}) was Duke of Bavaria from 1347 until his death. He was the second son of Emperor Louis IV the Bavarian by his first wife Beatrice of Silesia and a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty. Stephan II

Biography

During the reign of Emperor Louis IV his son Stephen served as vogt of Swabia and

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 ha ...

. The Emperor had acquired

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 square ...

, Tyrol,

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

and Hainaut for his House but he had also released the Upper Palatinate for the Palatinate branch of the Wittelsbach in 1329. When his father died in 1347, Stephen succeeded him as Duke of Bavaria and Count of

and Hainaut together with his five brothers. Louis IV had reunited Bavaria in 1340 but in 1349 the country was divided for the emperor's sons again into Upper Bavaria, Lower Bavaria-Landshut and Bavaria-Straubing. Stephen II ruled from 1349 to 1353 together with his brothers William I and

Albert I Albert I may refer to: People Born before 1300 * Albert I, Count of Vermandois (917–987) *Albert I, Count of Namur () *Albert I of Moha *Albert I of Brandenburg (), first margrave of Brandenburg *Albert I, Margrave of Meissen (1158–1195) *Alber ...

and Lower Bavaria-Landshut, since 1353 only in Lower Bavaria-Landshut. After the temporary reconciliation of the Wittelsbach with Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, who had finally confirmed all Wittelsbach possessions, Stephen joined Charles' expedition to Italy in 1354. But soon the Golden Bull of 1356 caused a new conflict since only the Palatinate branch of the Wittelsbach and his brother Louis VI the Roman as margrave of Brandenburg were invested with the

electoral dignity The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century onwards, the prince ...

. Stephen II was the last son of Emperor Louis IV who was in 1362 absolved from excommunication. When Duke Meinhard, the son of his older brother Louis V the Brandenburger died in 1363, Stephen II succeeded also in Upper Bavaria and invaded Tyrol. To strengthen his position against

Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria Rudolf IV (1 November 1339 – 27 July 1365), also called Rudolf the Founder (german: der Stifter), was a scion of the House of Habsburg who ruled as duke of Austria (self-proclaimed archduke), Styria and Carinthia from 1358, as well as co ...

he confederated with Bernabò Visconti. Stephen finally renounced Tyrol to the Habsburgs with the Peace of Schärding for a huge financial compensation after the death of Margarete Maultasch in 1369. His conflict with his brother Louis VI the Roman on the Bavarian heritage of Meinhard finally caused also the loss of

by the Wittelsbach dynasty since Louis then made Charles IV his contracted heir. However, Stephen accepted his brother Otto, the last Wittelsbach regent of Brandenburg, as his nominal co-regent when he returned to Bavaria in 1373. Due to the loss of Brandenburg the Bavarian dukes received a financial compensation one more time. Stephen was succeeded by his three sons. He is buried in the Frauenkirche in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

Family and children

He was married twice. First, 27 June 1328 to Elisabetta of Sicily, daughter of King Frederick III of Sicily and Eleanor of Anjou. Second, he was married 14 February 1359 to Margarete of Nuremberg, daughter of

John II of Nuremberg John II of Nuremberg ( 1309 – 1357) was a Burgrave of Nuremberg from the House of Hohenzollern. He was the elder son of Frederick IV of Nuremberg and Margarete of Görz. Life He succeeded his father in 1332. He attained his name "the Acqu ...

and

Elisabeth of Henneberg Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS Elizabeth, HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * Elisa ...

. All his children were from his first marriage, including three sons, who finally divided Bavaria among themselves in 1392 and one daughter: # Stephen III of Bavaria-Ingolstadt (1337–September 26, 1413, Niederschönfeld). # Frederick of Bavaria-Landshut (1339–December 4, 1393, Budweis). # John II of Bavaria-Munich (1341–1397), married Katherina of Gorz # Agnes (b. 1338), married c. 1356 King James I of Cyprus. Two of Stephen's sons (Stephen III and Frederick) and one grandson (John's son Ernest) were married to daughters of his ally Bernabò Visconti. In 1447 Bavaria-

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (, Austro-Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an Independent city#Germany, independent city on the Danube in Upper Bavaria with 139,553 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2022). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan area ...

was united with Bavaria- Landshut, which was seized by Bavaria-

in 1503.

Ancestors

References

Sources

External links

*
Map of the Holy Roman Empire in 1347
, - , - , - {{Authority control 1319 births 1375 deaths 14th-century dukes of Bavaria House of Wittelsbach Burials at Munich Frauenkirche Sons of emperors Children of Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor Sons of kings