Duke of Bavaria

“ When Louis the Lame died in 1445 his father came into the power of his implacable enemy, Henry of Bavaria-Landshut, and died in prison in 1447. The duchy of Bavaria-Ingolstadt passed to Henry, who had succeeded his father Frederick as duke of Bavaria-Landshut in 1393, and whose long reign was almost entirely occupied with family feuds. He died in July 1450, and was followed by his son, Louis IX. (called the Rich) , and about this time Bavaria began to recover some of its former importance. ”

“ Otto was descended from Luitpold, duke of Bavaria and margrave of Carinthia, who was killed in 907 fighting the Hungarians. His son, Arnulf I., called the Bad, drove back the Hungarians, and was elected duke of Bavaria in 913. Arnulf, who was a candidate for the German crown in 919, claimed to be independent, and openly defied the German king, Conrad I. In 921, however, he recognized the authority of Henry I. the Fowler, in return for the right to dispense justice, to coin money and to appoint the bishops in Bavaria. ”

“ But the immediate enemy of the Habsburgs was not a Luxemburg but a Wittelsbach. Without making any definite partition, Albert’s five remaining sons spent their time in governing their lands until 1314, when one of them, Frederick called the Fair, forsook this comparatively uneventful occupation and was chosen by a minority of the electors German king in succession to Henry VII. At the same time the Wittelsbach duke of Bavaria, Louis, known to history as the emperor Louis the Bavarian, was also chosen. ”

“ Having studied at Ingolstadt, Vienna, Cracow and Paris, he returned to Ingolstadt in 1507, and in 1509 was appointed tutor to Louis and Ernest, the two younger sons of Albert the Wise, the late duke of Bavaria-Munich. He retained this position until 1517, wrote a Latin grammar, and other manuals for the use of his pupils, and in 1515 travelled in Italy with Ernest. Encouraged by William IV., duke of Bavaria, he began to write the Annales Boiorum, about 1517, and finishing this book in 1521, undertook a German version of it, entitled Bayersche Chronik, which he completed some years later. ”

“ The dependence of Bavaria upon the Frankish crown had always been of the slightest kind, consisting of little more than a verbal recognition of the supremacy of the Frankish king, and the sending of a contingent to serve in the Frankish army, while, in all the details of ordinary administration, the will of the Agilolfing duke seems to have been practically supreme. Moreover, close ties of affinity and common interests had long united the ducal house of Bavaria and the regal house of Lombard Italy. ”

“ The marriage of the Duke of Bavaria took place, and what was more important, Charles, Comte de Ponthieu, youngest son of the King, was betrothed to Marie d’Anjou, daughter of the King of Sicily, at the Louvre in presence of the Queen and Princes, the King being ill at the time. ”

“ No princely race in Europe is of such ancient extraction. ... Bavaria was as yet destitute of towns: Landshutt and Munich first rose into consideration in the course of the 13th century; Ratisbon, already a flourishing town, was regarded as the capital and residence of the Dukes of Bavaria. ... A further accession of dignity and power awaited the family in 1214 in the acquisition of the Palatinate of the Rhine. Duke Ludwig was now the most powerful prince of Southern Germany. ”

“ The Archbishops first considered, and then rejected, the proposal to raise to the Imperial throne the Count Palatine of the Rhine; for they soon saw that he might be useful as an ally, but extremely dangerous as a master. As the great hindrance to the unity of the Empire seemed, at that time, to come from the South, it was particularly necessary for the Archbishops to win to their side Duke Louis of Bavaria, who was the principal rival and enemy of Ottakar. Bavaria had recently been divided into two parts, between the two brothers Louis and Henry ”

“ It reappears in the name of the town of Bamberg, which now forms part of the kingdom of Bavaria. ... Though not of right an hereditary office, the margraviate soon became so, and remained in the family of the Babenbergs; the march was so important a part of the empire that no doubt the emperor was glad to make the defence of this exposed district the especial interest of one family. ... The marriages of the Babenbergs were fortunate; in 1138 the brother of Leopold [Fourth of that name in the Margraviate] Conrad of Hohenstaufen, Duke of Franconia, was made emperor. ”

“ Ludwig, the first king of Bavaria, stood sponsor for the child, who received his name and in addition that of Arthur, in honour of the duke of Wellington. He received a careful education, and in 1827 became a page at the Bavarian court, where a great future was predicted for him. Entering the artillery in 1833, he was after some years placed on the general staff. ”

“ She recognized the title of King now bestowed by Napoleon on the Electors of Bavaria and Würtemberg, a change which was not to invalidate their membership of the "Germanic Confederation." To those potentates and to the Elector (now Grand Duke) of Baden, the Hapsburgs ceded all their scattered Swabian domains, while Bavaria also gained Tyrol and Vorarlberg. As a slight compensation for these grievous losses, Austria gained Salzburg, whose Elector was to receive from Bavaria the former principality of Würzburg. ”

“ Bavaria had ever suffered on the conclusion of peace between France and Austria; in 1797, she had ceded the Rhenish Pfalz to France and a province on the Inn to Austria; by the treaty of Luneville she had been, moreover, compelled to raze the fortress of Ingolstadt. [11] The inclination for French innovations displayed by the reigning duke, Maximilian Joseph, who surrounded himself with the old Illuminati, caused her, on this occasion, by Bonaparte's aid, to be richly compensated by the annexation of the bishoprics of Bamberg, Wurzburg, Augsburg, and Freisingen, with several small towns, etc. ”

“ MAXIMILIAN I. (Maximilian Joseph) (1756–1825) , king of Bavaria, was the son of the count palatine Frederick of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld, and was born on the 27th of May 1756. He was carefully educated under the supervision of his uncle, Duke Christian IV. of Zweibrücken, took service in 1777 as a colonel in the French army, and rose rapidly to the rank of major-general. From 1782 to 1789 he was stationed at Strassburg, but at the outbreak of the revolution he exchanged the French for the Austrian service, taking part in the opening campaigns of the revolutionary wars. ”

“ Duke William had always refused to surrender the separate existence of his army. Owing to the local organization, this does not prevent the contingent of each state from preserving its separate identity; it is stationed in its own district, each state contributing so many regiments.
In 1872 a common system of military jurisprudence was introduced for the whole empire except Bavaria (a revised code of procedure in military courts was accepted by Bavaria in 1898) ; finally, in February 1874, an important The Septennat. law was laid before the Reichstag codifying the administrative rules. ”

“ Just think of it, they advocate in dead earnest the idea of placing the German empire, now that the power of Austria has been paralyzed, under the protection of Bavaria, and of appointing the new King of Bavaria chief of Germany.”
“The idea is not so bad, after all,” said Saxony, smiling; “the Bavarian dynasty is one of the most ancient in Germany, and its power is greater than ever, inasmuch as it may boast of the friendship and favor of the Emperor of France. The Emperor Napoleon would, perhaps, raise no objections in case the King of Bavaria should be elected Emperor of Germany.” ”

“ More recently the Kaiser expressed a wish that the British might meet the Bavarians "just once" and his wish was gratified. In depicting a Bavarian cavalry fight with French dragoons, the Bavarian artist naturally represents the enemy as going down like nine-pins. Prince Heinrich, who figures in the drawing, is the only son of the late Prince Francis Joseph of Bavaria, first cousin of Prince Rupprecht, the Bavarian Crown Prince, who recently exhorted his troops to conquer "our most hated foe." ”

“ The proclamation of the Empire was to take place at Versailles on the 18th of January, 1871. Three days before this date the future emperor summoned the court chaplain to him. He spoke of Ludwig II.’s idealism, and added: “Whatever his abilities may be, he must at any rate be very highly considered.” Bismarck at an entertainment rose to his feet, and made the following speech:—“I drink to the health of his Majesty the King of Bavaria, and to the prosperity of his dynasty, which has extended through a thousand years! ”

“ This war of the Bavarian succession is unfortunate, and no one knows whether the German empire will derive any important advantage from our sustaining by force of arms a little duchy. It is a question whether it would not be better to abolish the little principalities, in order to strengthen the greater German powers. The king will support Bavaria, because he envies Austria its possession, and, as he has decided upon war, it becomes his crown prince to yield to his decision without murmuring. Therefore, Wilhelmine, I will today witness to you the oath of fidelity. ”

“ CHAPTER XXIII King Ludwig and Queen Marie
A picture very often to be seen in Bavaria is one representing Maximilian II. and his family in the garden at Hohenschwangau. The Queen is sitting with Prince Otto on her lap, and the King, standing beside her, has laid his hand on the Crown Prince’s head. He is in the full prime of his manhood; his wife is radiant with happiness and beauty.
The lapse of a few years had transformed this family life in the Bavarian royal castle. The bright and happy Queen had become a widow, the proud mother a Mater Dolorosa. ”

“ The only means of gaining national support for our war in Bavaria, then, is by favour of the Crown. Otto's is a harlequin's cap, and you can't ask people to rally around a War Lord more beast than man, and certainly as crazy as a march-hare. It follows: we need a sane man in Munich, Bülow—nothing short of a sane man will serve our purpose. I understand that Maximilian Joseph, 'the creature of that upstart, Napoleon,' had a royal diadem built which has never been used. ”

“ This idyllic life at Possenhofen was interrupted for a time, however, by the political agitations in Munich. All over Europe the spirit of revolution was stirring, a spirit that was soon to find expression in a general outbreak. Nowhere did the royal power seem more secure than in Bavaria. No monarch was more beloved than Ludwig the First, no people so universally loyal to the crown as his good-natured, easy-going subjects. ”

“ The difference between this Prince and King Louis II. of Bavaria is perhaps the most striking contrast in modern royal existences. Prince Albert Edward is accessible to everybody, and shares the common pleasures of his countrymen; the Bavarian sovereign is never so happy as when in one of his romantic and magnificent residences, surrounded by the sublimity of nature and the embellishments of art, he sits alone and dreams as he listens to the strains of exquisite music. ”

“ I was wrong; the past has gone for ever; I come to speak to you of the future."
"The future lies in our hands," cried Count Bismarck. "Austria makes her own peace, and troubles herself neither about the Confederation, nor her allies."
"I know it," said Herr von der Pfordten faintly.
"Germany now sees," continued Bismarck, "where Austria has dragged her. I am especially sorry for Bavaria, for I always thought that Bavaria would have taken an important part in the national development of Germany, and, united with Prussia, would have stood at the head of the nation." ”

“ The Crown Prince of Bavaria is much respected, and has the reputation of being gifted with his father’s talents, with judgment superadded. The appearance of the King is droll enough; tall, with long legs and arms, he walks furiously fast, talks earnestly and loud, and gesticulates violently ”

“ Of all the prominent personages who, through their official position or individual power, or both combined, occupy at present the eye of the public, probably not one is more unjustly criticised or more generally misunderstood than Ludwig II., king of Bavaria. ”

“ ART. XIV. His Majesty the King of Bavaria shall possess, for himself, his heirs and successors, in full property and sovereignty, the Grand Duchy of Wurtzburg, as it was held by his Imperial Highnesss the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, and the principality of Aschaffenburg, such as it constituted part of the Grand Duchy of Frankfort, under the denomination of Department of Aschaffenburg. ”

“ Pull it from the vaults of the Munich Hofburg, Bülow, and place it on Luitpold's head, and if he persists in his silly refusal, on Ludwig's."
"Majesty knows these gentlemen's objections: 'There can be no real king in Bavaria, they say, until the constitutional incumbent is dead,'" spoke the Chancellor gravely.
"Then kill Otto," cried the War Lord. "What, miss our place in the sun for a madman! Not if I know Wilhelm, Imperator Rex. ”

“ The Bavarians themselves long for annexation to Austria, for they know that it is their only road to prosperity. They look with hope and confidence to Maria Theresa, whose goodness and greatness may compensate them for all that they have endured at the hands of their pusillanimous little rulers. The only man in Germany who will oppose the succession of Austria to Bavaria, is Frederick, who is as ready to enlarge his own dominions as to cry 'Stop thief!' when he sees others doing likewise. ”