Maximilian III, Elector of Bavaria

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria.

Maximilian Joseph as Kurprinz

Maximilian III Joseph (28 March 1727-30 December 1777) was Prince-elector of Bavaria from 1745 to 1777.

[edit] Biography

Born in Munich, Maximilian was the eldest son of Emperor Charles VII and his wife Marie Amalie, Archduchess of Austria. His maternal grandparents were Emperor Joseph I and Wilhelmina Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

Upon his father's death in 1745, he inherited a country in the process of being invaded by Austrian armies (see War of the Austrian Succession), and quickly abandoned his father's imperial pretenses and made peace with Maria Theresa in the Treaty of Füssen, in which he agreed to support her husband, Grand Duke Francis Stephen of Tuscany, in the upcoming imperial election.

Maximilian Joseph was a progressive and enlightened ruler who did much to improve the development of his country. In 1747 the porcelain factory of Nymphenburg was established. Munich's first academic institution, the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, was founded in 1759 by Maximilian III. He also ordered François de Cuvilliés to construct the splendid rococo Cuvilliés Theatre. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was received by Maximilian III Joseph, who was skilled in music and composed, but due to strict frugality no post was offered.

As the last of the junior branch of the Wittelsbach dynasty which derived from Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor and ruled Bavaria since early 14th century, his death led to a succession dispute and the brief War of the Bavarian Succession. Ultimately, he was succeeded by his distant cousin, the Elector Palatine Karl IV from the senior branch of the dynasty.

Max III Joseph is buried in the crypt of the Theatinerkirche in Munich.