Louis III (german: Ludwig III. der Ältere or der Bärtige) (23 January 1378 – 30 December 1436), was an

Elector Palatine The counts palatine of Lotharingia /counts palatine of the Rhine /electors of the Palatinate (german: Kurfürst von der Pfalz) ruled some part of Rhine area in the Kingdom of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire from 915 to 1803. The title was a kind ...

of the Rhine from the

house of Wittelsbach The House of Wittelsbach () is a German dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including Bavaria, the Palatinate, Holland and Zeeland, Sweden (with Finland), Denmark, Norway, Hungary (with Romania), Bohemia, the Electorate ...

in 1410–1436.

Biography

Louis III was the third son of King Rupert of Germany and his wife Elisabeth of Nuremberg. During his father's campaign in Italy 1401-1402 Louis served as imperial vicar. He succeeded his father in 1410 as Elector of the Palatinate but did not run for the German crown. The Palatinate was divided between the four of Rupert's surviving sons. As oldest surviving son and new Prince-Elector Louis III received the main part, John received Palatinate-Neumarkt, Stephen received

Palatinate-Simmern The House of Palatinate-Simmern (german: Pfalz-Simmern) was a German- Bavarian cadet branch of the House of Wittelsbach. The house was one of the collateral lineages of the Palatinate. The Palatinate line of the House of Wittelsbach was divided i ...

and

Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', ''Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fro ...

received Palatinate-Mosbach. Louis III was a member of the

Parakeet Society The Parakeet Society was a union of the enemies of Louis VII the Bearded, duke of Bavaria-Ingolstadt. It was founded on April 17, 1414 by his cousin, duke Henry XVI of Bavaria-Landshut. The other members of the society were Ernest of Bavaria-Muni ...

and of the League of Constance. Highly cultured and religious he was a patron of the Heidelberg University. Louis III acted as vicar for

Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg (15 February 1368 – 9 December 1437) was a monarch as King of Hungary and Croatia ('' jure uxoris'') from 1387, King of Germany from 1410, King of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1433 until his death in ...

and was his bearer during the

Council of Constance The Council of Constance was a 15th-century ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held from 1414 to 1418 in the Bishopric of Constance in present-day Germany. The council ended the Western Schism by deposing or accepting the res ...

. As such Louis later also executed the sentences against Jan Hus and

Jerome of Prague Jerome of Prague ( cs, Jeroným Pražský; la, Hieronymus Pragensis; 1379 – 30 May 1416) was a Czech scholastic philosopher, theologian, reformer, and professor. Jerome was one of the chief followers of Jan Hus and was burned for heresy at ...

. He also arrested Antipope John XXIII in 1415. Louis III returned very sick from a pilgrimage in 1427 into the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

which he had organized after the death of his son Ruprecht. From 1430 onwards he was almost blind and in 1435 deprived of power by his wife and her advisors. In the following year he died, in Heidelberg, and was succeeded by his son Louis IV.

Family and children

Louis III was married twice. Firstly, he married on 6 July 1402 Blanche of England (1392 – 21 May 1409), daughter of King

Henry IV of England Henry IV ( April 1367 – 20 March 1413), also known as Henry Bolingbroke, was King of England from 1399 to 1413. He asserted the claim of his grandfather King Edward III, a maternal grandson of Philip IV of France, to the Kingdom of F ...

and Mary de Bohun. They had one son Ruprecht (22 May 1406 – 20 May 1426). This marriage brought the Palatine Crown into the hands of the Wittelsbach. Secondly, he married on 30 November 1417 Matilda of Savoy, daughter of Amadeo, Prince of Achaea. They had five children: # Mathilde (7 March 1419 – 1 October 1482), married: ## in 1434 to Count Louis I of Württemberg ## in 1452 to Duke

Albrecht VI of Austria Albert VIKonstantin Moritz A. Langmaier: Erzherzog Albrecht VI. von Österreich (1418–1463). Ein Fürst im Spannungsfeld von Dynastie, Regionen und Reich (= Forschungen zur Kaiser- und Papstgeschichte des Mittelalters. Bd. 38). Böhlau, Köln ...

Louis IV, Elector Palatine Louis IV, Count Palatine of the Rhine (1 January 1424, Heidelberg – 13 August 1449, Worms) was an Elector Palatine of the Rhine from the House of Wittelsbach in 1436 - 1449. Biography Louis IV was the son of Louis III, Elector Palatine and ...

(1 January 1424 – 13 August 1449) #

Frederick I, Elector Palatine Frederick I, the Victorious (''der Siegreiche'') (1 August 1425, Heidelberg – 12 December 1476, Heidelberg) was a Count Palatine of the Rhine and Elector Palatine from the House of Wittelsbach in 1451–1476. Biography He was a son of Louis II ...

(1 August 1425 – 12 December 1476) # Rupprecht (27 February 1427 – 26 July 1480), Prince-elector

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

of Cologne # Margarete (ca. 1428 – 23 November 1466), a nun at Liebenau monastery

References

Sources

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External links

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genealogie-mittelalter.de
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Louis 03 Elector Palatine Wittelsbach, Louis III, Elector Palatine of the Rhine Wittelsbach, Louis III, Elector Palatine of the Rhin House of Wittelsbach Prince-electors of the Palatinate Burials at the Church of the Holy Spirit, Heidelberg Sons of kings