Charles II, Elector Palatine

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Image:Karl II.jpg

Charles II (German: Karl II.; 31 March 1651, Heidelberg – 26 May 1685, Heidelberg) was Elector Palatine from 1680 to 1685. He was the son of Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine and Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel.

Charles was a strict Calvinist. In 1671, his aunt Electress Sophia of Hanover arranged his marriage to Princess Wilhelmina Ernestina, daughter of King Frederick III of Denmark. Their marriage was childless. But upon his death, the Palatinate passed to the Catholic Neuburg branch of the family. The rival claims to the Palatinate of his sister Elizabeth Charlotte, Duchess of Orleans, Louis XIV of France's sister-in-law, was the pretext for the French invasion of the Palatinate in 1688, which began the Nine Years War.

[edit] Ancestry

**Charles II, Elector Palatine: ancestors in three generations**
Charles II, Elector Palatine	Father: Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine	Paternal Grandfather: Frederick V, Elector Palatine	Paternal Great-grandfather: Frederick IV, Elector Palatine
			Paternal Great-grandmother: Louise Juliana of Nassau
		Paternal Grandmother: Elizabeth Stuart	Paternal Great-grandfather: James VI, King of Scots
			Paternal Great-grandmother: Anne of Denmark
	Mother: Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel	Maternal Grandfather: William V, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel	Maternal Great-grandfather: Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel
			Maternal Great-grandmother: Agnes of Solms-Laubach
		Maternal Grandmother: Amalie Elisabeth of Hanau-Münzenberg	Maternal Great-grandfather: Philip Louis II of Hanau-Münzenber
			Maternal Great-grandmother: Catharina Belgica of Nassau