Philip William, Elector Palatine

Philip William of Neuburg, Elector Palatine (German: Philipp Wilhelm) (24 November 1615 – 2 September 1690) was Count Palatine of Neuburg from 1653 to 1690, Duke of Jülich and Berg from 1653 to 1679 and Elector of the Palatinate from 1685 to 1690. Son of Wolfgang Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg and Magdalene of Bavaria.

Life

In 1685, with the death of his Protestant cousin, the Elector Palatine Karl II, Philip William inherited the Palatinate, which thus switched from a Protestant to a Catholic territory. The rival claims to the Palatinate of the Duchess of Orléans, Louis XIV's sister-in-law, was the pretext for the French invasion of the Palatinate in 1688, which began the Nine Years War.

Marriages

He married twice; first to Princess Anna Katarzyna Konstancja of Poland, daughter of Sigismund III Vasa and Anna of Austria. The couple had a son who died at birth. Anna Katarzyna Konstancja herself died in 1651.

In 1653 Philipp Wilhelm was married to Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt, with whom he had 17 children, including the next two Palatine Electors, John William and Charles III Philip but also Elector-Archbishop Franz Ludwig von Pfalz-Neuburg.

The second marriage, a 37-year long marriage was regarded as extremely happy and over its course, produced 17 children, many of which have descendants today. In the early years of their marriage, the couple lived in Düsseldorf, where they founded churches and monasteries.

Issue

• Eleonore Magdalene (1655–1720), married in 1676 Leopold I of Austria had issue; present House of Habsburg descend from them;
• Maria Adelheid Anna (Neuburg January 6, 1656 – Düsseldorf December 22, 1656)
• Sophia Elisabeth (Düsseldorf May 25, 1657 – February 7, 1658)
• Johann Wilhelm Josef (1658–1716), Elector Palatine 1690-1716 married Archduchess Maria Anna Josepha of Austria and later Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, no issue;
• Wolfgang George Frederik (Düsseldorf June 5, 1659 – Vienna June 4, 1683), elect of Wrocław 1682-1683
• Ludwig Anton (Düsseldorf June 9, 1660 – Liege May 4, 1694), bishop of Worms 1693-1694. Had Issue
• Charles Philip (1661–1742), Elector Palatine 1716-1742 married Ludwika Karolina Radziwiłł and had issue; married again to Teresa Lubomirska and had issue;
• Alexander Sigismund von der Pfalz-Neuburg (Neuburg April 16, 1663 – Augsburg January 24, 1737), bishop of Augsburg 1691-1737
• Franz Ludwig (Neuburg July 18, 1664 – Wrocław April 6, 1732), archbishop en Count palatine of Trier 1716-1729 and Mainz 1729-1732
• Frederik Wilhelm (Düsseldorf 1665 – Mainz 1689)
• Maria Sophia Elisabeth (1666–1699); married in 1687 to Peter II of Portugal, present House of Braganza and Brazilian pretenders descend from them; present rulers of Spain, Belgium and Luxembourg and pretenders of Italy and the Two Sicilies descend from them;
• Maria Anna (1667–1740) married in 1690 to Charles II of Spain, no issue;
• Philip William August (Neuburg November 19, 1668 – Reichstadt April 5, 1693), married in 1690 to Anna Maria Franziska of Saxe-Lauenburg.
• Dorothea Sophie (1670–1748), married in 1690 to Odoardo Farnese, Hereditary Prince of Parma, and was the mother of Elisabeth Farnese, future queen of Spain; present rulers of Spain, Belgium and Luxembourg and pretenders of Italy and the Two Sicilies descend from them;
• Hedwig Elisabeth Amalia (1673–1722), married in 1691 to crown prince James Louis Sobieski of Poland; present Princes of Guéméné descend from them.
• Johan (Düsseldorf 1675 - 1675)
• Leopoldine Eleonora Jozefa (Neuburg 1679 – Düsseldorf 1693)

Ancestry

External links

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