The Upper Palatinate (German: Oberpfalz) is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of Bavaria.
The region took its name first in the early 16th century, because it was by the Treaty of Pavia one of the main portions of the territory of the Wittelsbach Elector Palatine, who also ruled over the Lower Palatinate in the Rhineland, now normally just called the Palatinate, or Pfalz. The capital of the Upper Palatinate was Amberg. Cadet branches of the Wittelsbach also ruled over smaller territories in Neuburg and Sulzbach. As a result of the Elector Palatine Frederick V's abortive claim to the Bohemian throne in 1619–1620, the Upper Palatinate, along with the rest of his lands, were declared forfeit to the Emperor and, along with the Electoral title, given to the Duke of Bavaria. Although the Lower Palatinate was restored to Frederick's son by the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, the Upper Palatinate remained under the Elector of Bavaria, and has remained a part of Bavaria ever since.
Upper Palatinate in 1632[]
The alliance between Grantville and Gustavus Adolphus changed the history of the Upper Palatinate. Following the Swedish/NUS victory at the Battle of Alte Veste, Swedish troops swept into the area and drove the Bavarians out. Gustavus appointed Ernst of Saxe-Weimar to administer the region, nominally as regent for the 16-year-old heir, Karl Ludwig, who was being held by Don Fernando in the Spanish Netherlands. In practice, the Upper Palatinate was incorporated as one of the provinces of the United States of Europe. Gustavus also sent Johan Banér to the area. When Ernst was sent to Saxony following the death of Elector John George in September of 1635, the province was administered by Christian I of Pfalz-Birkenfeld-Bischweiler.[1]
The Upper Palatinate had long been a center of manufacturing and iron mining. However, iron production had declined even before the war, and much of the mining infrastructure had been damaged or destroyed in the early years of the war. In 1634, a delegation from Grantville went to Amberg to see about restarting iron production,[2] as it was important to the USE's war effort and to the larger area's economy.
In mid-January 1636, Bavaria invades the Palatinate (pursuant to a clandestine agreement between Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria and Axel Oxenstierna), seizing Ingolstadt by treachery. The State of Thuringia-Franconia National Guard, which had prepared for a Bavarian attack, promptly counters. It is not stated, but is implied, that as of March, 1636, the USE holds the Upper Palatinate, except for Ingolstadt.
In April of 1636, the province was removed from imperial administration and given a republican government.[3] By December of 1636, it is explictly stated that the SoTF National Guard isn't needed any longer to defend the Palatinate against Bavaria.[4]
Notes[]
- ↑ Ring of Fire III, "Four Days on the Danube", ch. 1
- ↑ This is one of the plot threads in 1634: The Bavarian Crisis
- ↑ 1636: The Ottoman Onslaught, Snippet 05
- ↑ 1637: The Polish Maelstrom, chapt. 13