Landshut War of Succession

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict = Landshut War of Succession
date = 1503–1505
place = Germany
casus = Dispute over succession
territory = Bavaria-Landshut partitioned to Bavaria-Munich, Palatinate-Neuburg, and the Imperial Free City of Nuremberg.
result = Victory by Bavaria-Munich
combatant1 = Bavaria-Munich
combatant2 = Bavaria-Landshut
Palatine of the Rhine

The Landshut war of succession resulted from an agreement between the duchies of Bavaria-Munich ("Bayern-München") and Bavaria-Landshut ("Bayern-Landshut"), both being lines of the House of Wittelsbach about succession when one of the lines should have no male heir. In this case the line with a male heir should inherit. This agreement disregarded imperial law, which stipulated that the Holy Roman Emperor should inherit should a line fail.

The Duke George of Bayern-Landshut with his wife Jadwiga Jagiellon had no male heir, so George named his daughter Elisabeth his heir. Because of the agreement, duke Albert of the Munich line did not accept this, leading to war in 1503. Over the course of this two-year war, many villages surrounding Landshut were reduced to ashes, such as Ergolding.

The war ended in 1505 with the death of Elisabeth and her husband Ruprecht of the Palatinate and a decision through arbitration by Emperor Maximilian on 30 July 1505 at the Reichstag at Cologne. The two grandsons of George, Otto Henry ("Otto-Heinrich") and Philipp, retained Palatinate-Neuburg ("Junge Pfalz"), a fragmented region from the upper Danube over Franconia to the northern part of the Upper Palatinate. Neuburg an der Donau was chosen as the capital of the new state. Because the two heirs had not yet reached their majority, Frederick II, Count Palatine of the Rhine served as regent in a caretaker regime. The rest of the territory went to the Munich line of the House of Wittelsbach. The emperor took the territory around Kufstein for himself as reward for his mediation; the Imperial Free City of Nuremberg gained important territories to the east of the city, including the authorities of Lauf, Hersbruck, and Altdorf. As Count Palatine, Otto-Heinrich spent huge sums of money to build a palace at Neuburg an der Donau. Through inheritance he later became prince-elector of the Palatinate of the Rhine, where his additions "Ottheinrichsbau" to Heidelberg Castle made him one of the most important builders of the German Renaissance.

References

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