Charles II August, Duke of Zweibrücken

Charles II August
Duke of Zweibrücken
Duke Charles II/III August Christian of Palatinate-Birkenfeld-Zweibrücken
Spouse	Maria Amalia of Saxony
Noble family	House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld
Father	Frederick Michael of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld
Mother	Maria Franziska of Sulzbach
Born	29 October 1746(1746-10-29)
Died	1 April 1795 (aged 48)

Charles II/III August Christian (German: Karl II./III. August Christian) (October 29, 1746 – April 1, 1795) was Duke of Zweibrücken from 1775 to 1795. He was the son of Frederick Michael of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld and Maria Franziska of Sulzbach. He was a member of the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld, a branch of the House of Wittelsbach.

Biography

Charles was born in Düsseldorf, as the eldest of five children born to Frederick Michael, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken and his wife Countess Palatine Maria Franziska of Sulzbach. He was an older brother of Maria Amalia, Queen of Saxony and Maximilian, eventual King of Bavaria.

Rejected suitor

He wanted to marry Archduchess Marie Amalie of Austria, the eighth child of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I of the Holy Roman Empire. He was well-known in the Austrian court, and Marie Amalie was also in love with him. However, even if he were well-known to the imperial family, Marie Amalie's mother did not agree to the match as he was deemed of insufficient rank at that time to marry an Archduchess. Moreover, the Empress was determined to marry her daughter off to either the King of Naples or the Duke of Parma, thereby strengthening Austria's alliance with the House of Bourbon, upon the death of another daughter, Archduchess Maria Josepha. Maria Amalie's older brother, Joseph, was also in favor of the match between his sister and the Duke of Parma, as the latter was the younger brother of his beloved wife, Isabella. So in 1769, Maria Amalia was married off to Ferdinand, Duke of Parma, against her will. This decision not only permanently embittered Charles against the Empress and Austria but also Marie Amalie against her mother. The relationship between mother and daughter would never be the same again. Later on, Charles would fight against Austria in the War on the Bavarian Succession as he was the distant cousin (and heir presumptive) of the Elector of Bavaria, Charles Theodore.

Marriage

In Dresden in 1774, Charles married Maria Amalia of Saxony, daughter of Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony. They had one son who died in childhood. Upon his death the title of Duke of Zweibrücken was inherited by his brother Maximilian.

Charles August was the principal of the famous Karlsberg Castle. He died at Mannheim in 1795.

Ancestry

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