Genealogical question: the many branches of the Wittelsbach

Yorel

While working on my timeline "A Happier Wedding, A Greater France", I realised I had butterflied a bunch of OTL princes & princesses thanks to an Alternate marriage for Philip William of Pfalz-Neuburg. As I want to keep my timeline as accurate and plausible as possible, I decided to keep a genealogical record of the European Royal Families prior to my POD and of the ATL princes & princesses I'm creating.

I'm experiencing difficulties with the Wittelsbach. I got the basic concept that there were two branches in the origins: the eldest got the Palatinate while the youngest got Bavaria. The Bavarian branch isn't really my problem: though it was divided at some point, it was eventually reunited under a single bloodline that I can easily keep track off.
The problem lies with the Palatinate branch... Unlike the Bavarian one, it was separated in several branches and I have trouble in having a clear shot on all these branches. The fact that I also have trouble in keeping track of the order of these branch by primogeniture also doesn't help...

I'm thus asking on the board this question: what are the various branches of the Wittelsbach? Which ones still had descendants in the seventeenth century (my POD is in 1619)? And how do they rank by primogeniture?
 

Gonzaga

It took a while, but I think I could find all of them. I'll give you the members of the Palatinate branches alive in 1619, and you can follow from here. I'm not including their sons, only the members of the dynasty who were ruling some territory in 1619. So, from the most senior to the most junior branch (but excluding the descendents of morganatic marriages):

a) Frederick V, Elector Palatine;
b) Ludwig Philipp of Pfalz-Simmern-Kaiserslautern (brother of the above);
c) Wolfgang Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg;
d) Augustus, Count Palatine of Sulzbach
e) John Frederick, Count Palatine of Sulzbach-Hilpoltstein
f) John II of Zweibrücken-Veldenz
g) Frederick Casimir of Zweibrücken-Landsberg
h) John Casimir of Kleeburg
i) George Gustavus, Count Palatine of Veldenz
j) George John, Count Palatine of Lützelstein-Guttenberg

Any doubt you can look at this website: http://genealogy.euweb.cz/
 

Vitruvius

Donor
There are at least two people missing, including one who was rather important OTL.

1. George William, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld

2. Christian I, Count Palatine of Birkenfeld-Bischweiler (younger brother of George William)

Christian I was the father Christian II, who whose descendents became the Kings of Bavaria when all the other lines ahead of them died out. His second son Johann Karl started the Pfalz-Gelhnausen line which was the only other one to survive. They became the Dukes in Bavaria (there is only ever one Duke of Bavaria, since the Landshut War of Succession) after their lands were mediatized by the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss. This line was famous for providing wives to most of the crowned heads of Europe including the Franz Josef's Sissi.

Here's a nice chart that shows the various branches. Its from Kelley Ross' webpage. Though it doesn't include the Veldenz or Lützelstein-Guttenberg Lines which would branch off from Alexander of Zweibrucken by his younger son Rupert (not shown).

wittlesbach.gif
 

Yorel

Thank you for the precisions Vitruvius ;)

Gonzaga said:
Damn, I knew it was too good to be true.:mad::p
Click to expand...

Well, I can't blame you. I was completely at loss when I tried to delve in the Wittelsbach tree: the Bavarian branch is very easy to follow since it was only splitted up during the one or two centuries before reunification, but the Palatinate branch is one heck of mess.

Plus, I think missing only two bloodlines, though not perfect, is still an impressive result given you found ten others (well 9 actually since Frederick V's brother apparently had no children).

I hope I won't the Wettin are more simple in comparison... :D

Gonzaga said:
But how they are in seniority compared with the other branches?
Click to expand...

That's also something I was wondering. I will probably have a look at the website Vitruvius indicated to see how it works.
 

Vitruvius

Donor
Gonzaga said:
Damn, I knew it was too good to be true.:mad::p

But how they are in seniority compared with the other branches?
Click to expand...

Yeah, there are almost too many to count at times. The chart fudges a little on seniority for the sake of visual clarity and to showing some important dynastic marriages. And of course it only shows Regnal dates not birth dates. So its not a clear left to right at all times. The Simmern line is more senior than Zweibrucken and all of its branches. The Birkenfeld line is the second junior most, Charles being the youngest son of Wolfgang but still ahead of the descendents of Rupert of Veldenz whose line died out in 1694 with Leopold Louis. For whatever reason Veldenz passed to the Kleeburg line which was neither the most or least senior remaining line but rather somewhere in the middle, I assume because Leopold Louis' mother, as a daughter of John I of Palatine-Zweibrücken, was the great aunt of Charles XI.

So your list is correctly ordered just missing a few. The two I listed would fall consecutively between members h and i. Also John II's son Frederick was born in 1616 so technically I suppose he would be included on the 1619 list below his father. Frederick Casimir had a son born in Oct 1619 so I suppose the same applies for him. And so if we're including living children then Frederick V has several already as to a few other members. So the list of all living male descendents of Elector Rupert III c.1619 would look like this in order of seniority:

a) Frederick V, Elector Palatine;
b) Frederick Henry of Palatine-Simmern (son of Frederick V)
c) Charles Louis of Palatine-Simmern (son of Frederick V)
d) Rupert of Palatine-Simmern (son of Frederick V)
e) Ludwig Philipp of Pfalz-Simmern-Kaiserslautern (younger brother of Frederick V)
f) Wolfgang Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg
g) Philip William of Palatine-Neuburg (son of Wolfgang William)
h) Augustus, Count Palatine of Sulzbach (younger brother of Wolfgang William)
i) John Frederick, Count Palatine of Sulzbach-Hilpoltstein (younger brother of Augustus)
j) John II Count Palatine of Zweibrücken
k) Frederick of Palatine Zweibrücken (son of John II)
l) Frederick Casimir Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Landsberg (younger brother of John II)
m) Frederick Louis of Palatine Zweibrücken (son of Frederick Casimir)
n) John Casimir Count Palatine of Kleeburg (younger brother of Frederick Casimir)
o) George William, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld
p) Christian I, Count Palatine of Birkenfeld-Bischweiler (younger brother of George William)
q) George Gustavus, Count Palatine of Veldenz
r) John Frederick of Palatine-Veldenz (son of George Gustavus)
s) Charles Louis of Palatine-Veldenz (son of George Gustavus)
t) George John, Count Palatine of Lützelstein-Guttenberg (younger brother of George Gustavus)
u) George Otto of Palatine of Lützelstein-Guttenberg (son of George John)

The descendents of a-o would all die out by the end of the 18th century, many sooner than that including q-u which didn't make it out of the 17th century. Thus p1 inherits, become King of Bavaria, p2 becomes Duke in Bavaria. Impressive given that the territories of the Birkenfeld line were also pretty small in 1619. Gelnhausen was just a city state that was later mediatized to Hesse-Cassel. Birkenfeld was just a portion of the Rear County of Sponheim, itself just one half of the County of Sponheim. It was just the fact that the elder lines all died out that they were able to inherit more significant territories.
 
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