Charles II (; 10 April 1651, in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

– 26 May 1685, in

) was

Elector Palatine This article lists counts palatine of Lotharingia, counts palatine of the Rhine, and electors of the Palatinate (), the titles of three counts palatine who ruled some part of the Rhine region in the Kingdom of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire b ...

from 1680 to 1685. He was the son of

Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine Charles I Louis (; 22 December 1617 – 28 August 1680) was Elector Palatine from 1648 until his death. He was the second son of Frederick V of the Palatinate, the "Winter King" of Bohemia, and the British princess Elizabeth Stuart. Aft ...

of the House of

Wittelsbach The House of Wittelsbach () is a former Bavarian dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including the Electorate of Bavaria, the Electoral Palatinate, the Electorate of Cologne, County of Holland, Holland, County of Zeeland, ...

, and Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel.

Early life

His parents separated after a marriage that had been turbulent for years and the mother retreated to

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

. As a result, Charles grew up without a mother under the eyes of his authoritarian father. Charles's younger sister Elizabeth Charlotte ("Liselotte") was married in 1671 to the brother of King Louis XIV of France, Philippe I, Duke of Orléans. The prince's education was led by the scholars

Samuel von Pufendorf Samuel von Pufendorf (; ; 8 January 1632 – 26 October 1694) was a German people, German jurist, political philosopher, economist and historian. He was born Samuel Pufendorf and Nobility, ennobled in 1694; he was made a baron by Charles XI of ...

and Ezekiel Spanheim. Charles undertook his cavalier tour to Switzerland and France in 1670. In Switzerland, Karl fell ill with smallpox, which permanently disfigured his face. In 1671, he married through his aunt

Sophia of Hanover Sophia (born Princess Sophia of the Palatinate; – ) was Electress of Hanover from 19 December 1692 until 23 January 1698 as the consort of Prince-Elector Ernest Augustus. She was later the heiress presumptive to the thrones of England and ...

's mediation Princess Wilhelmine Ernestine of Denmark, a daughter of King

Frederick III of Denmark Frederick III (; 18 March 1609 – 9 February 1670) was King of Denmark and Norway from 1648 until his death in 1670. He also governed under the name Frederick II as diocesan administrator (colloquially referred to as prince-bishop) of the ...

and

Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Calenberg (24 March 1628 – 20 February 1685) was List of Danish consorts, Queen of Denmark and List of Norwegian consorts, Norway as the consort of the King Frederick III of Denmark. She is known for her political in ...

, in Heidelberg. The marriage became unhappy and remained childless. Sophia later wrote about it in her memoirs: “The Electoral Prince, who had a very reserved upbringing, asked the Duke ''(Sophia's husband Ernest Augustus)'' to give him his advice in matters that he knew nothing about. But he seems to have been a bad student, because his wife never became pregnant.“''Memoiren der Kurfürstin Sophie von Hannover: Ein höfisches Lebensbild aus dem 17. Jahrhundert'' (Memoirs of the Electress Sophia of Hanover: A courtly picture of life from the 17th century), edited by Martina Trauschke, publisher Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen 2014, p. 107

Rule

His short reign was not glamorous. He appointed his incompetent former tutor Paul Hachenberg as chief minister, leaving his half-siblings, the "Raugraves", out of favour. He brought back his mother from Kassel and paid her immense debts. Charles was of a weak and timid nature, marked by familial childhood experiences. He showed a superficial enthusiasm for military life. Charles was a strict

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

. The court preacher Johann Ludwig Langhanns became senior minister after Hachenberg's death. Increasing financial difficulties in the state budget, caused by oversized households, passion for hunting and theater as well as military spending, could no longer be regulated by tax increases. In 1682, Charles pledged

Germersheim Germersheim () is a town in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, of around 20,000 inhabitants. It is also the seat of the Germersheim (district), Germersheim district. The neighboring towns and cities are Speyer, Landau, Philippsburg, Karlsru ...

to France for twenty years. He liked to stage expensive theatrical re-enactments of battles with sieges, ships, etc. and within a few years wasted the national treasury that his father had saved over many years. Charles was the last Elector of the Palatinate from the Protestant Reformed House of Palatinate-Simmern; upon his death, the

Electoral Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire until it was annexed by the Electorate of Baden in 1803. From the end of the 13th century, its ruler was one of the Prince-electors who elected the Holy Roman Empero ...

passed to the Catholic

Palatinate-Neuburg Palatinate-Neuburg () was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire, founded in 1505 by a branch of the House of Wittelsbach. Its capital was Neuburg an der Donau. Its area was about 2,750 km2, with a population of some 100,000. History The Du ...

branch of the family. The rival claims to the Palatinate of his sister, Elizabeth Charlotte, Duchess of Orleans,

Louis XIV of France LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

's sister-in-law, was the pretext for the French invasion of the Palatinate in 1688, which began the

Nine Years War The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between France and the Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial possessions in the Americas, India, and West Africa. Relat ...

Ancestry

References

1651 births 1685 deaths 17th-century Prince-electors of the Palatinate Nobility from Heidelberg House of Palatinate-Simmern Burials at the Church of the Holy Spirit, Heidelberg {{Germany-noble-stub