Stephen III (1337 – 26 September 1413), called the Magnificent or the Fop (''Stephan der Kneißl''), was the Duke of Bavaria-Ingolstadt 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 th ...

and Eleanor of Anjou, 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 Mai ...

and Maria Arpad of Hungary. 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 ...

and his wife, queen Elisabeth, who was daughter of Zayhan of Kuni, a chief of the Cuman tribe 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. I ...

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 fath ...

and Maria Laskarina. Maria Laskarina was a daughter of Theodore I Lascaris 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 Alexius III and Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamaterina.

Reign

From 1375 to 1392, Stephen ruled Bavaria with his brothers Frederick and John II. 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 ...

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 yea ...

and Bavaria-Munich. 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 Ba ...

, 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 Rupert may refer to: People * Rupert (name), various people known by the given name or surname "Rupert" Places Canada * Rupert, Quebec, a village *Rupert Bay, a large bay located on the south-east shore of James Bay *Rupert River, Quebec *Rupert ...

against the Luxemburg. In 1402 Stephen was forced by his nephew

Ernest Ernest is a given name derived from 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 Emperor * Ernest, ...

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 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 2020: Stefan Roßkopf P ...

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 Visconti family, the ruling house in Milan from 1277 to 1447. She was the first wife of Stephen III, Duke of Bavaria, and the mother of the French qu ...

, daughter of Bernabò Visconti and Beatrice della Scala. He had, from his first marriage: * Louis VII the Bearded, who succeeded him in Bavaria-Ingolstadt, * Isabeau of Bavaria, 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 state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

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, sh ...

, daughter of Count

Adolf III of Cleves Adolph III of the Marck (German: ''Adolf III von der Mark''; – 1394) was the Prince-Bishop of Münster (as Adolph) from 1357 to 1363, the Archbishop-Elector of Cologne (as Adolph II) in 1363, the Count of Cleves (as Adolph I) from 1368 to 139 ...

Ancestors

References

Sources

* ged 76 {{DEFAULTSORT:Stephen Iii, Duke Of Bavaria 1337 births 1413 deaths 14th-century dukes of Bavaria 15th-century dukes of Bavaria House of Wittelsbach