Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria
Wittelsbach ruler of Bavaria and prince-elector (Kurfürst) of the Holy Roman Empire (1573–1651)
Maximilian I (17 April 1573 – 27 September 1651), occasionally called the Great, a member of the House of Wittelsbach, ruled as Duke of Bavaria from 1597. His reign was marked by the Thirty Years' War during which his title was elevated to that of prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire at the 1623 Diet of Regensburg.
Maximilian was a capable monarch who, by overcoming the feudal rights of the local estates (Landstände), laid the foundations for absolutist rule in Bavaria. A devout Catholic, he was one of the leading proponents of the Counter-Reformation and founder of the Catholic League of Imperial Princes. In the Thirty Years' War, he was able to conquer the Upper Palatinate region, as well as the Electoral Palatinate affiliated with the electoral dignity of his Wittelsbach cousin, the "Winter King" Frederick V. The 1648 Peace of Westphalia affirmed his possession of Upper Palatinate and the hereditary electoral title, though it returned the Electoral Palatinate to Frederick's heir and created an eighth electoral dignity for them.
Background
Maximilian I was born in Munich, the eldest son of William V, Duke of Bavaria and Renata of Lorraine to survive infancy. He was educated by the Jesuits, and following his father's increasing difficulties in ruling the country, began to take part in the government round 1591, but latest 1594. In 1595 he married his cousin, Elisabeth Renata (also known as Elizabeth of Lorraine), daughter of Charles III, Duke of Lorraine, and became Duke of Bavaria upon his father's abdication in 1597.
His first marriage to Elisabeth Renata was childless. A few months after the death of Elisabeth Renata, Maximilian married, on 15 July 1635 in Vienna, his 25-year-old niece Maria Anna of Austria (1610–1665), the daughter of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maximilian's sister, Maria Anna of Bavaria (1574–1616).
The public source identifies “Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria” as wittelsbach ruler of Bavaria and prince-elector (Kurfürst) of the Holy Roman Empire (1573–1651). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Maximilian, Elector and Bavaria.
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Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q57206. VIAF identifies the subject as 8179803. The Library of Congress control number is n81012321. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1573, 1651, 1597 and 1623.
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This entry incorporates text from “Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.