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DUKES OF BAVARIA United Bavaria 548-1253 Agilolfing Dynasty 548-788 Around 548 the kings of the Franks placed the border region of Bavaria under the administration of a duke -- possibly Frankish or possibly chosen from amongst the local leading families -- who was supposed to act as a regional governor for the Frankish king. The first duke we know of, and likely the first, was Gariwald, or Garibald I , a member of the powerful Agilolfing family. This was the beginning of a series of Agilolfing dukes that was to last until 788.
Rulers unknown By the time of Duke Theodo I , who died in 716 or 717 , the Bavarian duchy had achieved complete independence from the Frankish kings. Theodo's sons divided the duchy, but by 719 the rule had returned to Duke Grimoald.
Charles Martel , ruler in fact though not in name of the Frankish realm, reasserted royal supremacy over Bavaria, defeating and killing Duke Grimwald and annexing portions of Bavaria during the rule of Hugbert.
Tassilo III recognized the suzerainty of the Frankish kings Pippin III in 757 and did homage to Charlemagne in 781 , and again in 787 , while pursued an independent policy. In 788 , Charlemagne had Tassilo sentenced to death on a charge of treason. Tassilo, granted pardon, entered a monastery and formally renounced his duchy at Frankfurt in 794 . Carolingian Dynasty 788-911 The Kings (later Emperors) of the Franks now assumed complete control, placing Bavaria under the rule of non-hereditary governors and civil servants. The Emperor Louis The Pious divided control of the Empire among his sons, and the divisions became permanent in the decades following his death in 840. The following Frankish rulers controlled Bavaria as part of their possessions:
Louis gave his son Lothair the kingship of Bavaria in 815:
In 817, Lothair was crowned joint Emperor with his father, and the realm was redivided. A younger son of Louis', Louis the German, took control of Bavaria.
Louis the German became king of the eastern third of the Empire in 843. In 864 he gave control of Bavaria to his son Carloman, and died in 876. Louis' two younger sons, Louis and Charles (the latter of whom briefly recovered control of all the Frankish possessions), ruled Bavaria in succession after Carloman.
Carloman's bastard son, Arnulf, rebelled against Charles and took power in eastern Francia shortly before Charles' death. He was succeeded by his son Louis.
Luitpolding Dynasty, 911-947 Luitpold, founder of the Luitpolding dynasty, was not a Duke of Bavaria but a Margrave of Carinthia under the rule of Louis the Child. Frankish power had waned in the region due to Hungarian attacks, allowing the local rulers greater independence. Luitpold's son, Arnulf, claimed the title of Duke (implying full autonomy) in 911, and was recognized as such by the German king, Henry The Fowler , in 920.
The German King Otto I reasserted central authority, banishing Arnulf's son Eberhard and re-granting the title to Berthold, a younger son of Luitpold.
Bavaria under the German Kings, 947-1070 From Otto I onward until the 12th century, the Kings of Germany repeatedly transferred Bavaria into different hands (including their own), never allowing any one family to establish itself. Bavaria was ruled by a series of short-lasting, mostly unrelated dynasties. On Berthold's death, Otto gave the duchy to his own brother Henry (I), who was also Arnulf's son-in-law.
Henry II made war upon his cousin, Emperor Otto II , and was deprived of his duchy in 976 in favor of his cousin Otto, Duke of Swabia (who now acquired two dukedoms).
The death of Otto saw a shuffling of crowns. First Bavaria was given to Berthold's son Henry (III), briefly restoring the Luitpolding dynasty.
Henry III then exchanged Bavaria for Carinthia, and Henry II received Bavaria again. His son, Henry IV of Bavaria, was elected King of Germany as Henry II.
King Henry II gave Bavaria to his brother-in-law Henry (V), Count of Luxemburg in 1004 . The King reasserted direct control over the duchy 1009-1017. King Conrad II of Germany gave Bavaria to his son Henry (VI) after the death of Henry V in 1026.
In 1042, Henry VI, who had become King of Germany in 1039 as Henry III, granted the duchy to another Henry (VII), Count of Luxemburg, nephew of Henry V.
After Henry VII's death, the dukedom was vacant for a couple of years. Emperor Henry III then gave the duchy to Kuno, Count of Zütphen, in 1049. Kuno was deposed in 1053. Emperor Henry III now gave the duchy first to his young son Henry (VIII), then to an even younger son, Conrad, and upon the latter's death gave it back to Henry VIII again. Henry VIII became King of Germany (as Henry IV) in 1056.
In 1061 , Empress Agnes , the 11-year-old King Henry IV 's mother and regent, entrusted the duchy to Otto of Nordheim.
Bavaria under the Welfs and Babenbergs 1070-1180 In 1070, King Henry IV deposed duke Otto, granting the duchy instead to Count Welf , a member of the Italo-Bavarian family of Este . Welf subsequently quarreled with King Henry and was deprived of his duchy for nineteen years, during which it was directly administered by the German crown. Welf recovered the duchy in 1096, and was succeeded by his sons Welf (II) and Henry (IX); the latter was succeeded by his son, Henry (X), who also became Duke Of Saxony .
In a power struggle with King Conrad III Of Germany , Henry X lost his duchy to the King, who granted it to his follower Leopold Margrave Of Austria . When Leopold died, Conrad resumed the duchy and then granted it to Leopold's brother Henry (XI).
When Frederick I became King of Germany, he restored Bavaria to the Welf line in the person of Henry X's son, Henry (XII) the Lion, Duke of Saxony.
Wittelsbach Dynasty 1180-1253 In 1180 , Henry XII and Emperor Frederick fell out, and Frederick dispossessed the Duke and gave his territory to Otto (I) of the House Of Wittelsbach . Bavaria remained in the possession of various branches of the family until the First World War.
Though Otto I of Wittelsbach was the third duke of Bavaria named Otto he is mostly called Otto I as founder of a new dynasty. Louis I and Otto II served also as Counts Palatine of the Rhine. Bavaria partitioned, 1253-1503 First partition, 1253-1340 On Otto II's death, Bavaria was divided between his sons. Henry became Duke of Lower Bavaria, and Louis of Upper Bavaria. From this point until the beginning of the 16th century, the territories were frequently divided between brothers, making the Dukes difficult to list. In Lower Bavaria, Henry XIII was succeeded by his three sons, Otto III, Louis III, and Stephen I ruling jointly. Otto III's successor in the joint dukedom was his son Henry XV. Stephen's successors were his sons Otto IV and Henry XIV. Henry XIV's son was John I. In Upper Bavaria, Louis II was succeeded by his sons Rudolf I and Louis IV. The latter was elected King of Germany in 1314. After John I's death in 1340, Louis IV unified the Bavarian duchy.
The dukes of Upper Bavaria served also as Counts Palatinate of the Rhine. In 1329 Louis IV released the Palatinate of the Rhine including the Bavarian Upper Palatinate to the sons of Rudolf I. The Upper Palatinate would be reunited with Bavaria in 1623, the Lower Palatinate in 1777. Reunion, 1340-1349
Second partition, 1349-1503 In 1349, the six sons of Louis IV again partitioned Bavaria into Upper and Lower Bavaria. Further partitions followed, which are most easily represented in tabular format:
Reunited Bavaria, 1505-1918 Dukes of Bavaria 1505-1623
Electors of Bavaria, 1623-1805
Kings of Bavaria, 1805-1918 See Also: King of Bavaria
Post-monarchy In 1918, Bavaria became a republic. Minister presidents of Bavaria, 1918-present See Also: List of Ministers-President of Bavaria Heads of the House of Wittelsbach since 1918 (not ruling)
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