<b>Bavaria (~600-1871)<b>

The duchy of Bavaria had existed long before Charlemagne conquered it, remaining a solid state in a period that saw great border changes elsewhere. After changing hands repeatedly during the early 12th century, the duchy was combined with that of Saxony during the reign of Heinrich the Lion. He neglected Bavaria in favour of his northern lands, although he was not without merit: he founded Munich. During these decades, the duchy lost border areas to surrounding states, such as Austria and Styria.

A new era began when, in consequence of Henry the Lion being placed under an imperial ban in 1180, Emperor Frederick I awarded the duchy to Otto, a member of the old Bavarian family of Wittelsbach, and a descendant of the counts of Scheyern. The Wittelsbach dynasty ruled Bavaria without interruption until 1918. While the options for expansion were limited, due to Bavaria's powerful neighbours, the new dukes still managed to make their territory grow, largely through personal purchases of land. They began to play a part more supportive to the emperors, and consequently grew in stature and political importance. When Otto II the Illustrious died in 1253, Bavaria was once again a very important power within the empire.

The efforts of the dukes to increase their power and to give unity to the duchy had met with a fair measure of success; but this was not to last, as the practice of dividing ancestral lands among the male line of the family were soon to seriously undermine ducal authority, and led to the creation of separate Upper and Lower Bavarian states. But the family's ambition had not come to an end, and when the Bavarian emperor, Ludwig IV, died in 1347, he left his six sons not only Bavaria but also the duchies of Brandenburg and Tyrol and the counties of Holland and Hainaut. The many different Bavarian territories were now all ruled separately, and there were frequent succession wars. While only three lines still existed by 1392, they fought bitterly for half a century.

This condition of affairs, however, had some benefits. The government of the country and the control of the finances passed mainly into the hands of an assembly called the Landtag or Landschaft, organised in 1392. The towns, assuming a certain independence, became strong and wealthy as trade increased, and the citizens of Munich and Regensburg often proved formidable antagonists to the dukes. Thus a period of disorder saw the growth of representative institutions and the establishment of a strong civic spirit.

Ludwig IX, who came to power in 1450, re-established some of the former grandeur to the duchy, combining Bavaria-Landshut and Bavaria-Ingolstadt. He expelled the Jews from his duchy, increased the security of traders, and improved both the administration of justice and the condition of the finances. In 1472 he founded the university of Ingolstadt, attempted to reform the monasteries, and successfully defeated Albrecht Achilles of Brandenburg. On the death of Ludwig IX in January 1479 his son Georg, also called the Rich, succeeded; however, he died without heirs in December 1503, and yet another war broke out for the possession of his duchy. This time, luckily, there was a real victory, and Albrecht IV, nicknamed the Wise, united all of Bavaria by 1506.
