| John Charles, Count Palatine of Gelnhausen | |
|---|---|
| Spouse(s) | Countess Palatine Sophie Amalie of Zweibrücken Esther-Maria of Witzleben |
| Noble family | House of Wittelsbach |
| Father | Christian I, Count Palatine of Birkenfeld-Bischweiler |
| Mother | Magdalene Catherine, Countess Palatine of Zweibrücken |
| Born | 17 October 1638 Bischweiler |
| Died | 21 February 1704 (aged 65) Gelnhausen |
John Charles, Count Palatine of Gelnhausen (born: 17 October 1638 in Bischweiler; died: 21 February 1704 in Gelnhausen) was a member of the Wittelsbach family and as such held the titles of Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke in Bavaria, Duke of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld at Gelnhausen, Count of Veldenz and Count of Sponheim. He is the founder of the line of the Dukes in Bavaria.
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John Charles was the youngest son of the Count Palatine Christian I of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld-Bischweiler from his marriage to Magdalene Catherine ( 1606–1648), daughter of the Count Palatine John II of Zweibrücken. Together with his older brother Christian II, he was educated by Philip Jacob Spener and later studied at the University of Strasbourg. Thereafter, the brothers took a Grand Tour lasting five years, which took them to, among other places, France, Holland, England, Sweden and Switzerland.
He participated as a Swedish cavalry commander on the side of his distant cousin King Charles X of Sweden in the war against Denmark and later fought against the Turks in Hungary. He then entered Dutch service. He participated in 1674 in the battle of Seneffe and was promoted to the rank of First Army Leader. He then left the army and retired to Gelnhausen. In treaties with his brother Christian II in 1681 and 1683, John Charles was deputized with the administration of Gelnhausen.[1] In Gelnhausen, he obtained the Fürstenhof ("Princely Court") with gardens and some parcels of land.
John Charles married his first wife, Sophie Amalie (1646–1695), in 1685 in Weikersheim. She was a daughter of the Count Palatine Frederick of Zweibrücken and the widow of Count Siegfried of Hohenlohe-Weikersheim. John Charles and Sophie Amalie had one daughter:
After Sophie Amalie's death, John Charles married on 28 July 1696 morganatically Esther-Maria of Witzleben (1665–1725), the daughter of Baron George Frederick of Witzleben of Elgersburg. John Charles concluded a treaty on the succession with his brother Christian II. He then tried to raise his wife to the rank of Imperial Countess and when that succeeded to cancel the inheritance treaty again, but he died before he reached his goal. His widow brought the case before the Aulic Council in 1708. In 1715, she won her case and she and her children were granted all the rights and privileges that came with a regular marriage. In particular, her grandson William could found the line of Dukes in Bavaria in 1799.
John Charles and Esther-Maria had five children: