Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

PALATINATE (Ger. Pfalz)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V20, Page 595 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

PALATINATE (Ger. Pfalz) , a name given generally to any See also:district ruled by a See also:count See also:palatine, but particularly to a district of See also:Germany, a See also:province of the See also:kingdom of See also:Bavaria, lying See also:west of the See also:Rhine. It is bounded on the N. by the Prussian Rhine province and the See also:Hessian province of Rhein-Hessen; on the E.by See also:Baden, from which it is separated by the Rhine; on the S. by the imperial province of See also:Alsace-See also:Lorraine, from which it is divided by the Lauter; and on the W. by the administrative districts of See also:Trier and See also:Coblenz, belonging to the Prussian Rhine province. It has an See also:area of 2288 sq. m., and a See also:population (1905) of 885,280, showing a See also:density of 386.9 to the square mile. As regards See also:religion, the inhabitants are fairly equally distributed into See also:Roman Catholics and Protestants. The See also:rivers in this fertile See also:tract of See also:country are the Rhine, Lauter, Queich, Speirbach, Glan and Blies. The See also:Vosges, and their continuation the See also:Hardt, run through the See also:land from See also:south to See also:north and See also:divide it into. the fertile and mild See also:plain of the Rhine, together with the slope of the Hardt range, on the See also:east, and the rather inclement district on the west, which, See also:running between the Saarbruck carboniferous mountains and the See also:northern spurs of the Hardt range, ends in a porphyrous cluster of hills, the highest point of which is the Donnersberg (2254 ft.). The country on the east See also:side and on the slopes of the Hardt yield a number of the most varied products, such as See also:wine, See also:fruit, See also:corn, vegetables, See also:flax and See also:tobacco. See also:Cattle are reared in See also:great quantity and are of excellent quality. The mines yield See also:iron, See also:coal, quicksilver and See also:salt. The See also:industries are very active, especially in iron, machinery, See also:paper, chemicals, shoes, woollen goods, See also:beer, See also:leather and tobacco. The province is well served by railway communication and, for purposes of See also:administration, is divided into the following 16 districts: Bergzabern, See also:Durkheim, See also:Frankenthal, See also:Germersheim, Homburg, See also:Kaiserslautern, Kirchheimbolanden, Kusel, See also:Landau, See also:Ludwigshafen, See also:Neustadt, See also:Pirmasens, Rockenhausen, St Ingbert, See also:Spires and See also:Zweibrucken.

Spires (Speyer) is the seat of See also:

government, and the See also:chief See also:industrial centres are Ludwigshafen on the Rhine, which is the See also:principal See also:river See also:port, Landau, and Neustadt, the seat of the wine See also:trade. See A. See also:Becker, See also:Die Pfalz and die Pfdlzer (See also:Leipzig, 1857); Mehlis, Fahrten durch die Pfalz (See also:Augsburg, 1877); Kranz, Handbuch der Pfalz (Spires, 19o2); Hensen, Pfalzfiihrer (Neustadt, 19o5); and Naher, Die Burgen der rheinischen Pfalz (See also:Strassburg, 1887). See also:History.—The count palatine of the Rhine was a royal See also:official who is first mentioned in the loth See also:century. The first count was See also:Hermann I., who ruled from 945 to 996, and although the See also:office was not hereditary it appears to have been held mainly by his descendants until the See also:death of Count Hermann III. in 1155. These See also:counts had gradually extended their See also:powers, had obtained the right of advocacy over the See also:archbishop of Trier and the bishopric of Juliers, and ruled various isolated districts along the Rhine. In 1155 the See also:German See also:king, See also:Frederick I., appointed his step-See also:brother See also:Conrad as count palatine. Conrad took up his See also:residence at the See also:castle of Juttenbuhel, near See also:Heidelberg, which became the See also:capital of the Palatinate. In 1195 Conrad was succeeded by his son-in-See also:law See also:Henry, son of Henry the See also:Lion, See also:duke of See also:Saxony, who was a loyal supporter of the See also:emperor Henry VI. After the latter's death in 1197 he assisted his own brother See also:Otto, afterwards the emperor Otto IV., in his attempts to gain the German See also:throne. Otto refused to See also:reward Henry for this support, so in 1204 he assisted his See also:rival, the German king See also:Philip., but returned to Otto's side,after Philip's See also:murder in 1208. In 1211 Henry abdicated in favour of his son Henry, who died i1; 1214, when the Palatinate was given by the German king Frederick II. to Otto, the See also:infant son of See also:Louis I., duke of Bavaria, a member of the See also:Wittelsbach See also:family, who was betrothed to See also:Agnes, See also:sister of the See also:late count, Henry.

The break-up of the duchy of See also:

Franconia had increased the See also:influence of the count palatine of the Rhine, and the importance of his position among the princes of the See also:empire is shown by See also:Roger of Hoveden, who, See also:writing of the See also:election to the German throne in 1198, singles out four princes as chief See also:electors, among whom is the count palatine of the Rhine. In the Sachsenspiegcl, a collection of German See also:laws which was written before 1235, the count is given as the See also:butler (dapifer) of the emperor, the first See also:place among the See also:lay electors. The Palatinate was ruled by Louis of Bavaria on behalf of his son until 1228, when it passed to Otto who ruled until his death in 1253. Otto's possessions were soon afterwards divided, and his See also:elder son Louis II. received the Palatinate and Upper Bavaria. Louis died in 1294 when these districts passed to his son See also:Rudolph I. (d. 1319), and subsequently to his See also:grandson Louis, afterwards the emperor Louis IV. By the Treaty of See also:Pavia in 1329, Louis granted the Palatinate to his nephews Rudolph II. and See also:Rupert I., who received from him at the same See also:time a portion of the duchy of Upper Bavaria, which was called the upper Palatinate to distinguish it from the Rhenish, or See also:lower Palatinate. Rudolph died in 1353, after which Rupert ruled alone until his death in 1390. In 1355 he had sold a portion of the upper Palatinate to the emperor See also:Charles IV., but by various purchases he increased the area of the Rhenish Palatinate. His successor was his See also:nephew Rupert II., who bought from the German king See also:Wenceslaus a portion of the territory that his See also:uncle had sold to Charles IV. He died in 1398 and was succeeded by his son Rupert III.

In 1400 Rupert was elected German king, and when he died in 1410 his possessions were divided among his four sons: the eldest, Louis III., received the Rhenish Palatinate proper; the second son, See also:

John, obtained the upper Palatinate; while the outlying districts of Zweibrucken and Simmern passed to See also:Stephen, and that of Mosbach to Otto. When the possessions of the See also:house of Wittelsbach were divided in 1255 and the branches of Bavaria and the Palatinate were founded, a dispute arose over the exercise of the electoral See also:vote, and the question was not settled until in 1356 the See also:Golden See also:Bull bestowed the See also:privilege upon the count palatine of the Rhine, who exercised it until 1623. The See also:part played by Count Frederick V., titular king of Bohemia, during the See also:Thirty Years' See also:War induced the emperor See also:Ferdinand II. to deprive him of his vote and to See also:transfer it to the duke of Bavaria, See also:Maximilian I. By the See also:Peace of See also:Westphalia in 1648 an eighth electorate was created for the count palatine, to which was added the office of treasurer. In 1777, however, the count resumed the See also:ancient position of his family in the electoral See also:college, and regained the office of steward which be retained until the formal See also:dissolution of the empire in 1806. To return to the history of the Palatinate as divided into four parts among the sons of the German king Rupert in 1410. John, the second of these See also:brothers, died in 1443, and his son See also:Christopher, having become king of See also:Denmark in 1440, (lid not inherit the upper Palatinate, which was again See also:united with the Rhenish Palatinate. Otto, the son of Otto (d. 1461), Rupert's See also:fourth son, who had obtained Mosbach, died without sons in 1499, and this See also:line became See also:extinct, leaving only the two remaining lines with interests in the Rhenish Palatinate. After Rupert's death this was governed by his eldest son, the elector Louis III. (d. 1436), and then by the latter's sons, Louis IV.

(d. 1449) and Frederick I. The elector Frederick, called the Victorious, was one of the foremost princes of his time. His nephew and successor, the elector Philip, carried on a war for the See also:

possession of the duchy of Bavaria-See also:Landshut, which had .been bequeathed to his son Rupert (d. 1504), but, when in 1507 an end was put to this struggle, Rupert's son, Otto Henry, only received See also:Neuburg and Sulzbach. Louis V. and then Frederick II. succeeded Philip, but both died without sons and Otto Henry became elector. He too died without sons in 1559, when the See also:senior See also:branch became. extinct, leaving only the branch descended from Rupert's third son, Stephen. Already on Stephen's death in 1459 this family had been divided into two branches, those of Simmern and of Zweibrucken, and in 1514 the latter branch had been divided into the lines of Zweibrucken proper and of Veldentz. It was Frederick, count palatine of Simmern, who succeeded to the Palatinate on Otto Henry's death, becoming the elector Frederick III. The new elector, a keen but not a very bigoted Calvinist, was one of the most active of the See also:Protestant princes. His son and successor, Louis VI. (d.

1583), was a Lutheran, but another son, John Casimir, who ruled the electorate on behalf of his See also:

young nephew, Frederick IV., from 1583 to 1592, gave every encouragement to the Calvinists. A similar line of See also:action was followed by Frederick IV. himself after 1592. He was the founder and See also:head of the Evangelical See also:Union established to combat the aggressive tendencies of the Roman Catholics. His son, the elector Frederick V., accepted the throne of Bohemia and thus brought on the Thirty Years' War. He was quickly driven from that country, and his own electorate was devastated by the Bavarians and Spaniards. At the peace of Westphalia in 1648 the Palatinate was restored to Frederick's son, Charles Louis, but it was shorn of the upper Palatinate, which Bavaria retained as the See also:prize of war. Scarcely had the Palatinate begun to recover when it was attacked by Louis XIV. For six years (1673—79) the electorate was devastated by the See also:French troops, and even after the Treaty of See also:Nijmwegen it suffered from the aggressive policy of Louis. In See also:August 168o the elector Charles Louis died, and when his son and successor, Charles, followed him to the See also:grave five years later the ruling family became extinct in the senior line. Mention has already been made of a See also:division of this family into two lines after 1459, and of a further division of the Zweibrucken line in 1514, when again two lines were founded. The junior of these, that. of Veldentz, became extinct in 1694, but the senior, that of Zweibrucken proper, was still very flourishing. Under Count Wolfgang (d.

1569) it had See also:

purchased Sulzbach and Neuburg in 1557, and in the See also:person of his grandson, Wolfgang See also:William (d. 1653) it had secured the coveted duchies of Juliers and See also:Berg. It was Philip William of Neuburg, the son of Wolfgang William, who became elector palatine in See also:succession to Charles in 1685. The French king's brother, Philip, duke of See also:Orleans, had married See also:Charlotte See also:Elizabeth, a sister of the late elector Charles, and consequently the French king claimed a part of Charles's lands in 1680. His troops took Heidelberg and devastated the Palatinate, while Philip William took See also:refuge in See also:Vienna, where he died in 1690. Then in 1697, by the Treaty of See also:Ryswick, Louis abandoned his claim in return for a sum of See also:money. Just before this date the Palatinate began to be disturbed by troubles about religion. The great See also:majority of the inhabitants were Protestants, but the family which succeeded in 1685 belonged to the Roman See also:Catholic See also:Church. Philip , William, however, gave equal rights to all his subjects, but under his son and successor, the elector John William, the Protestants were deprived of various See also:civil rights until the intervention of See also:Prussia and of See also:Brunswick in 1705 gave them some redress. The next elector, a brother of the last one, was Charles Philip, who removed his capital from Heidelberg to See also:Mannheim in 1720. He died without male issue in See also:December 1742. His successor was his kinsman, Charles See also:Theodore, count palatine of Sulzbach, a See also:cadet of the Zweibrucken-Neuburg line, and now with the exception of one or two small pieces the whole of the Palatinate was united under one ruler.

Charles Theodore was a See also:

prince of refined and educated tastes and during his See also:long reign his country enjoyed prosperity. In 1777 on the extinction of the other branch of the house of Wittelsbach, he became elector of Bavaria, and the Palatinate was henceforward united with Bavaria, the elector's capital being See also:Munich. Charles Theodore died without legitimate sons in 1799, and his successor was Maximilian See also:Joseph, a member of the See also:Birkenfeld branch of the Zweibrucken family, who later became king of Bavaria as Maximilian I. In 1802 the elector was obliged to cede the portion of the Palatinate lying on the See also:left See also:bank of the Rhine to See also:France, and other portions to Baden and to See also:Hesse-See also:Darmstadt. Much of this, however, was regained in 1815, and since that date the Palatinate has formed part of the kingdom of Bavaria. See Widder, Versuch einer vollstdndigen geographisch-historischen Beschreibung der Kurfurstlichen Pfalz (See also:Frankfort, 1786—1788); L. Musser, Geschichte der Rheinischen Pfalz (Heidelberg, 1845); Nebenius, Geschichte der Pfalz (Heidelberg, 1874) ; G6mbel, Geschichte der protestantischen Kirche der Pfalz (Kaiserslautern, 1885) ; the Regesten der Pfalzgrafen am Rhein, 1214—1508, edited by See also:Koch and Wille (See also:Innsbruck, 1894) ; and See also:Wild, Bilderatlas zur badischpfdlzischen Geschichte (Heidelberg, 1904).

End of Article: PALATINATE (Ger. Pfalz)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
PALATE (Lat. palatum, possibly from the root of pas... 		[next]
PALATINE (from Lat. palatium, a palace,)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries