Friedrich Michael (Pfalz-Birkenfeld-Bischweiler)

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Count Palatine Friedrich Michael von Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld (painting by Heinrich Carl Brandt )
Sarcophagus in the St. Michaelskirche Munich.

Friedrich Michael von Pfalz-Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld (born February 27, 1724 in Rappoltsweiler ; † August 15, 1767 in Schwetzingen ) was Count Palatine and Duke of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld and Count of Rappoltstein . He became the progenitor of the Bavarian kings . He was since 1758 Field Marshal of the Imperial Army and until April 1761 appointed on 17 March 1760 by Regensburger Reichstag Catholic Reich Field Marshal of the Imperial Army .

Life

Friedrich Michael was a son of the Count Palatine and Duke Christian III. von Zweibrücken (1674–1735) from his marriage to Karoline (1704–1774), daughter of Count Ludwig Kraft von Nassau-Saarbrücken .

He was considered one of the best-looking men of his time and was one of the lovers of his sister-in-law, Electress Elisabeth Auguste .

Friedrich Michael began his military career in the French service and at the age of 18 held the rank of maréchal de camp and later became a French lieutenant general . Together he fought with Marshal Belle-Isle in 1742 in the siege of Prague . On November 27, 1746 , Friedrich Michael converted from the Protestant faith to Catholicism . In 1751 he visited Rome and was designed by Pope Benedict XIV. Received Confirmation . The latter advised him to add the name of the Archangel Michael to his baptismal name Friedrich , which the prince did from that point on.

Friedrich Michael was electoral field marshal from February 1746 , governor of Mannheim and finally in 1758 as field marshal of the Imperial Army in the Seven Years' War against Frederick the Great . After the Battle of Roßbach , he succeeded in rebuilding the defeated imperial army, for which he received the Grand Cross of the Military Maria Theresa Order . In autumn 1758 he penetrated Saxony, took the Sonnenstein fortress and besieged Leipzig. In the following year, from March 1760 Reichs-Generalfeldmarschall, Leipzig, Torgau, Wittenberg and Dresden were conquered. He secured Field Marshal Daun in the battle of Maxen and fought victoriously in the battle near Oschatz . On April 27, 1761, he resigned from his post and handed over the imperial troops in Bamberg to Field Marshal Johann von Serbelloni, who was entrusted with the interim command of the imperial army (from April 26, 1762 to May 1763, Johann Sigismund Macquire von Inniskillen had that Interim command of the Reich Army).

After the Peace of Hubertusburg , Friedrich Michael received the general command in Bohemia and later became President of the Secret Military Conference. After giving up these offices, Friedrich Michael, who had spent large parts of his life in Mannheim , lived in seclusion at the Palatinate court. He died at the age of 43; the burial took place in the Carmelite Church in Heidelberg , after the abolition of the monastery, the coffin was transferred in 1805 to St. Michael's Church in Munich .

Friedrich Michael was a member of the Freemason Lodge Carl zur Eintracht in Mannheim.

Marriage and offspring

Friedrich Michael married Maria Franziska (1724–1794) in Munich in 1746 , daughter of the Palatinate Hereditary Prince Joseph Karl Emanuel . They had the following children:

⚭ 1774 Princess Marie Amalie of Saxony (1757–1831)
⚭ 1769 King Friedrich August I of Saxony (1750–1827)
⚭ 1780 Duke Wilhelm in Bavaria (1752–1837)
⚭ 1. 1785 Princess Auguste of Hessen-Darmstadt (1765–1796)
⚭ 2. 1797 Princess Karoline Friederike Wilhelmine von Baden (1776–1841)

a connection with Louise Chaveau resulted in a son born out of wedlock:

  • Carl Friedrich Stephan (1767–1834), Baron von Schönfeld (since 1813), Count of Otting and Fünfstetten (since 1817)
⚭ 1. 1792 Luise Magdalene Wilhelmine von Porubsky (1766–1799)
⚭ 2. 1809 Wilhelmine Luise Camilla, Marquise de Montperny (1788–1874)

  • eldest son Karl II. August Christian (Pfalz-Birkenfeld-Zweibrücken) , heir who died early, then brother Max became King of Bavaria

  • His younger son, later King Max I Joseph of Bavaria (1756-1825)

  • His sister-in-law and lover Elisabeth Auguste von Pfalz-Sulzbach , later Electress (1721–1794)

  • His father-in-law, Hereditary Prince Joseph Karl von Pfalz-Sulzbach (1694–1729), branch line of the House of Pfalz-Neuburg, who were the Electors of the Palatinate

  • His mother-in-law Elisabeth Auguste Sofie von der Pfalz (1693–1728), daughter of the Palatinate Elector Karl Philipp from the Pfalz-Neuburg line

  • Oggersheim Palace bought in 1767 by Elector Carl Theodor for Elisabeth Auguste (destroyed in 1794)

  • Charles Louis Auguste Fouquet, Duke of Gisors, called von Belle-Isle , (1684–1761) French general and minister, Marshal of France, sworn opponent of Austria

  • The Military Maria Theresa Order donated by Maria Theresa as the first Austrian military order. It was the highest honor in the country.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The appointment as Reich General Field Marshal on February 16, 1758 by Emperor Franz under pressure from his wife Maria Theresa was not recognized by the Reichstag. It was not until March 17, 1760, in the Regensburg Reichstag, which had so far resisted the recognition of the dignity conferred on its own accord by the Viennese court, that he was appointed "Catholic Field Marshal General" by a majority resolution.
  2. ^ Georg Wilhelm Hopf: Bavarian history in time tables , Schmid, 1865, p. 151.
  3. ↑ Jaromir Hirtenfeld : The Military Maria Theresa Order and its Members , Imperial Court and State Printing Office, Vienna 1857, p. 1728.
  4. ^ Karl Wilhelm Böttiger: History of the Electoral State and Kingdom of Saxony , Volume 2, F. Perthes, 1831, p. 336
  5. ^ Felix Joseph Lipowsky: Karl Theodor, Churfurst von Pfalz-Bayern , Sulzbach, 1828, p. 16, footnote 1; (Digital scan)
  6. ↑ http://www.cityguide-evangelisch.de/node/22
personal data
SURNAME Friedrich Michael
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Friedrich Michael of Pfalz-Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Count Palatine and Duke of Pfalz-Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld
DATE OF BIRTH February 27, 1724
PLACE OF BIRTH Rappoltsweiler
DATE OF DEATH August 15, 1767
Place of death Schwetzingen