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From now on, Bavaria remained in the possession of various branches of the family for 738 years until the end of the First World War. First partition, 1253–1340. In 1253, on Otto II's death, Bavaria was divided between his sons. Henry became Duke of Lower Bavaria and Louis of Upper Bavaria.
- Overview
- History of Bavaria
The earliest known inhabitants in the area of present-day Bavaria were the Celts. Romans conquered the region about the beginning of the Common Era. They divided the southern part into Raetia and Noricum and built fortifications along the northern boundary to keep out the Teutons. Flourishing Roman colonies arose in the south at Augsburg, Kempten, Regensburg, and Passau.
The Romans were overcome in the 5th century by repeated Germanic attacks. The lands were eventually settled by Germanic tribes from the east and north who mixed with the remaining Celts and Romans. The tribe that gave the territory its name was the Baiovarii (Bavarians), which settled in the south between 488 and 520 ce. In the 7th and 8th centuries Bavaria was Christianized by Irish and Scottish monks. In 788 Charlemagne incorporated Bavaria into the Carolingian empire for a short time.
Bavaria became a part of the Holy Roman Empire in the 10th century. During that period Bavaria was constantly ravaged and all but depopulated by the Hungarians. At the Battle of Pressburg (now Bratislava, Slovakia), on July 4, 907, the Hungarians inflicted a disastrous defeat on the Bavarians, but Hungarian ambitions in Bavaria were checked permanently in 955 by Otto I at the Battle of Lechfeld, just south of Augsburg. That defeat ushered in an era of cooperation between Bavaria and Hungary, culminating in 996 with the marriage of the Bavarian princess Gisela and the Hungarian prince who would be crowned king as Stephen I. In 1180 the Holy Roman emperor Frederick I Barbarossa gave Bavaria to the count palatine Otto of Wittelsbach. That marked the start of the Wittelsbach dynasty, which was to rule Bavaria until 1918.
Otto was succeeded in 1183 by his son Louis I, who was the real founder of the Bavarian principality. He recklessly used every means to extend his power. He founded cities (Landshut, Straubing, Landau, and Iser) and also won the Palatinate of the Rhine (1214). His son Otto II increased the area of his lands mainly by purchases. The efforts of those and succeeding dukes to consolidate their power were fairly successful but were soon vitiated by partitions that for 250 years made the political history of Bavaria little more than a chronicle of territorial divisions, family feuds, and petty squabblings. By the late 14th century the family’s various branches had divided Bavaria into three separate duchies, which had the effect of temporarily eclipsing the power of the dukes. The government of the country and the control of its finances passed mainly into the hands of an assembly called the Landtag, or Landschaft, which had existed since the beginning of the 14th century. The towns, assuming a certain independence, became strong and wealthy as trade increased, and the citizens of Munich were often formidable antagonists to the dukes.
A consolidation began when Duke Albert IV (the Wise) of Bavaria-Munich (reigned 1467–1508) established in 1506 the principle of primogeniture in Bavaria. Albert also made Munich the capital of his duchy. Albert’s son William IV (reigned 1508–50) reunified Bavaria into one duchy in 1545. In 1546, however, Bavarian policy changed abruptly to an alliance with the Austrian Habsburgs, following the introduction of the Reformation in the Palatinate, and under William IV’s successor, Albert V (reigned 1550–79), Bavaria became a strictly Roman Catholic territory.
Throughout the 18th century, Bavaria was ravaged by the wars of the Spanish Succession and the Austrian Succession. In 1777 the Bavarian succession passed to the elector Charles Theodore of the Palatinate. Bavaria and the Palatinate were reunited. In the War of the Bavarian Succession (1778–79), Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia successfully prevented Austria from incorporating a large part of Bavaria to which it had laid claim.
The earliest known inhabitants in the area of present-day Bavaria were the Celts. Romans conquered the region about the beginning of the Common Era. They divided the southern part into Raetia and Noricum and built fortifications along the northern boundary to keep out the Teutons. Flourishing Roman colonies arose in the south at Augsburg, Kempten, Regensburg, and Passau.
The Romans were overcome in the 5th century by repeated Germanic attacks. The lands were eventually settled by Germanic tribes from the east and north who mixed with the remaining Celts and Romans. The tribe that gave the territory its name was the Baiovarii (Bavarians), which settled in the south between 488 and 520 ce. In the 7th and 8th centuries Bavaria was Christianized by Irish and Scottish monks. In 788 Charlemagne incorporated Bavaria into the Carolingian empire for a short time.
Bavaria became a part of the Holy Roman Empire in the 10th century. During that period Bavaria was constantly ravaged and all but depopulated by the Hungarians. At the Battle of Pressburg (now Bratislava, Slovakia), on July 4, 907, the Hungarians inflicted a disastrous defeat on the Bavarians, but Hungarian ambitions in Bavaria were checked permanently in 955 by Otto I at the Battle of Lechfeld, just south of Augsburg. That defeat ushered in an era of cooperation between Bavaria and Hungary, culminating in 996 with the marriage of the Bavarian princess Gisela and the Hungarian prince who would be crowned king as Stephen I. In 1180 the Holy Roman emperor Frederick I Barbarossa gave Bavaria to the count palatine Otto of Wittelsbach. That marked the start of the Wittelsbach dynasty, which was to rule Bavaria until 1918.
Otto was succeeded in 1183 by his son Louis I, who was the real founder of the Bavarian principality. He recklessly used every means to extend his power. He founded cities (Landshut, Straubing, Landau, and Iser) and also won the Palatinate of the Rhine (1214). His son Otto II increased the area of his lands mainly by purchases. The efforts of those and succeeding dukes to consolidate their power were fairly successful but were soon vitiated by partitions that for 250 years made the political history of Bavaria little more than a chronicle of territorial divisions, family feuds, and petty squabblings. By the late 14th century the family’s various branches had divided Bavaria into three separate duchies, which had the effect of temporarily eclipsing the power of the dukes. The government of the country and the control of its finances passed mainly into the hands of an assembly called the Landtag, or Landschaft, which had existed since the beginning of the 14th century. The towns, assuming a certain independence, became strong and wealthy as trade increased, and the citizens of Munich were often formidable antagonists to the dukes.
A consolidation began when Duke Albert IV (the Wise) of Bavaria-Munich (reigned 1467–1508) established in 1506 the principle of primogeniture in Bavaria. Albert also made Munich the capital of his duchy. Albert’s son William IV (reigned 1508–50) reunified Bavaria into one duchy in 1545. In 1546, however, Bavarian policy changed abruptly to an alliance with the Austrian Habsburgs, following the introduction of the Reformation in the Palatinate, and under William IV’s successor, Albert V (reigned 1550–79), Bavaria became a strictly Roman Catholic territory.
Throughout the 18th century, Bavaria was ravaged by the wars of the Spanish Succession and the Austrian Succession. In 1777 the Bavarian succession passed to the elector Charles Theodore of the Palatinate. Bavaria and the Palatinate were reunited. In the War of the Bavarian Succession (1778–79), Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia successfully prevented Austria from incorporating a large part of Bavaria to which it had laid claim.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
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