Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2009)

Ferdinand Maria
Duke of Bavaria, Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire
Portrait of Ferdinand Maria by Paul Mignard
Reign	1651–1679
Born	October 31, 1636(1636-10-31)
Birthplace	Munich
Died	May 26, 1679 (aged 42)
Place of death	Schleissheim Palace
Predecessor	Maximilian I (Bavaria)
Successor	Maximilian II (Bavaria)
Consort	Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy
Offspring	Maria Anna of Bavaria Maximilian II Joseph Clemens Kajetan Violante Beatrix, Duchess of Bavaria
Royal House	House of Wittelsbach
Father	Maximilian I
Mother	Maria Anna of Austria

Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria (October 31, 1636–May 26, 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.

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 October 31, 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 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.

Ferdinand Maria modernized the Bavarian army and introduced the first Bavarian local government code. The electorate he left with a very wealthy treasury.

He died in Schleissheim Palace and was succeeded by his son Maximilian II Emanuel. He is buried in the crypt of the Theatiner Church in Munich.

Cultural legacy

Copperplate engraving by Michael Wening Starnberg Castle with Ferdinand Maria's gondola Bucentaurus in Topographia Bavariae about 1700

Ferdinand Maria married in 1650 princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy (d.1676), daughter of Victor Amadeus I of Savoy. With her the Italian Baroque was introduced in Bavaria.

The Theatiner Church in Munich was built from 1663 onwards as a gesture of thanks for the birth of the long-awaited heir to the Bavarian crown, Prince Max Emanuel. In 1664, he commissioned the building of Nymphenburg Palace, near Munich. Lake Starnberg became the venue of numerous festivities of the court with the famous fleet of Venetian Gondolas. At the shore Castle Berg was constructed.

Trivia

• He was the great grandfather of French monarch Louis XV.
• Plans for a Bavarian colony near New York were discussed but soon abandoned during Ferdinand Maria's reign

Ferdinand Maria, Picture from 1658

Ancestors

Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria with his wife Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy, as painted by Sebastiano Bombelli (1666).

Succession

• Duchess Maria Anna of Bavaria, Dauphine of France
• Maximilian II, Kurfürst of Bavaria
• Luise Margarete Antonie, Duchess of Bavaria
• Ludwig Amadeus Victor, Duke of Bavaria
• Kajetan Maria Franz, Duke of Bavaria
• Joseph Clemens Kajetan, Kurfürst and Archbishop of Cologne
• Violante Beatrix, Duchess of Bavaria