Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine

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Karl III Philip, Elector Palatine (b. Neuburg, November 4, 1661 – d. Mannheim, December 31, 1742) was a ruler from the house of Wittelsbach. He was Elector Palatine, Count of Palatinate-Neuburg, and Duke of Jülich and Berg from 1716 to 1742.

[edit] Biography

Born in Neuburg an der Donau, Karl Philip was the seventh of 17 children of Philipp Wilhelm, Elector Palatine and Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt.

He succeeded his brother Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine on his death in 1716. He moved the Palatinate's capital from Heidelberg to the new city of Mannheim in 1720. Upon his death in 1742, the Palatinate-Neuburg line became extinct, and the Palatinate (including Neuburg, Jülich and Berg) was inherited by the Palatinate-Sulzbach line of the Wittelsbach family.

While in Mannheim, Karl III Philip, and later his nephew, put together what was commonly regarded as the finest orchestra in all of Europe. Under the leadership of musicians such as Johann Stamitz and Carlo Grua, the orchestra of the Kapelle was lauded by such musicians such as Leopold and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

[edit] Marriages

Karl Philipp married three times:

• In Berlin on August 10, 1688 he married firstly Princess Ludwika Karolina Radziwiłł, dowager margravine of Brandenburg and a wealthy heiress in Lithuania. They had four children:

1. Leopoldine Eleonore Josephine (b. Brieg, 27 December 1689 - d. 8 March 1693).
2. Maria Anna (b. 7 December 1690 - d. 1692).
3. Elisabeth Auguste Sophie (b. Brieg, 17 March 1693 - d. Mannheim, 30 January 1728), married on 1717 to his kinsman, the Count Palatine Johann Karl of Sulzbach.
4. a son (b. and d. Brieg, 22 March 1695).

• In Kraków on December 15, 1701 he married secondly Princess Teresa Lubomirska, heiress of Ostroh. They had two daughters:

1. Theophila Elisabeth Franziska Felicitas (b. 13 November 1703 - d. 31 January 1705).
2. Anna Elisabeth Theophila (b. Innsbruck, 9 June 1709 - d. Innsbruck, 10 February 1712).

• In 1728 he married thirdly Countess Violante Theresia, (1683-1734), daughter of Count Philipp-Wilhelm of Thurn and Taxis, and his wife, Countess Marie-Adelaide von Aham zu Wildenau. This childless union was morganatic, as the Augsburg branch of the wealthy Thurn and Taxis family had only been elevated to baronial rank in 1657 and made counts of the Empire in 1701. But Violante received the honorary title of Princess from Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI in 1733. ^[1]

Preceded by Johann Wilhelm	Elector Palatine 1716–1742	Succeeded by Charles IV Theodor
	Count Palatine of Neuburg 1716–1742
	Duke of Jülich and Berg 1716–1742

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Huberty, Michel; Giraud, Alain, Magdelaine, F. and B. (1985). L'Allemagne Dynastique, Tome IV (in French). Laballery, pp. 200, 235-237. ISBN 2-901138-04-7.