Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria (31 October 1636 – 26 May 1679) was a
Wittelsbach ruler of
Bavaria and an elector (
Kurfürst) of the
Holy Roman Empire from 1651 to 1679.
Biography
He was born in
Munich. He was the eldest son of
Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria - whom he succeeded, and his second wife
Maria Anna of Austria, daughter of the emperor
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor.
On 8 December 1650 he married
Henriette Adelaide of Savoy, daughter of
Victor Amadeus I of Savoy and his French wife
Christine Marie of France, daughter of
Henry IV of France and
Marie de' Medici. The couple had seven children, two of which would have progeny.
Still a minor he succeeded his father in 1651, his mother and his uncle
Albert VI of Bavaria served as regents of Bavaria for three years.
Ferdinand Maria was crowned on 31 October 1654. His
absolutistic style of leadership became a benchmark for the rest of
Germany. Though Ferdinand Maria allied with France he abstained the imperial crown in 1657 after the death of his uncle
Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor to avoid a conflict with
Habsburg. Ferdinand Maria supported the wars of the Habsburg against the
Ottoman Empire with Bavarian auxiliary forces (1662–1664). During the
Franco-Dutch War since 1672 Bavaria was officially neutral. The marriage of his eldest daughter
Maria Anna and her cousin
le Grand Dauphin in 1680 was the outcome of the Bavarian alliance with France.
Ferdinand Maria modernized the Bavarian army and introduced...
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