John Charles, Count Palatine of Gelnhausen

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John Charles, Count Palatine of Birkenfeld at Gelnhausen
Magdalene Catherine, Countess Palatine of Zweibrücken

John Charles, Count Palatine of Birkenfeld at Gelnhausen (17 October 1638 – 21 February 1704), was a German prince and ancestor of the cadet branch of the royal family of Bavaria known, from the early 19th century, as Dukes in Bavaria. He took Gelnhausen as the name of his branch of the family after acquiring that estate in 1669.

Early life

John Charles was the younger of two sons of

Magdalene Catherine, Countess Palatine of Zweibrücken (1606–1648), daughter of Count Palatine John II of Zweibrücken.[1]

Education and career

Together with his older brother

grand tour
lasting five years, which took them to, among other places, France, Holland, England, Sweden and Switzerland.

He participated as a cavalry commander in the army of a

Charles X and waged war against Denmark. Later he fought against the Turks in Hungary. He then entered Dutch service. He participated in 1674 in the battle of Seneffe
and was promoted to the rank of First Army Leader. He then left the military and retired to Gelnhausen.

Founder of Gelnhausen branch

In 1669 John Charles bought the Fürstenhof ("Princely court") of

florins constituting one-third of the revenues from yet another family estate, the county-palatine of Neuburg – plus annual delivery of four cart-loads of Moselle wine from the cellars of Trarbach.[1][2][3] In compacts with his brother Christian II signed in 1681 and 1683, John Charles was deputised with the administration of Gelnhausen.[4]

First marriage

John Charles married his first wife, Princess Sophie Amalie of

Nassau-Saarbrücken (1617–1667)], the widow of Count Siegfried of Hohenlohe-Weikersheim.[1]

Second marriage

Although Sophie Amalie died 30 November 1695 without having borne him a male heir, John Charles wrote Christian on 25 July 1696 declaring that if, feeling unable to continue living alone and heeding his heart's desire, he were to remarry it would only be a marriage of affection, since he was in no position to maintain a lady of rank.[1] Three days later, he wed his late wife's lady-in-waiting, Esther Maria von

Imperial countess, while Christian II refused to recognise the children born to his brother's marriage subsequently (three sons and two daughters) as agnates of the dynasty.[2]

Dynasts

John Charles died in 1704 and his widow filed a lawsuit against his brother in the

Peace of Teschen which concluded the War of the Bavarian Succession in 1779 finally recognised, in Article 8, the dynastic rights of the descendants of John Charles and Esther Marie von Witzleben, whose grandson, Wilhelm (1752-1837), received in 1803 the Duchy of Berg as an appanage from the Elector of Bavaria in compensation for the cession of his territories on the left bank of the Rhine to Napoleon.[1][2]

Berg was summarily re-allocated to Napoleon's brother-in-law,

adopted descendants in the 21st century.[1][2]

Issue[1]

John Charles and Sophie Amalie of Zweibrücken had one daughter:

  • Juliane Magdalene (1686–1720)
married in 1704 Duke Joachim Frederick, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön (1668-1722)

John Charles and Esther Maria von Witzleben had five children:

married in 1737 Princess Ernestine Louise of
Waldeck
(1705-1782)
married
Salm-Dhaun
(1719-1770)
  • Wilhelm (1701–1760), field marshal in the Hungarian army and later general of the cavalry in the Dutch army
  • Charlotte Catherine (1699–1785)
married in 1745 Prince Frederick William, Prince of Solms-Braunfels (1696-1761)
  • Sophie Marie (1702–1761)
married in 1722 Count Heinrich XXV Reuss von Schleiz zu Köstritz (1681-1748)

Ancestry[1]

Titulature

As a member of the

Veldenz, Sponheim, Rappoltstein and Hohenack. As head of his own cadet branch of the dynasty, he was known as the Count Palatine of Birkenfeld at Gelnhausen.[1] All of his dynastic male-line descendants have borne since 1799, as their primary title, "Duke or Duchess in Bavaria",[1] embellished since 1845 with the style of Royal Highness
.

Bibliography

References and notes

  1. ^
    ISBN 2-901138-04-7
    .
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Unequal and Morganatic Marriages in German Law". Heraldica. Velde, François. 2007. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Succession Laws of the Wittelsbach (Palatinate, Bavaria)". Heraldica. Velde, François. 2008. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
  4. ^ Michael Masson: Das Königshaus Bayern, self-published, 1854, p. 168

External links

John Charles, Count Palatine of Gelnhausen
Born: 17 October 1638 Died: 21 February 1704
Preceded byas Count Palatine of
Birkenfeld-Bischweiler 		Count Palatine of Gelnhausen
1654-1704 		Succeeded by
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