Stephen III (1337 – 26 September 1413), called the Magnificent or the Fop (''Stephan der Kneißl''), was the

Duke of Bavaria-Ingolstadt The following is a list of monarchs during the history of Bavaria. Bavaria was ruled by several dukes and kings, partitioned and reunited, under several dynasties. Since 1949, Bavaria has been a democratic state in the Federal Republic of Germ ...

from 1375. He was the eldest son of Stephen II and Elizabeth of Sicily.

Family

His maternal grandparents were

Frederick III of Sicily Frederick II (or III) (13 December 1272 – 25 June 1337) was the regent of the Kingdom of Sicily from 1291 until 1295 and subsequently King of Sicily from 1295 until his death. He was the third son of Peter III of Aragon and served in the W ...

and

Eleanor of Anjou Eleanor of Anjou (August 1289 – 9 August 1341) was Queen of Sicily as the wife of King Frederick II of Sicily. She was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou by birth. She was the third daughter of King Charles II of Naples and Mary of Hungar ...

, the daughter of

Charles II of Naples Charles II, also known as Charles the Lame (french: Charles le Boiteux; it, Carlo lo Zoppo; 1254 – 5 May 1309), was King of Naples, Count of Provence and Forcalquier (1285–1309), Prince of Achaea (1285–1289), and Count of Anjou and Maine ( ...

and

Maria Arpad of Hungary Mary of Hungary (c. 1257 – 25 March 1323), of the Árpád dynasty, was Queen of Naples by marriage to King Charles II. She was a daughter of Stephen V of Hungary and his wife Elizabeth the Cuman. Mary served as regent in Provence in 1290–1 ...

. Maria was a daughter of

Stephen V of Hungary Stephen V ( hu, V. István, hr, Stjepan V., sk, Štefan V; before 18 October 1239 – 6 August 1272, Csepel Island) was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1270 and 1272, and Duke of Styria from 1258 to 1260. He was the oldest son of Kin ...

and his wife, queen Elisabeth, who was daughter of Zayhan of Kuni, a chief of the

Cuman tribe The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian exonym ), were a Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation. After the Mongol invasion (1237), many soug ...

and had been a

pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...

before her marriage. Stephen V was a son of

Béla IV of Hungary Béla IV (1206 – 3 May 1270) was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1235 and 1270, and Duke of Styria from 1254 to 1258. As the oldest son of King Andrew II, he was crowned upon the initiative of a group of influential noblemen in his father ...

and Maria Laskarina. Maria Laskarina was a daughter of

Theodore I Lascaris Theodore I Laskaris or Lascaris ( gr, Θεόδωρος Κομνηνὸς Λάσκαρις, Theodōros Komnēnos Laskaris; 1175November 1221) was the first emperor of Nicaea—a successor state of the Byzantine Empire—from 1205 to his de ...

and

Anna Angelina Anna Komnene Angelina or Comnena Angelina (c. 1176 – 1212) was an Empress of Nicaea. She was the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Alexios III Angelos and of Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera. Life Her first marriage was to the '' sebastokratōr'' I ...

. Anna was daughter of

Eastern Roman Emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...

Alexius III and

Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamaterina Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamaterina or better Kamatera ( el, Εὐφροσύνη Δούκαινα Καματερίνα ἢ Καματηρά, – 1211) was a Byzantine Empress by marriage to the Byzantine Emperor Alexios III Angelos. Euphrosyne was ...

Reign

From 1375 to 1392, Stephen ruled Bavaria with his brothers

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 ...

and

John II John II may refer to: People * John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (1455–1499) * John II Casimir Vasa of Poland (1609–1672) * John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch (died 1302) * John II Doukas of Thessaly (1303–1318) * John II Komnenos (1087–1 ...

. However, in 1392, Bavaria was split into three separate Duchies, now consisting of

Bavaria-Landshut Bavaria-Landshut (german: Bayern-Landshut) was a duchy in the Holy Roman Empire from 1353 to 1503. History The creation of the duchy was the result of the death of Emperor Louis IV the Bavarian. In the Treaty of Landsberg 1349, which divided u ...

Bavaria-Ingolstadt Bavaria-Ingolstadt ( or ') was a duchy which was part of the Holy Roman Empire from 1392 to 1447. History After the death of Stephen II in 1375, his sons Stephen III, Frederick, and John II jointly ruled Bavaria-Landshut. After seventeen year ...

and

Bavaria-Munich Bavaria-Munich (german: Bayern-München) was a duchy that was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire from 1392 to 1505. History After the death of Stephen II in 1375, his sons Stephen III, Frederick, and John II jointly ruled Bavaria-La ...

. John II partitioned Bavaria as the result of his refusal to finance his brothers' expensive ambitions in the Italian court. After the division of Bavaria, Stephen retained Bavaria-

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an 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. Ingolstadt is the second largest city in Upper Bav ...

, although he soon came to regard his share to be inferior to the other two Duchies. From 1395 to 1397, he also jointly held Bavaria-Munich with John II, after an armed conflict between the brothers. After the deaths of both of his brothers, Stephen attempted to extend his Duchy, this time causing conflict with his nephews. In opposition to them, Stephen also supported King Rupert against the

Luxemburg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small land ...

. In 1402 Stephen was forced by his nephew

Ernest Ernest is a given name derived from Germanic languages, Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious". Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People *Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman ...

to confine his reign to Bavaria-

. In 1403, he supported the citizens' uprising in Munich, although that failed. His final attempt in 1410 to reconquer

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

, which his father had ceded to the Grand Duchy of

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

was likewise unsuccessful. He died at

Niederschönenfeld Niederschönenfeld is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the district of Donau-Ries in Bavaria in Germany. It lies on the river Danube. Mayors *1978–1996: Johann Höringer *1996–2002: Manfred Rümmer *2002–2020: Peter Mahl *since ...

Family and children

He was married twice. First, he was married on 13 October 1364 to

Taddea Visconti Taddea Visconti, Duchess of Bavaria (1351 – 28 September 1381) was an Italian noblewoman of the House of Visconti (Milan), Visconti family, the ruling house in Milan from 1277 to 1447. She was the first wife of Stephen III, Duke of Bavaria, and ...

, daughter of

Bernabò Visconti Bernabò or Barnabò Visconti (1323 – 19 December 1385) was an Italian soldier and statesman who was Lord of Milan. Along with his brothers Matteo and Galeazzo II, he inherited the lordship of Milan from his uncle Giovanni. Later in 1355, he an ...

and

Beatrice della Scala Beatrice ''Regina'' della Scala (1331 – 18 June 1384) was Lady of Milan by marriage to Bernabò Visconti, Lord of Milan, and politically active as the adviser of her spouse.Tuchman, p.333 Life Beatrice Regina was born in Verona in 1331,Charle ...

. He had, from his first marriage: * Louis VII the Bearded, who succeeded him in Bavaria-Ingolstadt, *

Isabeau of Bavaria Isabeau of Bavaria (or Isabelle; also Elisabeth of Bavaria-Ingolstadt; c. 1370 – September 1435) was Queen of France from 1385 to 1422. She was born into the House of Wittelsbach as the only daughter of Duke Stephen III of Bavaria-Ingol ...

, married Charles VI, king of France. Second, he was married in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

on 16 January 1401 to

Elisabeth of Cleves Myntha Elisabeth of Cleves was Duchess of Bavaria-Ingolstadt from 1401 to 1413. She was the daughter of the Duke of Cleves - Adolf III of the Marck and Margaret of Jülich. She married Reginald of Falkenburg in 1393, who died in 1396. In 1401, ...

, daughter of Count Adolf III of Cleves.

Ancestors

References

Sources

ged 76 The General Educational Development (GED) tests are a group of four subject tests which, when passed, provide certification that the test taker has United States or Canadian high school-level academic skills. It is an alternative to the US high ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephen Iii, Duke Of Bavaria 1337 births 1413 deaths 14th-century dukes of Bavaria 15th-century dukes of Bavaria House of Wittelsbach