Stephen III, Duke of Bavaria
Stephen III. ( Stephan of Stephan Kneissel or the Magnificent; * to 1337, † September 25, 1413 in Kloster Niederschönenfeld ) from the house of Wittelsbach was since 1375 Duke of Bavaria, and since the regional division of 1392 Duke of Bavaria -Ingolstadt.
Life
Youth
Stephen III. was born around 1337, the eldest son of the future Duke Stephan with the gorgeous and his first wife Elisabeth of Sicily. He was thus the oldest grandson of Emperor Louis of Bavaria († 1347 ). His father was given as part of the estate settlement after the emperor's death in 1353 the part of the Duchy of Lower Bavaria -Landshut, to which he added in 1363 still Oberbayern won after the death of Meinhard. Tyrol, which had also been ruled by Meinhard, but went after long struggles in the 1369 Peace of Schärding lost to the Habsburgs.
On August 12, 1365, Stephan engaged III. in Milan with Taddea Visconti, one of the hundred thousand guilders - daughters of the town Mr. Bernabo Visconti, whom he married in 1367. Taddeas dowry of 100,000 guilders allowed him the city Neuburg an der Donau and several castles and courts, which had pledged his father to trigger again. From this marriage two children were born, the son of Louis VII and the daughter Elizabeth. In addition, Stephan had another son, John of Moosburg, who later became Bishop of Regensburg.
1368 Stephan fought in Italy on the side of his father against the antimailändische League to Pope Urban V and Charles IV, 1371/72 he undertook a journey Prussia to assist the Teutonic Knights against the pagan Lithuanians. As part of the reconciliation between the House of Luxembourg and Wittelsbach appointed Stephan Charles IV and his brother Friedrich in 1374 to Reichslandvögten in Upper Swabia and Alsace. After Stephen was planning a trip to Palestine, but which it had to do without, when his father died in 1375 at the age of 56 years.
Rule
After the death of his father Stephan III reigned. first together with his two brothers Frederick and John II and his uncle Otto V., half brother of his father. Otto had been until 1373 Margrave of Brandenburg, which Mark had but then sold in peace aristocratic estates for 500,000 florins to the emperor. For a portion of the purchase price he had received Bohemian possessions in the Bavarian Nordgau as a pledge that he now brought into the common government. The four dukes agreed in 1376 that initially Upper Bavaria was managed by Stephan and Johann Friedrich of Bavaria and Lower Bavaria and Otto. Thus, neither party was disadvantaged areas, the government should change every two years. This unusual arrangement was not realized.
Named because of its magnificent royal household " of Kneissel " said Stephen III committed. even after coming on in Italy and Alsace and brought to Rome by Pope Boniface IX. permission for an evening Aveläuten. 1387-1389 he led with his brothers the war of the cities against the Swabian Association of Cities and the Archbishop of Salzburg. 1392 the brothers divided the former dominion Stephen II in the lines Bayern Munich, Bavaria -Landshut and Bavaria -Ingolstadt. Stephen III. received while scattered areas of Upper Bavaria and the Nordgau that he reigned from Ingolstadt.
Become enemies of King Wenceslas, were Stephen and his son Louis since 1399 and for a kingdom of the Elector Palatine Ruprecht. Stephan also supported the rebellious Munich guilds against his nephew Ernst and Wilhelm, however, could be reflected in 1403 the uprising. Last action of the Upper Bavarian dukes 1410 a futile campaign to recapture the Tyrol. Bavarian incursions into the Inn Valley, which were supported by Heinrich von Rottenburg, the head of the Tyrolean noble opposition to the Habsburg princes, were without lasting success.
Stephen III. died on September 25, 1413 in the monastery Niederschönenfeld, where he was also buried. Stephen son of Louis VII had the bones of his father in 1430 transferred into the newly built Ingolstadt Liebfrauenmünster. Stephen's second wife Elisabeth of Cleves was Ludwig, her stepson, wring until 1430 12.000 guilders for their supply and died after 1456 in Cologne.
Progeny
Duke Stephan III. married 1367 Taddea Visconti ( 1350-1381 ), daughter of Bernabo Visconti Visconte and his wife Beatrice della Scala. From this marriage two children were born:
- Louis VII the Bearded (1368-1447)
- Elisabeth ( Isabeau de Bavaria, 1370-1435 )
His second wife he married on January 17, 1401 in Cologne Elisabeth of Kleve. The marriage remained childless.
His illegitimate son of John of Moosburg was to 1409 Bishop of Regensburg.