1.
Magdalene of Bavaria
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Magdalene of Bavaria was a princess member of the House of Wittelsbach by birth and Countess Palatine of Neuburg and Duchess of Jülich-Berg by marriage. She was born in Munich, Bavaria, the tenth and youngest child of William V, Duke of Bavaria, in 1607 Archduke Matthias of Austria asked the hand of Magdalene in marriage. The initiator of this project was Matthias consultant Melchior Khlesl, who wanted the Bavarian in the strife between the Archduke and his brother Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor. Although Magdalenes father was inclined to accept this union, her brother Maximilian I refused her hand because he didnt want to be involved into the Austrian dynastic disputes, in 1608 Matthias officially renounced to a Bavarian marriage at the request of his brother. Shortly after, Archduke Leopold V showed interest in Magdalene, in May 1609 Leopold V visited Munich and agreed to renounce his ecclesiastical positions in order to marry Magdalene. During this visit, she developed feelings for her suitor and stated that for Matthias she didnt have any feelings of affection, under the pressure of both her father and brother, Magdalene finally accepted in 1613 a marriage of convenience. Three days later, Magdalene renounced for herself and her descendants to any rights over Bavaria. As a dowry, she received the amount of 50,000 guilders, Magdalene set up a Catholic chapel at Neuburg Castle with two Jesuits who accompanied her. Shortly after, both Jesuits were sent to the Netherlands by Magdalenes father-in-law Philipp Ludwig, Count Palatine of Neuburg, on one occasion, during a religious service, a guest shot through an open window where Magdalene was. On 15 May 1614, a few months before his fathers death, Wolfgang Wilhelm, for the Counter-Reformation this was significant success justified to Magdalene and her commitment to her brothers policy. The marriage between Magdalene and Wolfgang Wilhelm, despite all the problems, was a happy one. Magdalene was described as similar to her brother, wise. On 4 October 1615 she gave birth her child, Philip William. Magdalene died unexpectedly in Neuburg an der Donau aged 41 and she was buried in the newly built Neuburger Jesuit Church crypt. F. A. Förch, Neuburg und seine Fürsten, ein historischer Versuch als Beitrag zur Geschichte des Fürstenthums Pfalz-Neuburg, A. Prechter,1860, dieter Albrecht, Maximilian I. von Bayern 1573-1651, Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag,1998, p.155
2.
Philip William, Elector Palatine
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Philip William of Neuburg, Elector Palatine 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. He was the son of Wolfgang Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg, Charles IIs sister, now the Duchess of Orléans and Louis XIVs sister-in-law, also claimed the Palatinate. This was the pretext for the French invasion in 1688, which began the Nine Years War and he first married Princess Anna Catherine Constance Vasa, daughter of Sigismund III Vasa and Constance of Austria. The couple had a son who died at birth, anne Catherine Constance herself died in 1651. In 1653 Philipp Wilhelm married Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt and this second marriage lasted 37 years and was regarded as extremely happy. They had 17 children, including the next two Palatine Electors, John William and Charles III Philip, as well as Elector-Archbishop Franz Ludwig von Pfalz-Neuburg, many of these children have descendants today. In the early years of their marriage, the couple lived in Düsseldorf, media related to Philip William, Elector Palatine at Wikimedia Commons
3.
Philipp Ludwig, Count Palatine of Neuburg
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Philipp Ludwig of Neuburg was the Duke of Palatinate-Neuburg from 1569 until 1614. Philipp Ludwig was born in Zweibrücken in 1547 as the eldest son of Wolfgang, after his fathers death in 1569, his lands were partitioned between Philipp Ludwig and his four brothers - Philipp Ludwig received the Duchy of Neuburg. In 1613 Philip Louiss eldest son converted to Catholicism and gained the support of Spain, the conversion of his son and heir was very difficult for the staunchly Lutheran Philipp Ludwig. By the Treaty of Xanten in 1614 the duchies were was partitioned without war, Philipp Ludwig received the Duchies of Jülich and he died in Neuburg in 1614 and was buried in Lauingen. Dorothea Sabine Wolfgang Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg Otto Henry Augustus, Count Palatine of Sulzbach Amalia Hedwig Johann Friedrich, Count Palatine of Sulzbach-Hilpoltstein Sophie Barbara
4.
Duchy of Berg
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Berg was a state – originally a county, later a duchy – in the Rhineland of Germany. It existed as a political entity from the early 12th to the 19th centuries. In 1160, the split into two portions, one of them later becoming the County of the Mark, which returned to the possession of the family line in the 16th century. In 1280 the counts moved their court from Schloss Burg on the Wupper river to the town of Düsseldorf, the most powerful of the early rulers of Berg, Engelbert II of Berg died in an assassination on November 7,1225. Count Adolf VIII of Berg fought on the side in the Battle of Worringen against Guelders in 1288. The power of Berg grew further in the 14th century, the County of Jülich united with the County of Berg in 1348, and in 1380 the Emperor Wenceslaus elevated the counts of Berg to the rank of dukes, thus originating the Duchy of Jülich-Berg. However, the new ducal dynasty also became extinct in 1609, in 1806, in the reorganization of the German lands occasioned by the end of the Holy Roman Empire, Berg became the Grand Duchy of Berg, under the rule of Napoleons brother-in-law, Joachim Murat. Murats arms combined the red lion of Berg with the arms of the duchy of Cleves, the anchor and the batons came to the party due to Murats positions as Grand Admiral and as Marshal of the Empire. As the husband of Napoleons sister Caroline Bonaparte, Murat also had the right to use the imperial eagle, the Grand Duchys short existence came to an end with Napoleons defeat in 1813 and the peace settlements that followed. In 1815, after the Congress of Vienna, Berg became part of a province of the Kingdom of Prussia, in 1822 this province united with the Grand Duchy of the Lower Rhine to form the Rhine Province. This lion originates from the arms of the Duke of Limburg as the Berg title in the 13th century fell to the Limburg line
