William III. (Bavaria)

Duke Wilhelm with his nephew Albrecht (drawing by RA Jaumann, created 1899)

William III. (* 1375 in Munich ; † September 13, 1435 in Munich) was from 1397 until his death together with his older brother Ernst as the successor to Johann II Duke of Bavaria-Munich .

The four Bavarian partial duchies after the division of the country in 1392

The division of Bavaria-Straubing in 1429

Life

Wilhelm was born in Munich in 1375 as the son of the Wittelsbach Duke Johann II and his wife Katharina von Görz . His father Johann, who initially worked with his brothers Stephan III. and Frederick ruled, received the partial duchy of Bavaria-Munich when the country was divided in 1392 . In 1395 Wilhelm fought alongside his father in the First Bavarian House War against Stephan and his son Ludwig the Bearded . Johann II died in 1397, Wilhelm and his two years older brother Ernst became his successors. There was a lifelong understanding between the two brothers, which was rare in view of the disputes among the Wittelsbach dukes, which reached a new high point in their time.

Wilhelm and Ernst ruled together with their uncle Stephan III. from Bavaria-Ingolstadt . He took sides in the revolt of the Munich guilds against his nephew. The conflict with Munich and the Ingolstadt dukes ended in 1402 when Stephen and his son Ludwig renounced all claims in Bavaria-Munich. In 1400 there was a dispute with Ruprecht of the Palatinate , because Ernst and Wilhelm did not support Ruprecht's striving for the royal dignity, but stayed with Ernst's brother-in-law Wenzel . Ernst was also Wenzel's envoy in Frankfurt am Main in 1411 , where he helped decide the king's election for his brother Sigismund of Hungary . Sigismund also supported the dukes of Bavaria-Munich in the fight against the Bohemian Hussites . Wilhelm moved with Sigismund to Bohemia in 1419/20, which started the Hussite Wars, which Bavaria was then drawn into. Because of the threat posed by the Hussites, the existing city fortifications of Munich were reinforced by a second, outer wall ring.

As early as 1410 a campaign to regain Tyrol , which the Munich dukes had started together with Stephan, failed . Ernst and Wilhelm III. entered on the initiative of Duke Heinrich the Rich of Bavaria-Landshut his alliances against Stephen's son Ludwig the Bearded of Bavaria-Ingolstadt, in 1414 the Kelheim Parakeet Society and in 1415 the Konstanz League forged at the Council of Constance . The Bavarian War of 1420 was ended by the Munich victory over Ludwig bei Alling in 1422. After the Straubing-Holland line from Wittelsbach had expired , the dukes of Munich received half of the Straubing land from King Sigismund in the Pressburg arbitration award of 1429 . Cham , Deggendorf and Kelheim fell to Wilhelm . The Polish campaign begun by Ernst on behalf of Sigismund in 1430 was canceled due to the death of the Polish-Lithuanian Duke Vytautas .

From 1431 onwards, Wilhelm was Sigismund's governor at the Council of Basel . As such he secured the peace in the country, strengthened the authority of the council and was able to initiate successful negotiations between it and the Hussites, the result of which, the Basler (Prague) compacts of 1433, then brought about the end of the Hussite Wars. Many saw the skillful diplomat as the successor to the aging king.

In 1433 Wilhelm married seventeen-year-old Margarete von Kleve (1416–1444) through her aunt Elisabeth . He was probably afraid that because of the inappropriate connection between Ernst's son Albrecht III. with the bather's daughter Agnes Bernauer could not give a legitimate successor in the ducal office. On January 7, 1434 his son Adolf was born. Wilhelm III saw the birth of his second son Wilhelm on September 25, 1435. no longer, he died on September 13th at the age of 60 and was buried in the Frauenkirche in Munich . Ernst now ruled the duchy alone, Wilhelm's son Adolf officiated only in name. In 1435 Ernst had Agnes Bernauer executed. He was finally able to settle the dispute with Albrecht and his son succeeded him as Duke in 1438. Today's Planegg Palace goes back to Wilhelm .

literature

Klaus von Andrian-Werburg : Deeds, chancellery, council and government system of the dukes Johann II., Ernst and Wilhelm III. von Bayern-Munich (1392–1438) (= Munich historical studies. Department of Historical Auxiliary Sciences . Volume 10 ). Laßleben, Kallmünz 1971, ISBN 3-7847-4410-9 (also dissertation, University of Munich 1961).
Bernhard Glasauer: Duke Heinrich XVI. (1393–1450) the empire of Bavaria-Landshut. Territorial politics between dynasty and empire (= Munich contributions to historical science . Volume 5 ). 1st edition. Herbert Utz Verlag, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-8316-0899-7 (also dissertation, University of Munich 2009).
Karin Kaltwasser: Duke and nobility in Bavaria-Landshut under Heinrich XVI. the rich (1393-1450) . Dissertation, University of Regensburg 2004 ( PDF ).
August Kluckhohn : Duke Wilhelm III. of Bavaria, the protector of the Basel Council and governor of Emperor Sigmund . In: Research on German history . tape 2 , 1862, p. 519-615 .
Christoph Kutter: The Munich dukes and their vassals. The fief books of the dukes of Upper Bavaria-Munich in the 15th century. A contribution to the history of feudalism . Dissertation, University of Munich 1993.
Werner Müller: Duke Wilhelm III. of Bavaria-Munich and Johann Grünwalder at the Council of Basel (1431–1449) . In: Upper Bavarian Archive . tape 129 , 2005, pp. 153-188, especially 154-171 .
Sigmund Ritter von Riezler : Wilhelm III., Duke of Baiern-Munich . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 42, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1897, pp. 703-705.
Gerhard Schwertl: Wilhelm III., Hz. Of Bavaria-Munich . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA). Volume 9, LexMA-Verlag, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-89659-909-7 , column 143 f.
Theodor Straub : Bavaria under the sign of the divisions and partial duchies . In: Max Spindler , Andreas Kraus (Hrsg.): Handbook of Bavarian History . 2nd Edition. tape II . CH Beck, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-406-32320-0 , p. 196-287, especially 248-249 .

Web links

Bavaria-Munich after the Straubing inheritance

Remarks

↑ In addition, with references to Helga Czerny: The death of the Bavarian dukes in the late Middle Ages and in the early modern period 1347–1579. Preparations - dying - funeral ceremonies - burial - memoria (= series of publications on Bavarian national history . Volume 146 ). CH Beck, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-406-10742-7 , p. 190 (also dissertation, University of Munich 2004).
↑ On the Bavarian dukes and the Council of Basel see Heribert Müller: Council of Basel, 1431–1449. In: Historical Lexicon of Bavaria . August 31, 2010, accessed February 22, 2012 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Johann II.	Duke of Bavaria-Munich 1397–1435	Ernst and Adolf

personal data
SURNAME	William III.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	William III. from Bavaria
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Duke of Bavaria-Munich (1397–1435)
DATE OF BIRTH	1375
PLACE OF BIRTH	Munich
DATE OF DEATH	September 13, 1435
Place of death	Munich

[1] In addition, with references to Helga Czerny: The death of the Bavarian dukes in the late Middle Ages and in the early modern period 1347–1579. Preparations - dying - funeral ceremonies - burial - memoria (= series of publications on Bavarian national history . Volume 146 ). CH Beck, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-406-10742-7 , p. 190 (also dissertation, University of Munich 2004).

[2] On the Bavarian dukes and the Council of Basel see Heribert Müller: Council of Basel, 1431–1449. In: Historical Lexicon of Bavaria . August 31, 2010, accessed February 22, 2012 .