Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria

Born in Munich on 11 July 1662 to Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria, and Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy, Maximilian II Emanuel inherited both the Wittelsbach throne and a soldier's instinct. He proved capable in battle, and his success earned him appointment as the last governor of the Spanish Netherlands and Duke of Luxembourg. But ambition drove him into conflicts that his resources couldn't sustain. The dynastic rewards he chased stayed just out of reach, and the wars that were meant to elevate Bavaria instead hemmed in what he could achieve. He died on 26 February 1726, having learned that wanting an empire and holding one are different problems.