Duke Louis I of Bavaria (
KelheimKelheim is a municipality in Bavaria, capital of the district Kelheim. It is situated at the confluence of Altmühl and Danube. As of June 30, 2005, the town had a population of 15,667....
, 23 December, 1173 – 15 September 1231 in Kelheim) was the Duke of
BavariaBavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest state of Germany by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
in 1183 and Count Palatine of the Rhine in 1214. He was a son of
Otto IDuke Otto I of Bavaria Duke Otto I of Bavaria Duke Otto I of Bavaria (1117, Kelheim – 11 July 1183, Pfullendorf, (German: Otto I Wittelsbach, Herzog von Bayern), since 1180 the first Wittelsbach Duke of Bavaria.-Biography:...
and his wife Agnes of Loon. Louis was married to
LudmillaLudmilla of Bohemia was a daughter of Frederick, Duke of Bohemia and his wife, Elisabeth of Hungary. Ludmilla was a member of the Přemyslid dynasty. She was Duchess consort of Bavaria by her marriage to Louis I, Duke of Bavaria.-Family:...
, a daughter of Duke
Frederick of BohemiaFrederick was the duke of Olomouc from 1164 and then duke of Bohemia from 1172 to 1173 and again from 1178 to his death. He was the son of King Ladislaus II, who abdicated in 1172 in his favour...
.
Louis extended the duchy of Bavaria and founded many cities. Among the cities he founded were
LandshutLandshut is a city in Bavaria in the south-east of Germany, belonging to both Eastern and Southern Bavaria. Situated on the banks of the River Isar, Landshut acts is the capital of Lower Bavaria, one of the seven administrative regions of the Free State of Bavaria. It is also the seat of the...
in 1204,
StraubingStraubing is an independent city in Lower Bavaria, southern Germany. It is seat of the district Straubing-Bogen. Annually in August the Gäubodenvolksfest, the second largest fair in Bavaria, is held....
in 1218 and
Landau an der IsarLandau an der Isar is the second largest town in the Lower Bavarian county, or Landkreis, of Dingolfing-Landau, in the province of Bavaria, Germany. It lies on the river Isar. As of 2005, the population was around 12,950.- History :Landau was founded in 1224 by the Wittelsbach Duke Ludwig of Kelheim...
in 1224.
Duke Louis I of Bavaria (
KelheimKelheim is a municipality in Bavaria, capital of the district Kelheim. It is situated at the confluence of Altmühl and Danube. As of June 30, 2005, the town had a population of 15,667....
, 23 December, 1173 – 15 September 1231 in Kelheim) was the Duke of
BavariaBavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest state of Germany by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
in 1183 and Count Palatine of the Rhine in 1214. He was a son of
Otto IDuke Otto I of Bavaria Duke Otto I of Bavaria Duke Otto I of Bavaria (1117, Kelheim – 11 July 1183, Pfullendorf, (German: Otto I Wittelsbach, Herzog von Bayern), since 1180 the first Wittelsbach Duke of Bavaria.-Biography:...
and his wife Agnes of Loon. Louis was married to
LudmillaLudmilla of Bohemia was a daughter of Frederick, Duke of Bohemia and his wife, Elisabeth of Hungary. Ludmilla was a member of the Přemyslid dynasty. She was Duchess consort of Bavaria by her marriage to Louis I, Duke of Bavaria.-Family:...
, a daughter of Duke
Frederick of BohemiaFrederick was the duke of Olomouc from 1164 and then duke of Bohemia from 1172 to 1173 and again from 1178 to his death. He was the son of King Ladislaus II, who abdicated in 1172 in his favour...
.
Biography
Louis extended the duchy of Bavaria and founded many cities. Among the cities he founded were
LandshutLandshut is a city in Bavaria in the south-east of Germany, belonging to both Eastern and Southern Bavaria. Situated on the banks of the River Isar, Landshut acts is the capital of Lower Bavaria, one of the seven administrative regions of the Free State of Bavaria. It is also the seat of the...
in 1204,
StraubingStraubing is an independent city in Lower Bavaria, southern Germany. It is seat of the district Straubing-Bogen. Annually in August the Gäubodenvolksfest, the second largest fair in Bavaria, is held....
in 1218 and
Landau an der IsarLandau an der Isar is the second largest town in the Lower Bavarian county, or Landkreis, of Dingolfing-Landau, in the province of Bavaria, Germany. It lies on the river Isar. As of 2005, the population was around 12,950.- History :Landau was founded in 1224 by the Wittelsbach Duke Ludwig of Kelheim...
in 1224. He supported the Welf Emperor
Otto IVOtto IV of Brunswick was one of two rival kings of the Holy Roman Empire from 1198 on, sole king from 1208 on, and emperor from 1209 on. The only king of the Welf dynasty, he was deposed in 1215.-Biography:...
, who therefore confirmed the everlasting reign of the
WittelsbachThe Wittelsbach family is a European royal family and a German dynasty from Bavaria.Their major principal roles were as Dukes, Electors and Kings of Bavaria , Counts Palatine of the Rhine , Margraves of Brandenburg , Counts of Holland, Hainaut and Zeeland , Elector-Archbishops of Cologne , Dukes of...
family in
BavariaBavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest state of Germany by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
. But in 1211 Louis joined the
HohenstaufenThe House of Hohenstaufen was a dynasty of German kings lasting from 1138 to 1254. Three of these kings were also crowned Holy Roman Emperor. In 1194 the Hohenstaufen also became Kings of Sicily...
party; Emperor
Frederick IIFrederick II of Hohenstaufen was Holy Roman Emperor from his papal coronation in 1220 until his death; he was also a pretender to the title of King of the Romans from 1212 and unopposed holder of that monarchy from 1215. As such, he was King of Germany, of Italy, and of Burgundy...
rewarded him with the Palatinate of the Rhine in 1214: His son
OttoOtto II of Bavaria was the Duke of Bavaria and Count Palatine of the Rhine . He was a son of Louis I and Ludmilla of Bohemia and a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty.-Biography:...
was married to Agnes of the Palatinate, a granddaughter of Duke
Henry the LionHenry the Lion was a member of the Guelph dynasty and Duke of Saxony, as Henry III, from 1142, and Duke of Bavaria, as Henry XII, from 1156, which duchies he held until 1180....
and
Conrad of HohenstaufenConrad of Hohenstaufen was the first hereditary Count Palatine of the Rhine.His parents were Frederick II of Swabia , Duke of Swabia, and his second wife Agnes of Saarbrucken...
. With this marriage, the Wittelsbach inherited the Palatinate and kept it as a Wittelsbach possession until 1918. Since that time also the lion has become a heraldic symbol in the coat of arms for Bavaria and the Palatinate.
In 1221 Louis participated in the
Fifth CrusadeThe Fifth Crusade was an attempt to take back Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land by first conquering the powerful Ayyubid state in Egypt....
and was imprisoned in
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
by
Al-KamilAl-Kamil was an Ayyubid sultan of Kurdish descent that ruled Egypt, praised for defeating two crusades but also vilified for ceding Jerusalem to the Christians....
but later released. In 1225 Louis took over the guardianship for the young king
HenryHenry VII was King of Sicily from 1212, King of Germany from 1220, and Duke of Swabia from 1216. He was the son and co-king of Emperor Frederick II and elder brother of Conrad IV of Germany.-Under custody:Henry was the only son of Frederick II and his first wife, Constance of Aragon...
.
Louis was murdered in 1231 on a bridge in Kelheim. The crime was never cleared up since the murderer was immediately lynched. Due to the following aversion of the Wittelsbach family the city of Kelheim lost its status as one of the ducal residences. Louis was buried in the crypt of
Scheyern AbbeyScheyern Abbey, formerly also Scheyern Priory is a house of the Benedictine Order in Scheyern in Bavaria.-First foundation:...
.