Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria
Wittelsbach ruler of Bavaria and prince-elector (Kurfürst) of the Holy Roman Empire (1573-1651) · Germany · Historical Figures · Died at 78
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Something wrong?A Catholic duke who turned religious war into territorial gain. Maximilian I backed the right side in the Thirty Years' War and walked away with his cousin's land and a permanent seat among the Holy Roman Empire's electors.
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Joachim von Sandrart - Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria
Antonio Triva - Kurfürst Maximilian I. vor Papst Clemens VIII. in Rom - 10526 - Bavarian State Painting Collections
Bavaria arms
Bilder im Hofgarten, München, Deutschland5
Bust of Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria-Thorvaldsens Museum
Canister of nine pieces, made by Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, Germany, 1610, turned ivory - Metropolitan Museum of Art - New York City - DSC07029
Die Hauptstat Saltzburg 1611
Elisabeth Renée of Lorraine, electress of BavariaFamily
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Maximilian I inherited the Duchy of Bavaria in 1597 and immediately set about crushing the power of local estates, building the scaffolding for absolute rule. A devout Catholic, he founded the Catholic League of Imperial Princes and became one of the Counter-Reformation's chief enforcers. When the Thirty Years' War erupted, he seized the moment: conquered the Upper Palatinate and stripped the electoral dignity from his Wittelsbach cousin Frederick V, the so-called "Winter King." The 1623 Diet of Regensburg awarded him the title of prince-elector. The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 let him keep Upper Palatinate and the hereditary electoral rank, though it returned the Electoral Palatinate to Frederick's heir and created an eighth electorate to smooth the deal. He died in 1651, having turned confessional zeal into dynastic advantage.
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