Palatine Zweibrücken

Coordinates: 49°15′N 7°22′E / 49.250°N 7.367°E / 49.250; 7.367
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Duchy of Palatinate-Zweibrücken
Herzogtum
Pfalz-Zweibrücken (German)
Duché de
Palatinat-Deux-Ponts (French)
1459–1797
Arms of the Duke of Palatinate-Zweibrücken
Palatine Zweibrücken (green) and other Palatine lines, ca. 1700.
Palatine Zweibrücken (green) and other Palatine lines, ca. 1700.
StatusDuchy
CapitalZweibrücken
Common languagesGerman
Religion
  • Roman Catholicism
  • Lutheranism, from 1532
  • Calvinism
    , from 1588
GovernmentDuchy
Duke 
Historical era
1459
1797
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Palatinate-Simmern and Zweibrücken
County Palatine of Veldenz
French First Republic

The Duchy of Palatinate-Zweibrücken (

Royal House
of Sweden from 1654 to 1720.

Overview

Palatine Zweibrücken was established as a separate principality in 1459, when

County of Veldenz
.

Palatine Zweibrücken ceased to exist in 1797 when it was annexed by France. After the Congress of Vienna in 1815, some parts of it were returned to the last Duke, King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria,[1] who joined them with other former territories on the left bank of the Rhine to form the Rheinkreis, later the Rhenish Palatinate.

Origins

The

Counties Palatine.[1]

Extent

Zweibruecken on a map from 1564 by Tilemann Stella

When Palatine Zweibrücken was created in 1444, it consisted of the

Wachenheim, Wegelnburg and Zweibrücken
from Palatine Simmern were added.

Territories held in 1784

An

Amt was an administrative district; an Oberamt was a larger district, subdivided into Unterämter.[1]

Guttenberg, Seltz and Hagenbach and Bischwiller were French fiefs, the others were German.[1]

History

15th century

During the reign of Louis I, who conducted four unsuccessful feuds against his cousin

districts of Lambsheim, Wachenheim and Waldböckelheim were lost to the Electoral Palatinate. Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor
, who was also in conflict with the Electoral Palatinate, appointed Louis I as his field marshal and recognized Palatine Zweibrücken as a duchy. Louis I stimulated mining and simplified the administration of the duchy.

Initially, Meisenheim was the capital. In 1477, the Electoral Palatinate threatened Meisenheim and the capital had to be moved to Zweibrücken, where it remained until 1793.

Alexander's Church (Alexanderskirche [de]) is the oldest church in Zweibrücken, a late-Gothic Protestant hall church built from 1493 to 1514 as a gift from Alexander, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken after his return from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land; descendant counts and dukes of the line are buried in its crypt.[2]

16th century

After Louis' death, the duchy was not divided. His testament required dukes

Landshut War of Succession. In 1505, when the war ended with an imperial decision, some territory was transferred from the Electoral Palatinate to Palatine Zweibrücken.[1] Alexander concluded an inheritance treaty with the new Elector Philip
, which considerably improved relations between the two countries.

Alexander and Louis II introduced

Palatine Birkenfeld.[1]

17th century

During the

Count Palatine John II of Zweibrücken had to flee to Metz. His son and successor Frederick returned in 1645. When Frederick died without a male heir in 1661, he was succeeded by his cousin Frederick Louis.[1] During his reign, the land was occupied by France in 1676. Zweibrücken was a fief of the Bishopric of Metz, which had been annexed by France. In 1680, France, therefore, annexed Zweibrücken as well. In 1681, Frederick Louis died in exile, without male descendants.[1]

The 1697

Treaty of Ryswick returned the duchy to its rightful owner, who was a cousin-once-removed of Frederick Louis, Count Palatine Charles II of Kleeburg, who was also king of Sweden as Charles XI.[1]

18th century

Charles XII, King of Sweden (1682-1718). Portrait by Johann Heinrich Wedekind
Zweibrücken Palace

The

Charles XII
in 1714 was forced to leave a year after his death in 1719.

From 1725 to 1778, the counts palatine resided in Zweibrücken Castle; they then moved to Karlsberg Castle near Homburg, to emphasize their claim to inherit the Duchy of Bavaria. Members of the ruling family were buried in the castle church in Meisenheim and later in the Alexander Church in Zweibrücken (badly damaged in World War II).

Gustav was the last Count Palatine of the Kleeburg line; when he died in 1731 without a male heir,

Catholicism
in 1758.

During Christian IV's reign, the fragmentation of the area was reduced by exchange of territories. For example, in 1768, Odernheim and half of Molsheim where transferred to the Electoral Palatinate, in exchange for Neuburg, the district of Hagenbach, district of Selz and Selz Abbey.[1] In 1776, the "Hinder" County of Sponheim was divided between Zweibrücken and Baden, with Zweibrücken receiving Kastellaun, Traben-Trarbach with Starkenburg and Allenbach, and Baden receiving Birkenfeld, Frauenburg and Herrstein.[1]

In 1793 the

Elector Palatine, as Maximilian II Joseph.[1]

Christian IV Reign, Regiment Royal Deux-Ponts (Zweibrücken) French Expeditionary Regiments in the American Revolution.[clarification needed]

19th century

Palatine Zweibrücken formally ceased to exist by the Treaty of Lunéville in 1801, which reaffirmed and recognised internationally the French acquisitions laid out in the Treaty of Campo Formio.

In 1806, Maximilian Joseph became King of Bavaria, as Maximilian I Joseph,

Elector
ceased to exist.

After the Congress of Vienna in 1815, some parts of the former County Palatine were returned to Maximilian Joseph, now King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria,[1] together with parts of the former Electorate and territories formerly owned by different families. Maximilian Joseph merged these left-bank territories to form the Rheinkreis, known after 1837 simply as Pfalz (Palatinate) and sometimes called Rheinpfalz (Rhenish Palatinate). This area largely corresponds with the modern Palatinate region and Saarpfalz-Kreis.

Administration

In the duchy, there was no authority that would have limited the power of the Duke. Even the urban population were legally serfs until that status was repealed by John I on 21 April 1571 (although the situation in the city of Zweibrücken had already been somewhat eased by decrees from the years 1352 and 1483). Young men were required to serve six years in the militia.

The highest administrative body was the cabinet; in whose meetings the Duke participated. The treasury was responsible for finance, mining and forestry. There was no separation between the judiciary and the administration. Justice was meted out by officials with the rank of Schultheiß. The highest court in the land was the Court of Appeals in Zweibrücken; its traditions are continued today by Zweibrücken's Oberlandesgericht. After 1774, appeals from the court in Zweibrücken to the Reichskammergericht were no longer possible. In the Alsatian parts of the country, however, appeals to the Conseil souverain d’Alsace in Colmar were possible from about 1680. Important statutes were the Court Judicial Order of 1605, the Lower Court Order of 1657, and later the Criminal Procedure of 1724, and Marriage and Guardianship Regulations. In areas where no state law was available, imperial law applied.

Administratively, the country was divided into eight districts: Zweibrücken, Homburg, Lichtenberg, Meisenheim, Trarbach, Kastellaun, Bergzabern and Guttenberg.

View of Zweibrücken; engraving after a painting by Theodor Verhas

Religion and church

In the 1520s,

Philipp Melanchthon, Wolfgang later adopted a stricter Gnesio-Lutheran
policy.

After Wolfgang's death, his son John I joined the

Treaty of Ryswick
, Lutheran congregations were re-established as well.

Administratively, the Reformed Church was organized similarly to the secular authorities: each secular district corresponded to a church district headed by a

superintendent
or an inspector. Priests were state officials and were regularly visited by a commission consisting of the district superintendent, the secular bailiff and a representative of the central administration in Zweibrücken. There was no bishop or church president, although the superintendent of Zweibrücken had a more prominent position than his colleagues. The parish churches of the individual districts convened regularly; sometimes all clergy in the duchy convened in a national synod. There was no institutionalized national church council; initially, this function was exercised by the secular cabinet college, assisted by the superintendent of Zweibrücken. In the 18th century, however, a national church council was created; its membership consisting of secular councillors.

From the beginning, the lay element played a special role in the church in Zweibrücken. The Reformation revived the ancient office of the Elder, a layman chosen by the community, who would supervise the lifestyle of the congregation, the pastor, the funds and the property of the parish.

Ducal arms

Arms of Palatinate-Zweibrücken

Around 1720, Palatinate-Zweibrücken added the symbols of the

escarbuncle of Cleves, the lion of Berg, the red and silver chequy fess of Mark, the triple chevrons of Ravensberg and the bar of Moers.[3]

List of Counts Palatine Zweibrücken

Charles II August (1775-1795)

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 2-901138-04-7
    .
  2. OCLC 34658300
    .
  3. ^ Georg Christian Joannis: Kalenderarbeiten, Zweibrücken 1825, p. 15 ff Online

49°15′N 7°22′E / 49.250°N 7.367°E / 49.250; 7.367

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