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William Iv, Duke Of Bavaria





His parents were Albert IV and Kunigunde Of Austria , a daughter of Emperor Frederick III .

William first showed sympathy for the Reformation but then decided to stop its expansion in Bavaria. In 1522 William IV issued the first Bavarian religion mandate. It is a censorship regulation, which places the spreading and a reading from Martin Luther's bibliography under punishment. After an agreement with Pope Clement VII in 1524 William became a political leader of German Counter Reformation but was in opposition against Habsburg since his brother Louis X claimed the Bohemian crown. Both dukes also suppressed the uprising of farmers in South Germany in an alliance with the archbishop of Salzburg in 1525 .

The conflict with Habsburg ended in 1534 when both dukes reached an agreement with Ferdinand I in Linz . Later William supported Charles V in his war against the Schmalkaldic League in 1546 .

With his collection of paintings William became the founder of the Old Pinakothek .
In 1516 he edicted his famous purity regulation for Bavarian Beer which was only abolished in 1986 by Paneuropean regulations of the European Union .

William is buried in the Frauenkirche in Munich .

  Before Albert IV
  Title Duke Of Bavaria
  Years 1508&ndash1550