The following is a list of monarchs during the history of Bavaria. Bavaria was ruled by several dukes and kings, partitioned and reunited, under several dynasties. Since 1918, Bavaria has been under a republican form of government, and from 1949, Bavaria has been a democratic state in the Federal Republic of Germany.
Monarchs of Bavaria
Ducal Bavaria (also known as the "Old Stem duchy")
Agilolfing dynasty
Around 548 the kings of the Franks placed the border region of Bavaria under the administration of a duke—possibly Frankish or possibly chosen from amongst the local leading families—who was supposed to act as a regional governor for the Frankish king. The first duke we know of, and likely the first, was Gariwald, or Garibald I, a member of the powerful Agilolfing family. This was the beginning of a series of Agilolfing dukes that was to last until 788.
By the time of Theodo, who died in 716 or 717, the Bavarian duchy had achieved complete independence from the Frankish kings. Theodo's sons divided the duchy, but by 719 the rule had returned to Grimoald.
Son of Theudbert. In 725(?), Charles Martel, ruler in fact though not in name of the Frankish realm, reasserted royal supremacy over Bavaria, defeating and killing Grimoald and annexing portions of Bavaria during the rule of Hugbert.
In 757 Tassilo III recognized the suzerainty of the Frankish kings Pippin III and did homage to Charlemagne in 781, and again in 787, while pursued an independent policy. In 788, Charlemagne had Tassilo sentenced to death on a charge of treason. Tassilo, granted pardon, entered a monastery and formally renounced his duchy at Frankfurt am Main in 794.
The kings (later emperors) of the Franks now assumed complete control, placing Bavaria under the rule of non-hereditary governors and civil servants. They were not dukes but rather kings of Bavaria. Emperor Louis the Pious divided control of the Empire among his sons, and the divisions became permanent in the decades following his death in 840. The Frankish rulers controlled Bavaria as part of their possessions.
In 814, Louis appointed his eldest son Lothair I as governor of Bavaria. In 817, Louis bestowed Bavaria upon his other son, Louis the German, who took charge of the province in 826, as King of Bavaria.
In 826, Louis started to rule as King of Bavaria, subordinate to his father, until the latter's death in 840. From 843, Bavaria was merged in Louis the German's Kingdom of East Francia. In 864, Louis the German gave control of Bavaria to his son Carloman, and died in 876. Louis' two younger sons, Louis and Charles—the latter of whom briefly recovered control of all the Frankish possessions—ruled Bavaria in succession after Carloman.
Luitpold, founder of the Luitpolding dynasty, was not a duke of Bavaria but a margrave of Carinthia under the rule of Louis the Child. Frankish power had waned in the region due to Hungarian attacks, allowing the local rulers greater independence. Luitpold's son, Arnulf, claimed the title of duke (implying full autonomy) in 911 and was recognized as such by King Henry the Fowler of Germany in 920.
From 947 until the 11th century, the kings of Germany repeatedly transferred Bavaria into different hands (including their own), never allowing any one family to establish itself. Bavaria was ruled by a series of short-lasting, mostly unrelated dynasties.
In 1070, Emperor Henry IV deposed Duke Otto, granting the duchy instead to Welf I, a member of the Italo-Bavarian family of Este. Welf I subsequently quarreled with King Henry and was deprived of his duchy for nineteen years, during which it was directly administered by the German crown. Welf I recovered the duchy in 1096, and was succeeded by his sons Welf II and Henry IX—the latter was succeeded by his son Henry X, who also became Duke of Saxony.
Henry II made war upon his cousin, Emperor Otto II, and was deprived of his duchy in 976 in favor of his cousin Otto, Duke of Swabia (who now acquired two dukedoms).
Bavaria was given to Berthold's son Henry III, briefly restoring the Luitpolding dynasty. Henry III exchanged Bavaria for Carinthia, and Henry II received Bavaria again.
After Henry VII's death, the dukedom was vacant for a couple of years. Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor, then gave the duchy to Kuno, Count of Zütphen, in 1049. Kuno was deposed in 1053.
Welf I subsequently quarreled with Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor and was deprived of his duchy for nineteen years, during which it was directly administered by the German crown.
When Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, became king of Germany, he restored Bavaria to the Welf line in the person of Henry X's son, Henry XII the Lion, Duke of Saxony.
In 1253, on Otto II's death, Bavaria was divided between his sons. Henry became Duke of Lower Bavaria and Louis of Upper Bavaria. From this point until the beginning of the 16th century, the territories were frequently divided between brothers, making the dukes difficult to list.
In Lower Bavaria, Henry XIII was succeeded by his three sons, Otto III, Louis III, and Stephen I ruling jointly. Otto III's successor in the joint dukedom was his son Henry XV. Stephen's successors were his sons Otto IV and Henry XIV. Henry XIV's son was John I.
In Upper Bavaria, Louis II was succeeded by his sons Rudolf I and Louis IV. The latter was elected King of Germany in 1314. After John I's death in 1340, Louis IV unified the Bavarian duchy.
The dukes of Upper Bavaria served also as Counts Palatinate of the Rhine. In 1329 Louis IV released the Palatinate of the Rhine including the Bavarian Upper Palatinate to the sons of Rudolf I. The Upper Palatinate would be reunited with Bavaria in 1623, the Lower Palatinate in 1777.
Following the Landshut War (1503–1505), the Duke of Bavaria-Munich Albert IV the Wise became ruler of Bavaria. In 1506 Albert decreed that the duchy should pass according to the rules of primogeniture.
Upper Bavaria (2nd creation) (1349–1363) (divided among the other duchies)
Landshut (1353–1503)
Straubing (1353–1432) (divided among the other duchies)
Munich (1392–1503)
Ingolstadt (1392–1445)
Dachau (1467–1501)
Leuchtenberg (1646-1705)
Duchy of Bavaria (Munich line) (1503–1623) Raised to: Electorate of Bavaria (1623-1806)
Table of rulers
(Note: Here the numbering of the dukes is the same for all duchies, as all were titled Dukes of Bavaria, despite the different parts of land and its particular numbering of the rulers. The dukes are numbered by the year of their succession.)
Otto IV served also as Count Palatine of the Rhine. On Otto IV's death, Bavaria was divided between his sons. Henry became duke of Lower Bavaria, and Louis of Upper Bavaria. From this point until the beginning of the 16th century, the territories were frequently divided between brothers.
Sons of Louis II, ruled jointly. In 1317 Rudolph abdicated of his rights to his brother, who in 1328 was elected Holy Roman Emperor. louis had already been elected King of Germany in 1314. In the Treaty of Pavia (1329) Louis IV released the Palatinate of the Rhine passing the Bavarian Upper Palatinate to the sons of Rudolf I. After John I the Child's death in 1340, Louis IV unified the Bavarian duchy.
The six sons of Louis IV, ruled jointly until 1349, when they divided the land: Louis V, Louis VI and Otto VII kept Upper Bavaria; William, Albert and Stephen Lower Bavaria. In 1351 Louis VI and Otto gave up their inheritance in Bavaria, in exchange of the Electoral dignity in Brandenburg. Having lost the Electorate of Brandenburg in 1373, Otto returned to Bavaria to claim new inheritance, and shared the part of Stephen II's sons (his nephews) in Landshut.
In Lower Bavaria, the three brothers divided the land again in 1353: Stephen kept Landshut, William and Albert shared Straubing, and from 1389 the two shared Straubing also with Albert I's son, Albert II.
Ruled jointly. Shared rule, until 1379, with their uncle Otto VII. In 1392 the brothers divided the land once more. Frederick retained Landshut, Stephen kept Ingolstadt and John received Munich.
In 1467, Sigismund created a smaller duchy with its center in Dachau, but left no descendants, and this duchy was merged again in Bavaria-Munich after his death.
Co-ruled with his brothers John IV and Sigismund. Reunited the duchy in 1503. In 1506 Albert decreed that the duchy should pass according to the rules of primogeniture.
Albert VI inherited from his wife the lands of Leuchtenberg, and from 1646 reorganizes them as a new Bavarian duchy, the short-lived Duchy of Bavaria-Leuchtenberg.
Son of Maximilian I, inherited his uncle Albert VI's possessions. His childless death led to the union of the Bavarian Leuchtenberg lands and the Electorate.
Took on the House of Habsburg in the War of the Austrian Succession, again in combination with France, succeeding so far as to be elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1742 (as Charles VII). However, the Austrians occupied Bavaria (1742–1744), and the Emperor died shortly after returning to Munich.
As he had no children, was the last of the direct Bavarian Wittelsbach line descended from Louis IV. He was succeeded by the Elector of the Palatinate, Charles Theodore, who thereby regained their old titles for the senior Wittelsbach line—descended from Louis IV's older brother Rudolf I.
In the chaos of the wars of the French Revolution, the old order of the Holy Roman Empire collapsed. In the course of these events, Bavaria became once again the ally of France, and Maximilian IV Joseph became King Maximilian I of Bavaria—whilst remaining Prince-Elector and Arch-steward of the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, when the Holy Roman Empire was abolished.
Ludwig II was called the Märchenkönig (Fairy tale king). He grudgingly acceded to Bavaria becoming a component of the German Empire in 1871, was declared insane in 1886.[2]
From a mathematical, calendrical point of view, his marked the longest "reign" amongst the Kings of Bavaria. However, Otto was mentally ill since teenhood and throughout all of his later life, hence the royal functions had to be carried out by the following prince regents:
Prince regent from 1912 until 1913. Declared King of Bavaria following a controversial change of the constitution, discharging his cousin Otto from "office". Lost the throne in the German Revolution of 1918–1919 at the end of World War I. Marks the end of 738 years of uninterrupted Wittelsbach rule over Bavaria.
In 1918, at the end of the First World War in the German Revolution of 1918–1919, Bavaria became a democratic republic within the Weimar Republic; the name for the period of Germany from 1919 to 1933. Since then, the heads of government of Bavaria have been ministers-president.
Family tree
Note that Dukes called Louis are usually numbered from Louis the Kelheimer (r. 1189–1231), although four Dukes of Bavaria had been called Louis before that. The same applies to Dukes called Otto, who are sometimes renumbered starting with Otto III, the first Wittelsbach Duke of Bavaria. The highest number has been used in this chart to minimise confusion, with one exception: Ludwig is the German for Louis, but Kings Ludwig I, II and III are not numbered XV, XVI and XVII.
The colours denote the Dukes, Electors and Kings over the following regions of Bavaria and under the following circumstances:
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