Stephen II (1319 – 13 May 1375,

Landshut Landshut (; ) is a town in Bavaria, Germany, on the banks of the Isar, River Isar. Landshut is the capital of Lower Bavaria, one of the seven administrative regions of the Free state (government), Free State of Bavaria, and the seat of the surrou ...

; ) 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 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.

Biography

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

vogt An , sometimes simply advocate, (German, ), or (French, ), was a type of medieval office holder, particularly important in the Holy Roman Empire, who was delegated some of the powers and functions of a major feudal lord, or for an institutio ...

Swabia Swabia ; , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of ...

and

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

. The Emperor had acquired

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

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

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 provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

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 Upper Bavaria (, ; ) is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany. Geography Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat of the district gove ...

, Lower Bavaria-Landshut and Bavaria-Straubing. Stephen II ruled from 1349 to 1353 together with his brothers

William I William I may refer to: Kings * William the Conqueror (–1087), also known as William I, King of England * William I of Sicily (died 1166) * William I of Scotland (died 1214), known as William the Lion * William I of the Netherlands and Luxembour ...

and Albert I in

and Lower Bavaria-Landshut, since 1353 only in Lower Bavaria-Landshut. After the temporary reconciliation of the Wittelsbach with

Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV (; ; ; 14 May 1316 – 29 November 1378''Karl IV''. In: (1960): ''Geschichte in Gestalten'' (''History in figures''), vol. 2: ''F–K''. 38, Frankfurt 1963, p. 294), also known as Charles of Luxembourg, born Wenceslaus (, ), was H ...

, who had finally confirmed all Wittelsbach possessions, Stephen joined Charles' expedition to Italy in 1354. But soon the

Golden Bull of 1356 The Golden Bull of 1356 (, , , , ) was a decree issued by the Imperial Diet at Nuremberg and Metz ( Diet of Metz, 1356/57) headed by the Emperor Charles IV which fixed, for a period of more than four hundred years, important aspects of the con ...

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 ( pl. , , ) were the members of the Electoral College (Holy Roman Empire), Electoral College of the Holy Roman Empire, which elected the Holy Roman Emperor. Usually, half of the electors were archbishops. From the 13th cen ...

. 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 Louis V, called the Brandenburger (May 1315 – 18 September 1361), a member of the House of Wittelsbach, ruled as Margrave of Brandenburg from 1323 to 1351 and as Duke of Bavaria from 1347 until his death. From 1342 he also was co-ruling Co ...

died in 1363, Stephen II succeeded also in Upper Bavaria and invaded

. To strengthen his position against

Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria Rudolf IV (1 November 1339 – 27 July 1365), also called Rudolf the Founder (), 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 count of Tyrol from 136 ...

he confederated with Bernabò Visconti. Stephen finally renounced Tyrol to the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

s with the Peace of Schärding for a huge financial compensation after the death of

Margarete Maultasch Margaret, nicknamed Maultasch (1318 – 3 October 1369), was the last Countess of Tyrol from the House of Gorizia (''Meinhardiner''), and an unsuccessful claimant to the Duchy of Carinthia. Upon her death, Tyrol became united with the Duchy of Aus ...

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 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, ...

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 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 ...

Family and children

Stephen was married twice. First, 27 June 1328 to Elisabetta of Sicily, daughter of King

Frederick III of Sicily Frederick III (also Frederick II, ', ', '); 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 Ara ...

and Eleanor of Anjou. Second, he was married 14 February 1359 to Margarete of Nuremberg, daughter of John II of Nuremberg and Elisabeth of Henneberg. 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 James I (; 1334 – September 9, 1398) was the youngest son of King Hugh IV of Cyprus and by 1369 held the title "Constable of Jerusalem." When his nephew Peter II of Cyprus, Peter II died in 1382, he became King of Cyprus. James was also crowne ...

. Two of Stephen's sons (Stephen III and Frederick) and one grandson (John's son

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

) 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 142,308 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2023). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan ...

was united with Bavaria-

, 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