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Albert V (German: ''Albrecht V.'') (29 February 1528 – 24 October 1579) was
Duke of Bavaria 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 1918, Bavaria has been under a republican form of government, and from 19 ...
from 1550 until his death. He was born in
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
to
William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded hi ...
and Maria Jacobäa of Baden.


Early life

Albert was educated at
Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (; Austro-Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an Independent city#Germany, independent city on the Danube, in Upper Bavaria, with 142,308 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2023). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan ...
by
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
teachers. On 4 July 1546 he married Anna of Austria, a daughter of
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I (10 March 1503 – 25 July 1564) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1556, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary, Hungary, and List of rulers of Croatia, Croatia from 1526, and Archduke of Austria from 1521 until his death in 1564.Milan Kruhek ...
and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary (1503–1547), daughter of King Ladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary and his wife Anne de Foix. The union was designed to end the political rivalry between Austria and Bavaria. In 1550, Albert succeeded his father as duke of Bavaria.


Political activity

Albert was now free to devote himself to the task of establishing Catholic conformity in his dominions. A strict Catholic by upbringing, Albert was a leader of the German
Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also sometimes called the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It w ...
. Incapable by nature of passionate adherence to any religious principle, and given rather to a life of idleness and pleasure, he pursued the work of repression because he was convinced that the cause of Catholicism was inseparably connected with the fortunes of the
house of Wittelsbach The House of Wittelsbach () is a former Bavarian dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including the Electorate of Bavaria, the Electoral Palatinate, the Electorate of Cologne, County of Holland, Holland, County of Zeeland, ...
. He took little direct share in the affairs of government, nevertheless, and easily lent himself to the plans of his advisers, among whom during the early part of his reign were two sincere Catholics, Georg Stockhammer and Wiguleus Hundt. The latter took an important part in the events leading up to the Peace of Passau (1552) and the Peace of Augsburg (1555). Duke Albert made strenuous efforts to procure for his son, Ernest of Bavaria, election as
Archbishop-elector of Cologne The Archbishop of Cologne governs the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne in western North Rhine-Westphalia. Historically, the archbishop was ''ex officio'' one of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire and ruled the Electorate of Cologne ...
. These efforts would not pay off until after Albert's death; however, a member of the Wittelsbach house of Bavaria would be Archbishop of Cologne for almost two centuries thereafter. As successor of his uncle Ernest of Salzburg, Duke Albert was since 1560 administrator and owner of the mortgage of the county of Glatz, before he returned the redeemed county to Emperor Maximilian II in 1567.


Cultural activity

In 1546, Albert and his father William IV ordered the construction of Dachau Palace (completed 1577), a
Renaissance style Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...
four-winged palace with a court garden which eventually become the preferred dwelling of the rulers of Bavaria. In 1552, Albert commissioned an inventory of the jewelry which he and his wife Anna owned. The resulting manuscript, still held by the
Bavarian State Library The Bavarian State Library (, abbreviated BSB, called ''Bibliotheca Regia Monacensis'' before 1919) in Munich is the central " Landesbibliothek", i. e. the state library of the Free State of Bavaria, the biggest universal and research libra ...
, was the ''Jewel Book of the Duchess Anna of Bavaria'' ("Kleinodienbuch der Herzogin Anna von Bayern"), and contains 110 drawings by Hans Muelich. Albert was a
patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...
of the arts and a collector whose personal accumulations are the basis of the Wittelsbach antique collection of Greek and Roman antiquities, the coin collection, and the Wittelsbach treasury in the
Munich Residenz The Residenz (, ''Residence'') in central Munich is the former royal palace of the House of Wittelsbach, Wittelsbach List of rulers of Bavaria, monarchs of Bavaria. The Residenz is the largest city palace in Germany and is today open to visitors ...
founded by him to house the jewels of the Wittelsbach dynasty; some of his Egyptian antiquities remain in the collection of Egyptian art. His personal library founded in 1558 has come to the
Bavarian State Library The Bavarian State Library (, abbreviated BSB, called ''Bibliotheca Regia Monacensis'' before 1919) in Munich is the central " Landesbibliothek", i. e. the state library of the Free State of Bavaria, the biggest universal and research libra ...
in Munich, inheritor of the Wittelsbach court library. In 1559 Albert founded the Paedagogium in Munich. Albert bought whole collections in Rome and Venice; in Venice, after tiresome drawn-out negotiations with the aged Andrea Loredan, he purchased the Loredan collection virtually in its entirety: 120 bronzes, 2480 medals and coins, 91 marble heads, 43 marble statues, 33 reliefs and 14 various curiosities, for the sum of 7000 ducats; "they were all exported from Venice secretly at night in large chests". At the same time, squabbles among the heirs of Gabriele Vendramin thwarted him in his attempt to purchase the single most important collection in Venice and paintings and antiquities, drawings by the masters and ancient coins.Anderson 1979, ''eo. loc''. To house his extensive collection of antiquities he commissioned the '' Antiquarium'' (created 1568–1571) in the
Munich Residenz The Residenz (, ''Residence'') in central Munich is the former royal palace of the House of Wittelsbach, Wittelsbach List of rulers of Bavaria, monarchs of Bavaria. The Residenz is the largest city palace in Germany and is today open to visitors ...
, the largest
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
hall north of the Alps. Albert appointed Orlando di Lasso to a court post and patronized many other artists; this led to a huge burden of debts (½ Mio. Fl.). Albert died in 1579 in Munich and was succeeded by his son William. He is buried in the Frauenkirche in Munich.


Family and children

With Archduchess Anna of Austria he had seven children: # Charles, born and died in 1547 #
William V, Duke of Bavaria William V (29 September 1548 – 7 February 1626), called ''the Pious'', (German: ''Wilhelm V., der Fromme, Herzog von Bayern'') was the duke of Bavaria from 1579 to 1597. Education and early life William V was born in Landshut, the son of ...
(29 September 1548 – 17 February 1626) #
Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "courage" or "ready, prepared" related to Old High German "to risk, ventu ...
(20 January 1550 – 30 January 1608) # Maria Anna (21 March 1551 – 29 April 1608) # Maximiliana Maria (4 July 1552 – 11 July 1614) # Friedrich (26 July 1553 – 18 April 1554) # Ernest of Bavaria (17 December 1554 – 17 February 1612),
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 ...
and
prince-elector The prince-electors ( pl. , , ) were the members of the Electoral College of the Holy Roman Empire, which elected the Holy Roman Emperor. Usually, half of the electors were archbishops. From the 13th century onwards, a small group of prince- ...
of
Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
1583–1612 Albert is buried in the Frauenkirche in Munich.


Ancestry


Notes


References

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External links

''Hofkleiderbuch (Abbildung und Beschreibung der Hof-Livreen) des Herzogs Wilhelm IV. und Albrecht V. 1508–1551.'' (Court and Coat of Arms Book of Bavarian Dukes:
William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded hi ...
and Albert V) at th
Bavarian State Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albert V, Duke Of Bavaria 1528 births 1579 deaths 16th-century dukes of Bavaria House of Wittelsbach Nobility from Munich German Roman Catholics Albert 5