Bavaria

Sources from old books

1635. Historia mundi: or Mercator's atlas. London. by Gerhard Mercator.

THE DVKEDOME OF BAVARIA. The second Circle of the Empire. (Book Bavaria) WE come now to Bavaria, which were so called by the addition of one letter from the Avarians the remainder of the Hunnes,* 1.1 who having droven out the Noricians seated themselves in that Countrie, and also Bojaria from the Bojans a people of Gallia Cis•lpina, who sometime dwelt heere: it is commonly called Beyeren. It hath on the East A•stria, on the West Sucvia: on the South 〈◊〉 Rhetian A•pes:* 1.2 and on the North Franconia. The length is 29 Germane miles. The breadth five and twentie. The ayre is very wholesome,* 1.3 and the Countrie very pleasant: and generally very fruitefull, but yet it hath no great store of Wine nor Corne: but in some places it hath a ••••e of shar•e hedge Win.* 1.4 The richer Wines are brought thither out of Alsaia, Franc••to, and Austria. There is great store of Cor•e about Ra•ispon and Landshat. Moreover, it hath abundance of S•l•, fruite, Iron, Cattle, Fowle, wil •e beasts, and all things necessarie to life. It doth breede great store of Sw••e, which feede on •cornes and crabbes,* 1.5 so that as Hungarie fur•isheth other Countries with Oxen, so this Countrie furnisheth most parts of Europe with Swine. And besides Beares, Boares, and other kindes of wilde beasts, it hath great heards of Deere, which they cannot hunt without the Princes leave. In the yeare 1562, on the 22 day of August, there was a Hart taken in Bavaria, of so large a body, that it weighed 625 pound. The Nariscians, Vindelicians, and Noritians were formerly seated here. The Nariscians, whom Aventinus calleth Nortgew, and Melanchton Narcaw, are divided from the rest by the River •anubius. The Vindelicians according to the auncients Description, are situated betweene the Rhaetians and Noricians. Rhaetia is twofold, the one is larger containing the Vindelicians, the Noricians, and the Rhaetians, the other is lesser. The River Lycus doth separate the Vind•l•cian from the Rhaetians, if we beleeve Ptolomie; but if we follow Strabo they are separated by the Rhene, and the Brigantine Lake, which we have shewed in our description of Helvetia. Danubius doth part them from Germ•nie, and the Alpes f•om Italie. Marcus Velserus hath rightly observed out of Ricardus the name of the Vindelicians.

Respicit & lase fluvios Vindam{que} Lycum{que}Miscentes undas, & nomina littoris, undeAntiquam gentem, populum{que} urbem{que} vocaruntVindelican• — It sees the Rivers Vinda and Lycus flowMingling their names and waters as they goe;Whence the Countrie, and the people it containd,And Cittie too were Vindelicians nam'd.

It may be gathered out of Plinnie and Ptolomie, that there were certaine Countries, and Citties belonging to the Vindelicians. Augustus sent to conquer them Tiberius Claudius Nero, and Nero Claudius Drusus, who were both the Emperours sonnes in Law, who having quickly dispersed and dissipated the Barbarians forces, did easily overcome them, and reduc'd them to subjection. See Paterculus Lib. 2. Dion. Lib. 53. and Horace Lib. 5. Odar. The Noricians do begin from the River Oenus; and so bend South East even to Hungarie and Italie. They were alwayes great souldiers, and being accustomed to warre, they did often invade the bordering Romanes. As appeareth by the Norician sword which Horace celebrateth. And also by an inscription which is found on this side Danubius to this effect, and in these words:

DIS MANIBVS ET MEMORIAE LEGIONVM. ET MEMORIAE MISERRIMORVM, VINDELICIS PRAEFECTIS MOCENIANIS ET VICTORI ET AVRELIO FILIIS VINDELICIS SVRINVS INFELIX PATER F. C.

* 1.6Bavaria was heretofore governed by a King of its owne, even to the time of the Emperour Arnulp: and as the Parthians called their King Arsaces, the Aegyptians Ptolomie, so they called their King Cacannus. Afterward it had Dukes as it hath now. Bavaria is divided into the higher and lower. The higher lyeth Southward by the Alpes. It is full of Moores, violent Rivers, and darke thicke woods. It is onely fit for pasturage, and feeding of Cattle. The Lower Bavaria is more fertile, and fruitfull, and more inhabited, having Vines all along the sides of the Rivers Danubius, Isara, and Lavarus. And thus Bavaria is divided naturally. It is divided Politically into the Countie of Bavaria, and the Palatinate. The Countie is described in this Table, and the Palatinate in the Table following.* 1.7 The Citties of the higher Bavaria are Monachum commonly called Munchen, being situated on the bancke of the River Isara, and built by Henry Duke of Bavaria, in the yeare 772, in the time of the Emperour Otho the first. It is the pleasantest Cittie of all Germanie: being seated betweene the Rivers Oenus and Lycus, betweene the Citties Wassenburg, Augusta and Frisinga, and betweene the fishie Lakes, among which the Duke hath a faire Garden, full of curious knotts, hearbes, and flowers: there is an artificiall fountaine and a Summer house adorned with Pictures and Statues, and about twy-light (which is very wonderfull) a great heard of Deere doth come and graze, every day under the windowes. In the Cittie there are Churches, Towers, Libraries, a Court, and an exchange full of tradesmen and Merchants, and all things necessarie not onely for use, but also for Ornament, and delight. Ingolstadium commonly called Ingolstatt, is situated by Danubius, which was aunciently called Ingelstat, or Angelostadium, from the Suevian Angeli, who first began to build this Cittie with others. It was at first a Towne, but the Emperour Ludovick Bavarus made it a Cittie. There was an Vniversitie instituted for all Arts and sciences in the yeere 1410, and afterward Ludovicke Duke of Bavaria, and Pope Pius the second, did adorne it and endow it with great revennewes and many Priviledges. Trisinga heretofore Fruxinum, as Rhenanus and Munster doe testifie, is thought to have beene built at that time when the Romanes by their Praefects and Lievtenants of Provinces, did possesse and governe that part of Bavaria, which runneth out from the bancke of Danubius to the Alpes. The River Mosa doth glide by it. There are also 22 Townes in it. In the Lower Bavaria there are Ratisbona commonly called Regensperg, situated by the River Danubius, it was built by the third Emperour Claudius Tiberius Nero about the time of our Saviours passion, who called it Tiberina or Augusta Tiberij. Onuphrius writeth that Tiberius is mentioned in an old stone. And Goltzius produces some of Tiberius coyne, with this inscription. Col. Aug. Tib. Simlerus thinketh that this Regensburg is that which Antoninus calleth Regium, and in the register booke it is called Castra Regina; Althamerus reckoneth up many other names which the Barbarians did give unto it, as Regin•burg, Rhaetobonna, Rhaetopolis, Hyaspolis, Imbripolis, Regnipolis, Tetrapolis, Quadrata and Germanisheim. The name of Ritisbone is derived from Navigation. It was formerly the Metropolis of Bavaria, and the seate of the Kings and Dukes of that Country; It hath a stone bridge which was built in the yeare 1115 by the Emperour Henry, over Danubius on twelve Arches, being foure hundered paces long, and 70 broad. There is also Patavium or Patavia, which is called in their owne language Passaw: Velserus thinketh that it is called in the Register bookes Batavas. That which Ptolomie calls Bojodurum, Auentinus, Pyramius, and Lazius doe thinke to be a Cittie of Vindelicia. It is a faire neare Cittie in the lowest part of the lower Bavaria, at the beginning of Austria, in the consines or Frontiers of both Provinces, betweene the meeting, and confluence of Danubius and Oenus, being commodiously, and pleasantly seated in the manner of a Peninsula. It is famous for the Bishops sea, and for traffique and commerce. For it is seated so conveniently by the River both for commerce and trading▪ that as Lions in France, and Gandauum in Flanders doe flourish for merchandising, in regard of the concourse and meeting of Rivers neere unto them: so Patavia in this part of Germanie, doth in this respect excell other Citties. Landshuten, commonly called Landshut, is a famous Cittie, and of chiefe note: being situate by the River Isara, which glideth by this Cittie, to the great advantage and commodity of the Inhabitants. Irenicus out of the fifth table of Ptolomies Europe, supposeth it to be Inutrium, which hath not the same situation. And therefore Ptolomie doth better place it, and maketh Inutrium to be the same with Mittenwaldt a Towne of Bavaria on this side the Alpes. It was built in the yeare 1207 by Ludovicke Duke of Bavaria, having a fruitfull soyle round about it, both for corne Cattle Wine and all kind of fruites. The Cittie hath many faire neate buil•ings, the chiefe whereof is the great Church, which is curiously built of freestone, wi•h a very high steeple. There is also in the lower part of the Cittie the magnificent Pallace of the most illustrious Duke Albert, which was heretofore called the New building. There are many Rivers which doe water and enrich Bavaria,* 1.8 as Danubius the greatest River in all Europe, celebrated by Greeke and Latine writers; also Lava•us, and the River Isara, being pleasant, full of fish, and running violently: also •icetus, Oenus, Lycus, Alemannus, or Alimula, Nabus, Regus, Ambra, Zoysa, Vilsus, Wolfada, Gyssea, and many others. And besides these R•vers it hath many great spacious Lakes; which have severall formes and shapes, and severall sorts of fish in them: as the Lakes Ammersce, Asce, Wirmsee, and Rorsce. It hath divers high Mountaines, which I cannot reckon in particular, but the chiefe are the Paenine Alpes, and the Mountaine Caravancas. There are so many woods which lye scattering about, so that it seemeth to be one wood: For without doubt they are parts of the wood Hercinia, which heretofore did almost cover over all this tract of ground. But these parts of the wood Hercinia have divers names: as Heynerdoch, Schwardtzwalt, Greinwaldt, Zellerwaldt, &c. The people are more addicted to tillage, and breeding of Cattle, than to warfare, neither are they much given to merchandising, but rather to drinking and getting of children, and they doe seldome goe out of their native Countrie. Moreover the Bavarian circle of the Empire doth consist of three orders. In the first are the Bishops: as the Archbishop of Saltzburg; the Bishops of Passaw, of Freisingen, and the Bishop of Ratisbone: the Abbat•sses of Alt Munster, and Ober Munster at Ratisbon. In the second there are the Duke of Bavaria, the Count Palatine of Bavaria, the Landgrave of Luohtenberg: Counte Hage, B. in Stauffen, or Stuaffnegk: the Lord of Rinfels or Rhinfelden, B. Degenberg, Obesultzperg. In the third are Freistet, and Regensperg.

1694. The great historical, geographical and poetical dictionary by Louis Moreri.

Bavaria, called by the Germans Baiern, a Large Country in Germany, has the Title of Duchy, and is now an Electorate. It has Austria to the East, the Danube to the North, the County of Tyrol to the South, and Suabia to the West. All this Country does not belong to the Duke of Bavaria, for there are many Princes that have some part of it; The Duke has Municken, Capital of his Estates, besides Ingolstadt, Rain, Burchaus•n, Landshut, &c. The other parts of Bavaria are the Archbishoprick of Saltzbourg, the Bishopricks of Ratishonne, •assaw, and Freising•n, the Duchy of Neubourg, the Counties of Hag, of Orthembourg, &c. The Elector of Bavaria possesses a great part of the Palatinate of Bavaria to the North of the Danube, which has for Capital Amberg upon the River Vuils, and there are also the County of Chamb, and the Landgraviat of L•uchtemberg, whereof Pfreint is Capital, with the Bishoprick of Aichstat, and the Lordship of Saltzbach, the County of Castel, &c. Bavaria is divided into four great Balywicks, viz. Munich, Landshut, Straubing, and Burchaus•n. As for the high Palatinate that was joyned to Bavaria by the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, it is a Dukedom that comprehends several Counties and Cities, whereof Amberg is the most considerable, and the Seat of the High-Court of Justice in that Country, whence there is no Appeal: The Landtgraviat of Leuchtemberg fell to the Duke of Bavaria in 1556, by the death of Maximilian Adam, last Landtgrave of that Province, according to an agreement made between both Houses of mutual Succession upon the failing of either Family. There is the like brotherly agreement of mutual Succession between the House of Bavaria and the Palatinate of the Rhine. This House of Bavaria has had several Illustrious Princes, for not to mention the Kings that were of it, when Bavaria had the Title of a Kingdom, and reached as far as the Borders of Hungary and Bohemia, which held from the V. to the beginning of the IX. Age; the same House that now is, has furnished Germany with two Emperors, Swedeland and Norway with Kings, as also the Kingdoms of Denmark, and several of it have been Counts of Holland, and Electors o• the Empire; which dignity was conferred upon that Family in 1648. at the Peace of Munster; the Electoral Dignity whereof, Frederick the V. Count Palatine of the Rhine was deprived, after the year 1621. being then given to Maximilian Count Palatine and Duke of Bavaria and his Heirs: An eighth Electorate was created for Charles Lodowick, Son to Frederick.

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The Genealogy of the Family of Bavaria.

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Authors differ about it, some deriving their Original from Antenor General of the Henetians and Paphlagonians, who came into Italy after the ruine of Troy, some from the Emperor Arnold who died in 899. And others recount five or six different Princes, who all had the Titles of Dukes of Bavaria at the same time, as the Emperor Henry II. the Dukes of Saxony, &c. but Modern Authors agree, that they are descended from the Counts of Schiren and Wittelspatch, of which opinion is Schowart, whose Account is thus:

Henry the Lion, D. of Bavaria and Saxony, being proscrib'd by the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, in 1180, he invested therewith Otho I. call'd the Great Count of Schiren and Wittelspach; he was succeeded by his Son Lewis, whose Son Otho II. Married Agnes, Grand-daughter to Henry the Lion, which united the contending parties; and in 1227, the Emperor Frederick bestowed upon Lewis the Palatinate of the Rhine, with the Electoral Dignity. Lewis died in 1253. succeeded by Lewis the Severe his eldest Son, whose Son Lewis III. was the propagator of the Bavarian Line: He was born in 1287, brought up at Vienna, Invested in the Upper Bavaria, chosen Emperor in 1314, and after the death of his Kinsman, the D. of the Lower Bavaria enjoyed most of his Dominions. Waldemar Marquess of Brandenburgh being dead, he gave that Electorate to his own Son Lewis, he had War with, and took Frederick the Fair of Austria in 1323, was engaged in Controversies with the Pope, and died by a fall from his Horse in 1347. He was twice Married, had a numerous issue, and was succeeded by his Son Stephen I. who died in 1375, having been Married to Elizabeth Daughter of Lewis K. of Hungary and Sicily, by whom he had many Children, of whom Stephen, Frederick and John are most remarkable. Stephen II. had Ingolstadt for his share, was extreamly beloved by his Subjects, and famous for Piety and Virtue; he had a Son called Lewis the Bearded, of a turbulent Temper, who could neither endure an equal nor superior, and he had War with his own Son Lewis the Crouchback, whom he would have disinherited in favour of a Bastard Son; but being worsted, he was Imprisoned at Neuburg, and was sold to Albert of Brandenburg, and again to the Prince of Bavaria of Landshutt, in whose Prison he ended his days. Frederick, sirnam'd the Wise, second Son to Stephen I. was famous for Composing discords among Neighbouring Princes. One of his Daughters was Married to the Elector of Brandenburg, and another to the Viscount of Milan. His Son Henry succeeded, who by the Male-administration of his Guardians, was reduced almost to want; but yet by his own good Husbandry, did afterwards lay up so much Wealth, that he was sirnam'd the Rich. His Son Lewis succeeded in 1450. and Confiscated the Jews: He was succeeded by his Son George, who founded the University of Ingolstadt, and made his Daughter Elizabeth, Married to Robert X. Elector Palatine, Heiress, which occasioned the Bloody Bavarian War: So that the Bavarian Line was preserved by John abovementioned, youngest Son to St•phen I. who had Munichen for his share, where he died in 1397. The most noted of his Children were William III. who defended the Council of Basil. Sophia Married to the Emperor Wenceslaus in 1428. and Ernest, whose Son Albert III. continued the Line; the most remarkable of his Children were Christopher, born in 1450, famous for his Valour and Strength; and Albert IV. who had cruel War with Philip, Elector Palatine, for the Inheritance of George the Rich, of the Lower Bavaria: He died in 1508. and by Cunigunda of Austria, had, amongst others, Ernest, chosen Archbishop of Saltzburg and Passaw, who freed those Churches from Debt, and augmented their Wealth without squeezing his Subjects; at last he resigned them, and liv'd on his own Estate in Silesia. William Albert IV. was succeeded by his eldest Son William IV. who by Mechtilda of Baden, had Albert V. Married on Anna, Daughter to the Emperor Ferdinand I. and dying in 1579. left William V. his Successor, Ernest and Ferdinand, from whom are descended the Counts of Wartenberg and Schaumborg, Francis Bp. of Osnabrug, Ernest III. Elector of Cologne, and Mary Married to Charles of Austria. William V. abovementioned, the Preserver of the Bavarian Line, and Founder of the Wilhelmine Branch, was extreamly Pious, and much addicted to Learning: He Married Renata of Lorrain, by whom he had Maximilian his Successor; Mary Married to the Emperor Ferdinand II. Philip Bp. of Ratisbonne and Cardinal; Ferdinand Archbishop of Cologne, Bp. of Liege, Munster, Hildesheim and Paderborn, who died in 1650. Albert IV. Tutor to the Son of his Brother Maximilian, and Administrator of the Electorate, and Father to Maximilian Henry, Archbishop and Elector of Cologne, Bishop of Liege, Hildesheim, Munster, &c. who had a Controversy with the Elector of Mentz, about Crowning the K. of the Romans in 1658, and died May 24. 1688. Maximilian succeeded his Father William as abovementioned, Ap. 17. 1573. he seis'd Donawart in 1607. was General of the Popish League in 1609. obtain'd the Electoral Dignity in 1623. with the Upper Palatinate and County of Chamb, taken from Frederick Elector Palatine, chosen K. of Bohemia, and confirm'd to him by the Peace of Osnabrug in 1646. He succeeded also to the Landtgraviat of Leuchtenburg by the death of the Landtgrave, and died Sept. 1651. He had for his first Wife Elizabeth of Lorrain; and for his second Anne of Austria, Daughter to the Emperor Ferdinand II. by whom he had Ferdinand-Maria-Franciscus-Ignatius-Wolfgangas, who succeeded him in 1651. Married Henrietta of Savoy, who died in 1676, and he followed in 1679. His Children were, 1. Maria-Anna-Christina-Victoria, Married to the Dauphin of France in 1680, and died in April 1690. She was a Princess extreamly Witty and Ambitious, but opposed her Husbands being imployed against the Germans: It being presumed, that if ever she lived to be Queen, she would have a great share of the Government, abundance Addressed themselves to her, which is thought to have hastened her Fate; however she hath left three Sons to secure the Succession of the French Crown. 2. Maximilianus-Maria-Emmanuel-Cajetanus-Ludovicus-Franciscus-Ignatius-Antonina-Felix-Nicolaus-Pius, the present Elector, born in 1662. June 11. who hath already immortaliz'd his Fame in the War against the Turks and French; and as an earnest of greater things, the K. of Spain hath constituted him Hereditary Governor of the Netherlands in 1692. where he pass'd the following Campagne in Conjunction with K. William III. of Great Britain, and hath brought the disordered Affairs of that Countrey into a better posture: He Married Mary-Anthony, Daughter to the present Emperor Leopold in 1686, who died January 1691/2. at Vienna, in Child-bed of the Electoral Prince. 3. Josephus-Clemens-Cajetanus-Franciscus-Antonius-Casparus-Melchior-Balthasar-Joannes-Baptista-Nicolaus, born in 1671. Decemb. 5. Bp. of Ratisbonne and Frisingen; and July 14. 1688. chosen Archbp. and Elector of Cologne, after a long Controversy with Cardinal Furst••nberg, who was supported by the Interest of the ... French K. Lewis XIV. 4. Violanta Beatrix, born in 1673, and Married in 1688. to the Great Duke of Tuscany's eldest Son. Besides the gradual increase of this Family mention'd in the Genealogy, they have purchas'd abundance of Cities and Counties, besides what they have acquired by Marriages, the present King of Sweden is descended from this Family, and has pretensions to the Dutchy of Deuxponts; and the Duke of Neuburg, who is also of this Family, did by amicable Composition obtain from the Duke of Brandenburg the Dutchy of Juliers and Monts, and County of Ravenstein. The greatest part of their Decrease has been in our Age, for by the Treaty of Osnabrug they parted with the Upper-Austria to the Emperor, which they had by the way of Mortgage, and with Bergstraff to the Archbishop of Mentz; and the French have seized the Dutchy of Deuxponts, County of Weldentz, and many Cities as Dependencies of Alsace, besides the Counties of Sponheim, Simeren, and Lauteren, and the Devastations they have made in the Palatinate. Schouart. Observ. Histor. General. M•reri says, that the Electoral Dignity was conferred on this Family with this Proviso, That if the Willh•lmine Branch should fail the 8th Electorate is to cease, and the Rhodolphin or Palatine Branch are to return to their ancient Dignity and Possession. The youngest Sons of the House of Bavaria sit amongst the Princes at the Diet of the Empire next to the Temporal Electors, and have Nine or Ten Voices.