Louis V, Duke of Bavaria

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Louis V
Beatrix of Świdnica

Louis V, called the Brandenburger (May 1315 – 18 September 1361), a member of the

Count of Tyrol by his marriage with the Meinhardiner countess Margaret
.

Family history

Louis V was the eldest son of King Louis IV of Germany and his first wife, Beatrice of Świdnica. His father, Duke of Bavaria since 1294, had been elected king in 1314, rivalled by the Habsburg anti-king Frederick the Fair. He had to defend his rights in a lengthy throne quarrel, finally defeated Frederick's forces in the 1322 Battle of Mühldorf, and in 1328 received the Imperial crown; though not by the pope but by the "Roman people" led by Sciarra Colonna.

Margrave of Brandenburg

Holy Roman Empire 1273-1378: Habsburg, Luxembourg, and Wittelsbach territories

Upon his victory at Mühldorf, the king took the occasion to seize the princeless

Berthold VII of Henneberg, who acted as a Brandenburg regent. Duke Rudolf I in late 1324 renounced the Brandenburg estates in turn for a compensation.[1]

To further strengthen the rule of the Wittelsbach dynasty in Northern Germany, Margrave Louis was married to Margaret (1305–1340), the eldest daughter of King Christopher II of Denmark, in 1324. Nevertheless, the Wittelsbach rule in Brandenburg never earned much popular support. As a consequence of the murder of Provost Nikolaus von Bernau by Berlin and Cölln citizens in 1325, the twin-town was punished with a papal interdict. Subsequently, the public unrest led to a resurgence of the centuries-long Brandenburg–Pomeranian conflict from 1328 onwards. The Pomeranian dukes had to withdraw from the Uckermark region after a series of battles throughout the late 1320s and early 1330s.[2] In 1330, they took their duchy as a papal fief to circumvent the Brandenburg claims. In 1336, Louis joined the Teutonic Knights on a crusade in Lithuania, indirectly causing the mass suicide of 4,000 Lithuanians at Pilėnai. In 1338, they finally concluded a peace with the Wittelsbach margrave, who renounced his claims on overlordship but maintained the right of succession.[3]

Having received the Brandenburg

Declaration at Rhense, emphasizing his father's rights against the interference by Pope Benedict XII. In 1340, he and Count John III of Holstein backed Valdemar IV
, brother of Louis' wife Margaret, to succeed to the Danish throne. The House of Wittelsbach maintained good relations to the Danish court, even after Margaret's death in the same year.

From 1342 onwards, Margrave Louis mainly stayed in

Brixen and Trent
strongly objected to Louis' rule, the Wittelsbachs were able to gain the support of the local nobles by granting them numerous privileges.

Duke of Bavaria

When his father died in October 1347, Louis succeeded him as Duke of Bavaria as well as

Otto V the Bavarian received Upper Bavaria; their brothers Stephen II, William I and Albert I received Lower Bavaria
, Holland and Hainaut.

Still banned, Margrave Louis could not apply for the German crown and his party tried to move the Wettin margrave Frederick II of Meissen to the acceptance of the royal title, however, he mistrusted the inconstancy of his voters and rejected the request. Louis then negotiated with his father's ally King Edward III of England to compete against the new Luxembourg king Charles IV, the elder brother of Margaret's husband John Henry. Edward was indeed elected on 10 January 1348 at Lahnstein, but resigned just four months later. Finally, the Wittelsbach party elected Count Günther von Schwarzburg as anti-king in 1349. Louis V successfully resisted Charles IV even though Günther von Schwarzburg's kingship failed. He managed to keep all possessions for the Wittelsbach dynasty until his death.

First Louis successfully repulsed an attack of Charles IV against Tyrol in 1347. In alliance with

Anhalt and Saxon branches of the House of Ascania, he was invested with the margraviate between 1348 and 1350, and took on his position as a margrave with military support of Charles IV and the Ascanians.[6] The Wittelsbachs were expelled from most of Brandenburg and only controlled the Neumark territory and some adjacent areas.[5] Together with Denmark, the Pomeranian dukes sided with the Wittelsbachs, and the alliance had gained already ground in 1350 when the conflict ended With the Treaty of Bautzen (16 February): Louis finally came to terms with Charles IV, who re-invested the House of Wittelsbach with Brandenburg.[6]
The civil war caused a huge devastation in Brandenburg.

Louis released Brandenburg in December 1351 to his brothers Louis VI and Otto V, in exchange for the sole rule of Upper Bavaria. Louis then combined the administration of Upper Bavaria and Tyrol, residing both in Munich and Meran. In 1349 and 1352 he issued two decrees to relieve the consequences of the plague and enabled Jews to re-settle in the Upper Bavarian lands.

Louis VI the Roman, Brandeburg margrave between 1351 and 1365, had to re-establish the Wittelsbach rule against the opposition of the Ascanians, which he accomplished by 1355.[7] During this process, the Brandenburg-Pomeranian border in the Uckermark was finally settled in 1354.[7][8] With the Golden Bull of 1356, only the Palatinate branch of the Wittelsbach family and Louis VI the Roman as Margrave of Brandenburg were invested with the electoral dignity, which caused a new conflict between Louis V and Charles IV.

Duke Louis V maintained good relations with his Habsburg relatives and in 1352 helped arbitrate conflicts of Duke

Meinhard III
married Margaret of Austria, the daughter of Duke Albert II, in September 1359, he and his consort were absolved from their excommunication with the support of the Habsburg family.

Louis suddenly died in September 1361 in

Munich Frauenkirche
.

Family and children

Louis was married two times.

  1. 1324: Margrete of Denmark (1305–1340), daughter of King Christopher II of Denmark
  2. 1342: Margaret, Countess of Tyrol (1318–1369), daughter of King Henry of Bohemia, wife of John Henry of Luxembourg (divorced in 1349)
    1. Hermann of Bavaria (1343–1360)
    2. Meinhard III (1344–1363), married 1359 with Margarete of Habsburg (1346–1366), daughter of Duke Albert II of Austria
    3. daughter
    4. daughter

Map

References

  1. ^ Materna (1995), p.136
  2. ^ Heitz (1995), pp.180-183
  3. ^ Heitz (1995), p.184
  4. ^ Mollat 1965, p. 224.
  5. ^ a b Materna (1995), p.142
  6. ^ a b Materna (1995), pp.142,143
  7. ^ a b Materna (1995), p.143
  8. ^ Heitz (1995), p.185

Sources

  • Mollat, Guillaume (1965). The Popes at Avignon, 1305-1378. Harper & Rowe.


Louis the Brandenburger
Born: 1315 Died: 1361
Vacant
Escheated to King Louis IV of Germany
Title last held by
Henry II
Margrave of Brandenburg

1323–1351 		Succeeded by
Louis II
Preceded by
Albert I and Otto V
 Partitioning
New title
Louis VI and Otto V
(1349–1351) 		Succeeded by
Meinhard (III)
Preceded by
Count of Tyrol

1342–1361
with Margaret
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