedrich V in the Battle of Weißer Berg near Prague on November 8, 1620, the Upper Palatinate was occupied by Bavaria in 1621, re-catholicized and annexed in 1628.
September 1622: From the summer of 1622, the territories of the Palatinate on the right bank of the Rhine were occupied by the troops of the Catholc League. Frederick V of the Palatinate eventually lost his electoral dignity on February 23, 1623, which was transferred to Maximilian of Bavaria.
September 1622: The Catholic League led by General Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, captured the Protestant city of Heidelberg.
November 1622: General Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, captures Mannheim.
August 1623: In 1623, in Palatinate, Frederick V of the Electoral Palatinate signed an armistice with Ferdinand II after Tilly defeated a Protestant army led by Christian of Brunswick in the Battle of Stadtlohn. This marked the end of the "Palatine Phase" of the Thirty Years' War.
2.1.2.Thirty Years' War Minor Scenarios
A series of conflicts related to the Thirty Years' War.
2.1.2.1.Invasion of Franche Comté (Ten Years War)
Was French invasion of modern-day Franche-Comté, at the time a possession of the Habsburg, during the Thirty Years' War.
January 1645: Following a treaty concluded with Cardinal Mazarin in 1644, France committed to cease hostilities in Franche-Comté, in exchange for the considerable sum of 40,000 écus, thus guaranteeing the region's neutrality once again. The year 1644 thus marked the end of the Ten Years' War in Franche-Comté.
2.1.3.Swedish Period
Was the third main period of the Thirty Years' War. It started with the intervention of the Kingdom of Sweden.
December 1632: Swedes had to retreat from Deutz after a powerful counterattack.
June 1634: Conquest of Philippsburg by Sweden.
2.1.4.Franco-Swedish Period
Was the fourth main period of the Thirty Years' War. It started with the intervention of the Kingdom of France.
2.1.4.1.North German Front (Sweden)
Was the north German front during the Franco-Swedish period of the Thirty Years' War.
January 1635: In 1634, Schorndorf was occupied by Sweden.
November 1637: After the death of Swedish King Ferdinand II, his son and successor Ferdinand III brought the Swedish troops back to Pomerania, leaving the territories occupied by Sweden in Germany.
November 1648: When in November Gustaf of Sweden received a report about the signed peace, he ordered his troops to leave. Also the French troops started leaving the occupied territories in the Holy Roman Empire.
2.1.4.2.Low Countries Front (France)
Was the Low Countries front during the Franco-Swedish period of the Thirty Years' War.
January 1636: Spanish occupation of Philippsbourg, Speyer, Landau and Treviri.
2.1.4.3.Rhineland Front (France)
Was the Rhineland front during the Franco-Swedish period of the Thirty Years' War.
July 1636: On July 14, Bernard of Saxe-Weimar, who was in the service of France, occupied the Alsatian town of Saverne.
May 1645: French General Thurenne advanced up to Bad Mergentheim, where a battle with German field Marshal Franz von Mercy would take place on May, 5 1645.
November 1645: The French evacuate their ephemeral conquests in Germany, systematically devastating them.
May 1648: The French returned to Swabia and then to Bavaria. They defeated the Imperial forces at Zusmarshausen (May 17, 1648) and drove Maximilian of Bavaria out of Munich.
2.2.Nine Years' War
Was a conflict between France and the Grand Alliance, a coalition including the Holy Roman Empire, the Dutch Republic, England, Spain, and Savoy. It is considered the first war that saw fighting globally because battles occured in Europe, America, Africa and India.
2.2.1.Rhineland Theatre (Nine Years' War)
Was the Rhineland Theatre of the the Nine Years' War.
October 1688: The French besiege Philippsburg.
November 1688: Louis XIV's army proceeded to take Mannheim, which capitulated.
December 1688: The French army occupies Frankenthal.
January 1689: Several towns fell to the French without resistance, including Oppenheim, Worms, Bingen, Kaiserslautern, Heidelberg, Speyer and, above all, the key fortress of Mainz.
March 1689: The French left the Rhineland region.
May 1689: The French left the Rhineland region.
June 1689: The French left the Rhineland region.
May 1693: Heidelberg fell on 22 May 1693 during the Nine Years' War, also known as the War of the Grand Alliance. The city was occupied by French forces led by Marshal Claude Louis Hector de Villars. The occupation lasted until the end of the war in 1697.
2.2.2.Peace of Ryswick
Were a series of treaties that ended the Nine Years' War.
September 1697: Peace of Ryswick (1697): France kept Strasbourg but returned Freiburg, Breisach, Philippsburg and the Duchy of Lorraine to the Holy Roman Empire.
January 1698: In 1680, King Louis XIV of France, through his Chambers of Reunion, claimed Lützelstein as a French fief, which was confirmed by the Peace of Rijswijk in 1697.
Was a war of succession in the United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg between Brandenburg and the Palatinate.
January 1631: The County Ravenstein came to the Catholic Duchy of Palatinate-Neuburg in 1630.
January 1637: After the troops of the Generalitatland had previously left Ravenstein, they returned in 1635 and occupied the dominion again.
July 1651: Brandenburg troops invaded Berg.
January 1672: Brandenburg-Prussia renounced its claim in 1671, and when a French army approached in 1672 during France's war with the United Netherlands, the troops of the Generalitatland finally withdrew from the Ravenstein dominion, after which the fortress was razed, of which only the City gates and the castle were spared.
3.1.Treaty of Cleve
Was a treaty between Palatinate-Neuburg and Brandenburg that officially paritioned the Duchy of Jülich-Cleves-Mark and ended the War of the Jülich Succession.
September 1666: In 1666 the Treaty of Kleve was ratified, which significantly reduced the conflict between Pfalz-Neuburg and Brandenburg. With this settlement, the Duchy of Kleve and the counties of Mark and Ravensberg fell to the Elector of Brandenburg, Friedrich Wilhelm. The Count Palatine Philipp Wilhelm received the duchies of Jülich and Berg as well as the small Flemish dominions of Wijnendale west of Ghent and Breskesand on the extreme southwestern Scheldt island.
Was a war between the Kingdom of France and the Dutch Republic.
January 1677: Imperial forces recaptured Philippsburg in September 1676.
4.1.French invasion of the Dutch Republic
Was the French invasion of the Dutch Republic during the Franco-Dutch War.
June 1672: French forces conquer Burick.
December 1673: Münster and Cologne left the war in November. With the war expanding into the Rhineland and Spain, French troops withdrew from the Dutch Republic, retaining only Grave and Maastricht.
4.2.Peace of Nijmegen
Were a series of treaties that ended various interconnected wars, notably the Franco-Dutch War.
September 1678: Peace of Nijmegen
The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Philip of Anjou and Charles of Austria, and their respective supporters. It was a global war, with fighting taking place in Europe, Asia, and America. At the end of the war, Philip II, who was the successor chosen by Charles II as a descendant of Charles' paternal half-sister Maria Theresa, became King of Spain and of its overseas empire. The Spanish possessions in Europe were partitioned between various European Monarchies.
5.1.Dutch and German Theatre (War of the Spanish Succession)
Was the theatre of war of the War of the Spanish Succession in Germany and the Low Countries.
July 1703: Rheinberg and Bonn fell early to the Allied forces led by France.
September 1703: In 1703, during the War of the Spanish Succession, Margrave Louis William of Baden-Baden, a German military commander, led the imperial forces to capture the city of Landau on September 9th. This victory was a significant strategic gain for the Allied forces in the conflict.
January 1705: Trarbach conquered by austria.
September 1713: Landau, a fortified town in the Holy Roman Empire, was captured by the French under Marshal Villars in August 1713.
5.2.Treaty of Baden
Was a treaty between France and the Holy Roman Empire, to end the War of the Spanish Succession.
September 1714: In the Treaty of Baden the French and their allies returned the east bank of the Rhine River (the Breisgau) to Austria.
Was a global conflict that involved most of the European great powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. At the end of the war the main winner was Great Britain, that obtained territories in North America, the Caribbean and India, becoming the most powerful maritime and colonial of the European powers.
6.1.Central German Theatre
Was the theatre of war in central Germany of the Seven Years' War.
6.1.1.Counteroffensive against the French invasion of Germany
Was the Prussian and British counteroffensive against the French invasion of Germany during the Seven Years' War.
June 1758: The duke then crossed the Rhine, beating the numerically superior forces of Louis of Bourbon-Condé in the Battle of Krefeld on June 23 and occupying Düsseldorf.
July 1758: Despites having defeated the French, Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel decided to leave Düsseldorf.
6.1.2.Rhineland Theatre (Seven Years' War)
Was the theatre of War in the Rhineland during the Seven Years' War.
April 1759: The French under General Victor-François de Broglie obtained a victory against British, Hanoverian, Hessian, and Brunswick forces in the Battle of Bergen.
August 1759: On 1 August 1759, the Anglo-German army of Ferdinand Prince of Brunswick-Lüneburg, routed the French during the Battle of Minden.
July 1760: French general de Broglie launched an offensive in the direction of Hesse, defeating Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel's forces on July 10 at the Battle of Korbach.
July 1760: The Battle of Warburg was fought on 31 July 1760 during the Seven Years' War. The battle was a victory for the Hanoverians and the British against the French army.
6.2.Treaty of Paris (1763)
Was a treaty signed on 10 February 1763 by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement, after Great Britain and Prussia's victory over France and Spain during the Seven Years' War.
February 1763: Treaty of Paris (1763): France and Spain restored all their conquests to Britain and Portugal.
January 1220: Around 1219, Pforzheim came to Hermann as a dowry from his wife Irmengard near the Rhine, and with it the Margraviate of Baden.
January 1226: In 1225, the Wittelsbach Count Palatine Ludwig gained control of the Lauffen.
January 1274: The Staufen emperors slowly transferred most non-military powers over the Imperial Possessions to local lords.
January 1330: In 1329, Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian divided the Wittelsbacher Lande through the House Treaty of Pavia, whereby the Rheinpfalz and the Nordgau fell to the descendants of his brother Rudolf, the now Palatinate line of the Wittelsbachs.
January 1361: The bailiff of Lower Alsatia was transferred as a whole to the Counts Palatine.
January 1368: Mosbach falls to the Palatinate.
January 1379: Based on Gustav Droysen's Map of the Holy Roman Empire in the XIV century.
January 1383: Loewenstein County sold to the Palatinate.
January 1386: Zweibrücken sold to the Palatinate.
January 1411: Nordhausen annexed to the Nassau Domains.
January 1412: Through his granddaughter Anna von Hohenlohe († 1410) and her husband Philipp I von Nassau-Saarbrücken-Weilburg, Kirchheimbolanden and the entire Sponheim-Bolander family estate finally fell to the House of Nassau.
January 1419: The Imperial City of Selz is acquired by the Electoral Palatinate.
January 1420: Sulzbach-Rosenberg sold to the Wittelsbach.
January 1424: The Hagenau Landvogtei is acquired by the Electoral Palatinate.
January 1438: The Sponheim Lordship is divided between Baden, Palatinate-Simmern-Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld and the Electoral Palatinate 1437.
January 1458: In 1385 the Altenbaumburg line died out and in 1457 the last member of the Neuenbaumburg line died. Most of the estate of the Raugraves went to the Electorate of the Palatinate.
January 1460: The Veldenz County is acquired by the Electoral Palatinate.
January 1463: Lützelstein fell under the administration of the Electoral Palatinate.
January 1501: The town of Vilseck came back to the Bamberg Bishopric and was the seat of a Bamberg Obervogtamt.
January 1505: Löwenstein fell to Württemberg.
January 1546: Palatine Elector Friedrich II allowed the house of Virneburg to become an independent fief.
January 1548: Based on Gustav Droysen's Map of the Holy Roman Empire at the time of the Reformation.
January 1554: Hagenau is annexed by Austria.
January 1571: Gräfensteiner Land came into Baden ownership in 1570.
March 1660: With a contract dated March 4, 1660, the Imperial Barons von der Leyen, who had owned property in Blieskastel since 1456, acquired the Trier electoral office of Blieskastel as a Trier man fief and built a new palace on the site of the old castle between 1661 and 1676.
January 1674: The Lords of Rappoltstein have been documented since 1038 and exercised the rights of the town lords until 1673. After their extinction, the rule of Rappoltstein (Ribeaupierre) and with it the town fell to Pfalz-Birkenfeld, from 1734 Pfalz-Birkenfeld-Zweibrücken.
January 1682: The county of Rappoltstein is acquired by France.
February 1766: Based on Gustav Droysen's Holy Roman Empire Maps.
January 1773: In 1762/1772 Kaiserswerth was given to the Electoral Palatinate by a judgment of the Imperial Chamber Court.
December 1777: Electoral Palatinate-Bavaria came into being in 1777 when Elector Karl Theodor took over the inheritance of the Bavarian line of his house (Electorate of Bavaria), which had died out in the male line.
Disestablishment
December 1777: Electoral Palatinate-Bavaria came into being in 1777 when Elector Karl Theodor took over the inheritance of the Bavarian line of his house (Electorate of Bavaria), which had died out in the male line.
Selected Sources
Battle of Warburg. BritishBattles.com. Retrieved on 30 march 2024 on https://www.britishbattles.com/frederick-the-great-wars/seven-years-war/battle-of-warburg/
De Leon, D. (1886): The Conference at Berlin on the West-African Question, Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 1, No. 1, p. 103-139
Droysen, G. (1886): Historischer Handatlas, Bielefeld and Leipzig (Germany)
Droysen, G. (1886): Historischer Handatlas, Bielefeld and Leipzig (Germany), pp. 30-31
Droysen, G. (1886): Historischer Handatlas, Bielefeld and Leipzig (Germany), pp. 38-39
Exshaw, A. (1763): A Compleat History of the Late War, pp. 282-283
Krumenacker, Y. (2008): La Guerre de Trente Ans, Paris, Ellipses, pp. 144-145
Krumenacker, Y. (2008): La Guerre de Trente Ans, Paris, Ellipses, pp. 146-147
Livet, G. (1994): La Guerre de Trente Ans, Paris (France), p. 37
Panhuysen, L. (2009): Rampjaar 1672: Hoe de Republiek aan de ondergang ontsnapte, Uitgeverij Atlas
Schmidt, G. (2006): Der Dreißigjährige Krieg, Munich (Germany), p. 65
Schmiele, E. (1887): Zur Geschichte des schwedisch-polnischen Krieges von 1655 bis 1660, Berlin (Germany), p. 5
Treaty of Ryswick (English version), https://bonoc.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/tratado-ryswick.pdf
Zeller, O. (2024): La Bresse et le pouvoir: Le Papier journal de Jean Corton, syndic du tiers état (1641-1643), Dijon (France), p. 12
Electoral Palatinate
