Palatinate-Birkenfeld-Zweibrücken

Palatinate-Birkenfeld-Zweibrücken was a state of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

based around the Duchy of Zweibrücken in modern

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

, Germany. Palatinate-Birkenfeld-Zweibrücken was created in 1731 when

Christian III Christian III (12 August 1503 – 1 January 1559) reigned as King of Denmark from 1534 and King of Norway from 1537 until his death in 1559. During his reign, Christian formed close ties between the church and the crown. He established ...

Palatinate-Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld Palatinate-Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld was a state of the Holy Roman Empire based around Birkenfeld within the Upper Rhenish Circle. It was formed in 1569, after the partition of Palatine Zweibrücken and was reincorporated into that state in 1731. ...

inherited the Duchy of Zweibrücken. Christian soon died in 1735 and was succeeded by his son

Christian IV Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian monar ...

. Christian IV began his reign obtaining politically favourable conditions for his state, and in this end he formed a close relationship with the court of France. Although he bankrupted the state through his

alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...

, art collecting, construction work and a failed attempt to establish a

porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...

industry in Zweibrücken, he was considered a good Duke, especially in comparison to his nephew

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person t ...

who succeeded him in 1775. Charles III began his reign as an absolutist ruler, and in the first two years he endeavoured to dismiss the court and restore the financial situation of the state. He greatly expanded the size of the

household A household consists of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is i ...

of the Duchy which quickly developed into a financial burden itself, further increasing his unpopularity. In 1778/ 9 the Potato War was fought on Charles' behalf by

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

and

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

to prevent Charles Theodore, Duke of Bavaria, exchanging the

Duchy of Bavaria The Duchy of Bavaria ( German: ''Herzogtum Bayern'') was a frontier region in the southeastern part of the Merovingian kingdom from the sixth through the eighth century. It was settled by Bavarian tribes and ruled by dukes (''duces'') under ...

for the

Austrian Netherlands The Austrian Netherlands nl, Oostenrijkse Nederlanden; french: Pays-Bas Autrichiens; german: Österreichische Niederlande; la, Belgium Austriacum. was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The pe ...

as Charles was the heir of Bavaria. When the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

broke out he managed to obtain the neutrality of his state by the French, but in 1795 the French invaded and annexed Zweibrücken and Charles fled to

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...

and later Heidelberg-Rohrbach. He was succeeded in title by his brother Maximilian Joseph in 1795. In 1797 Palatinate-Birkenfeld-Zweibrücken was formally ceded to France, although two years later Maximilian inherited Bavaria. House of Wittelsbach Counties of the Holy Roman Empire {{Germany-hist-stub