John II the Younger (german: Johann II. der Jüngere) (26 March 1584 – 9 August 1635) was the Duke of Zweibrücken from 1604 until 1635.

Life

John was born in

Bergzabern Bad Bergzabern () is a municipality in the Südliche Weinstraße district, on the German Wine Route in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated near the border with France, on the south-eastern edge of the Palatinate forest, approximately ...

in 1584 as the eldest son of John I, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken and his wife,

Magdalene of Jülich-Cleves-Berg Duchess Magdalene of Jülich-Cleves-Berg (2 November 1553 – 30 August 1633) was the fifth child of Duke William "the Rich" of Jülich-Cleves-Berg and Maria of Austria, a daughter of Emperor Ferdinand I. She married in 1579 with Count Pala ...

. Anselme, Père. ‘’Histoire de la Maison Royale de France’’, tome 4. Editions du Palais-Royal, 1967, Paris. pp. 71-72. (French). He succeeded his father in 1604 and in 1606 he took back possession of the lordship of Bischweiler in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

for the House of Wittelsbach from a vassal, Flach von Schwanzenberg. In 1611 he executed his late father's dispositions in favour of his younger brothers, Friedrich Casimir and

Johann Casimir John Casimir, Count Palatine of Simmern (German: ''Johann Casimir von Pfalz-Simmern'') (7 March 1543 – Brockhaus Geschichte Second Edition) was a German prince and a younger son of Frederick III, Elector Palatine. A firm Calvinist, he was a lea ...

, giving them, respectively, the

appanage An appanage, or apanage (; french: apanage ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture. It was common in much o ...

s of Landsberg and Neukastell, retaining for his own realm most of Zweibrücken. From 1610 until 1612 he was the guardian of

Frederick V, Elector Palatine Frederick V (german: link=no, Friedrich; 26 August 1596 – 29 November 1632) was the Elector Palatine of the Rhine in the Holy Roman Empire from 1610 to 1623, and reigned as King of Bohemia from 1619 to 1620. He was forced to abdicate both ...

. In this function he was briefly the deputy of the Holy Roman Emperor

Rudolph II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the Ho ...

in 1612, and he minted coins with the Imperial two-headed eagle on reverse. His first wife having died in 1607, he remarried a cousin, daughter of the Elector Palatine at

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

in May and two months later purchased the estate of Birlenbach (

Bas-Rhin Bas-Rhin (; Alsatian: ''Unterelsàss'', ' or '; traditional german: links=no, Niederrhein; en, Lower Rhine) is a department in Alsace which is a part of the Grand Est super-region of France. The name means 'Lower Rhine', referring to its low ...

), which included dependent manors from Eberhard, Count of Ribeaupierre. John died in 1635 in

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...

and is buried alongside other counts/dukes of the house's line, in the crypt of Alexander's Church (') in

Zweibrücken Zweibrücken (; french: Deux-Ponts, ; Palatinate German: ''Zweebrigge'', ; literally translated as "Two Bridges") is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Schwarzbach river. Name The name ''Zweibrücken'' means 'two bridges'; olde ...

, built in 1493 by his ancestor Alexander, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken.

Family and children

John married Catherine

de Rohan The House of Rohan ( br, Roc'han) is a Breton family of viscounts, later dukes and princes in the French nobility, coming from the locality of Rohan in Brittany. Their line descends from the viscounts of Porhoët and is said to trace back to ...

(20 June 1578 - 10 May 1607), daughter of

René II, Viscount of Rohan René (''born again'' or ''reborn'' in French) is a common first name in French-speaking, Spanish-speaking, and German-speaking countries. It derives from the Latin name Renatus. René is the masculine form of the name ( Renée being the feminin ...

on 26 August 1604 and had the following daughter: # Magdalena Catherine (26 April 1607 - 20 January 1648), married to

Christian I, Count Palatine of Birkenfeld-Bischweiler Christian I (3 November 1598 – 6 September 1654) was the Duke of Birkenfeld-Bischweiler from 1600 until 1654. Life Christian was born in Birkenfeld in 1598 as the youngest son of Charles I, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld. His fathe ...

John married Louise Juliana (16 July 1594 - 28 April 1640), daughter of

Frederick IV, Elector Palatine Frederick IV, Elector Palatine of the Rhine (german: Kurfürst Friedrich IV. von der Pfalz; 5 March 1574 – 19 September 1610), only surviving son of Louis VI, Elector Palatine and Elisabeth of Hesse, called "Frederick the Righteous" (german: ...

, on 13 May 1612 and had the following children: #Elizabeth Louise Juliana (16 July 1613 - 29 March 1667),

Abbess of Herford Herford Abbey (german: Frauenstift Herford) was the oldest women's religious house in the Duchy of Saxony. It was founded as a house of secular canonesses in 789, initially in Müdehorst (near the modern Bielefeld) by a nobleman called Waltger, ...

#Catherine Elizabeth Charlotte (11 January 1615 - 21 March 1651), married to

Wolfgang Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg Wolfgang Wilhelm von Pfalz-Neuburg (4 November 1578 in Neuburg an der Donau – 14 September 1653 in Düsseldorf) was a German Prince. He was Count palatine of Neuburg and Duke of Jülich and Berg. Life Wolfgang Wilhelm's parents were Ph ...

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode *Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederick ...

(5 April 1616 - 9 July 1661) #Anne Sybille (20 July 1617 - 9 November 1641) #John Louis (22 July 1619 - 15 October 1647) #Juliana Magdalena (23 April 1621 - 25 March 1672), married to

Frederick Louis, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken Frederick Louis (german: Friedrich Ludwig; 27 October 1619 – 11 April 1681) was the Duke of Landsberg from 1645 until 1681, and the Count Palatine of Zweibrücken from 1661 until 1681. Life Frederick Louis was born in Heidelberg in 1619 ...

#Maria Amalie (19 October 1622 - 11 June 1641)

Ancestors

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:John 02, Count Palatine of Zweibrucken 1584 births 1635 deaths People from Bad Bergzabern House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken House of Wittelsbach Burials at the Alexanderkirche, Zweibrücken Counts Palatine of Zweibrücken