Gustav, Duke of Zweibrücken

Gustav Samuel Leopold
Count Palatine Gustav around 1720
Count Palatine of Kleeburg Duke of Zweibrücken
Count Palatine of Kleeburg
Duke	1701 - 1731
Predecessor	Adolph John II
Successor	Christian III of Birkenfeld
Duke of Zweibrücken
Duke	1718 - 1731
Predecessor	Charles XII of Sweden
Successor	Christian III of Birkenfeld
Spouse	Dorothea of Palatinate-Veldenz Louise Dorothea of Hoffmann
House	House of Wittelsbach
Father	Adolph John I, Count Palatine of Kleeburg
Mother	Else Elizabeth Brahe af Wisingsborg
Born	12 April 1670 Stegeborg Castle near Söderköping, Sweden
Died	17 September 1731 Zweibrücken, Germany
Religion	Lutheran

Count Palatine Gustav Samuel Leopold of the House of Wittelsbach (12 April 1670, Stegeborg Castle near Söderköping, Sweden – 17 September 1731, Zweibrücken, Germany) was the Count Palatine of Kleeburg from 1701 until 1731 and the Duke of Zweibrücken from 1718 until 1731. His titles included: 5th Duke of Stegeborg (in Sweden), Pfalzgraf zur Rhein, and Herzog von Bayern.

He was the last male member of the Kleeburg line of the House of Wittelsbach to reign.

Contents 1 Life 2 Marriage 3 Sources 4 Ancestors

Life

Gustavus Samuel Leopold was born at Stegeborg Castle near Söderköping in 1670 as the youngest son of Adolph John I, Count Palatine of Kleeburg.^[1] He succeeded his father in 1689. He succeeded his brother Adolph John II as Count Palatine of Kleeburg in 1701, and his cousin Charles XII, King of Sweden, as Duke of Zweibrücken in 1718. The king's death also made him technically one of candidates to the Swedish throne. From 1720 until 1725 he moved his residence to a palace built by Jonas Erickson Sundahl.

Gustavus Samuel Leopold died in Zweibrücken in 1731 and was buried in the Alexanderkirche. As the last male member of his branch of the House of Wittelsbach, his territories were inherited by Christian III, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld.

He rivalled to the Grand Mastery of the Constantinian Order of St. George, whose obscure grand-magisterial dynasty was going extinct in the late 17th century, and whose grand mastership had been transferred to Francis Farnese, Duke of Parma, in 1696. In documentation of that chivalric institution and of Vatican, Gustav appears as (a) Duke of Bavaria. Gustav failed in his those aspirations, and the grand-mastership was confirmed in 1701 by the pope to be hereditary in the House of Farnese and its successors (Dukes of Castro). The Farnese duke was later succeeded in grand mastership by his nearest male kinsman, the future king Charles III of Spain.

Duke Gustav had (in 1720..25) the baroque residence castle of Zweibrücken built, the Swede Jonas Eriksson Sundahl as builder.

In Swedish politics, Duke Gustav was the last male of the line of his paternal grandmother, Katarina Vasa. Upon the death of his cousin King Charles XII, duke Gustav of Stegeborg was technically one of the candidates to legitimate succession to the thrones of Sweden and grand duchy of Finland. He would have become king Gustav III, had he succeeded. However, no strong faction or party in Sweden took up his cause, and his succession rights are not much remembered in history. Instead, his cousin Ulrica Eleanora managed to become the Swedish queen.

Duke Gustav of Stegeborg died during the reign of Frederick I of Sweden. His Swedish rights were inherited either by his nephew Charles Adolf Gyllenstierna, count of Ericsberg, or his sister, the Countess Palatine Marie Elisabeth of Kleeburg, or their cousin, Charles Frederick, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp.

Marriage

On 10 July 1707, Gustav married Dorothea of Palatinate-Veldenz (16 January 1658 - 17 August 1723), daughter of Leopold Louis, Count Palatine of Veldenz. The marriage remained childless.

On 13 May 1723, he married Louise Dorothea von Hoffmann (30 March 1700 - 14 April 1745), daughter of Count John Henry. They also had no children.

Sources

• Architectural history (Zweibrücken)
• Ancestors of duke Gustav of Stegeborg at Genealogics

Ancestors

Ancestors of Gustav, Duke of Zweibrücken

16. Wolfgang, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken               8. John I, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken                       17. Anna of Hesse               4. John Casimir, Count Palatine of Kleeburg                             18. William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg               9. Magdalene of Jülich-Cleves-Berg                       19. Maria of Austria               2. Adolph John I, Count Palatine of Kleeburg                                   20. Gustav I of Sweden               10. Charles IX of Sweden                       21. Margaret Leijonhufvud               5. Catherine of Sweden                             22. Louis VI, Elector Palatine               11. Maria of the Palatinate-Simmern                       23. Elisabeth of Hesse               1. Gustav, Duke of Zweibrücken                                         6. Nicholas Brahe af Wisingsborg                             3. Else Elizabeth Brahe af Wisingsborg

Preceded by Adolph John II	Count Palatine of Kleeburg 1718–1731	Succeeded by Christian III of Birkenfeld
Preceded by Charles XII of Sweden	Duke of Zweibrücken 1718–1731	Succeeded by Christian III of Birkenfeld

Persondata
Name	Gustav, Duke Of Zweibrücken
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	12 April 1670
Place of birth	Stegeborg Castle near Söderköping, Sweden
Date of death	17 September 1731
Place of death	Zweibrücken, Germany