Frederick, Duke of Bavaria

Frederick, Duke of Bavaria
Spouse(s)	Anna of Neuffen Maddalena Visconti
Noble family	House of Wittelsbach
Father	Stephen II, Duke of Bavaria
Mother	Elisabeth of Sicily
Born	1339
Died	4 December 1393(1393-12-04) České Budějovice

Frederick (1339 – 4 December 1393) was Duke of Bavaria from 1375. He was the second son of Stephen II and Elizabeth of Sicily.

Family

His maternal grandparents were Frederick III of Sicily and Eleanor of Anjou. Her parents were Charles II of Naples and Maria Arpad of Hungary.

Maria was a daughter of Stephen V of Hungary and his wife, queen Elisabeth, who was daughter of Zayhan of Kuni, a chief of the Cuman tribe and had been a pagan before her marriage.

Stephen V was a son of Béla IV of Hungary and Maria Laskarina. Maria Laskarina was a daughter of Theodore I Lascaris and Anna Angelina. Anna was daughter of Eastern Roman Emperor Alexius III and Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamaterina.

Reign

From 1375 to 1392 he ruled Bavaria-Landshut jointly with his brothers Stephen III and John II and managed to administer the richest part of the duchy, the region of Landshut which he also kept after the division of Bavaria among the brothers in 1392, when Bavaria-Landshut was reduced since Bavaria-Ingolstadt and Bavaria-Munich were created for his brothers.

In 1383 Frederick fought on the French side in Flanders against the English. He visited his uncle Albert I of Straubing-Holland in Quesnoy and participated in the siege of Bourbourg. On 1 November he went for an annual pension of 4000 francs in Paris in the service of King Charles VI, whose marriage to his niece Elizabeth he ran significantly. In the summer of 1385 he accompanied Elizabeth - later named Isabeau de Bavaria - to Amiens for her marriage with the King.

In 1387 Frederick imprisoned the archbishop of Salzburg to force him to finish his alliance with a confederation of cities in Swabia. Frederick was an advisor of King Wenceslaus in legal affairs and a favorable candidate for the king's succession when he died at Budweis already in 1393. He was succeeded in Bavaria-Landshut by his son Henry.

Family and children

He was married twice. First, 1360 to Anna of Neuffen, daughter of Berthold VII of Neuffen. In this marriage he had only a daughter, Elisabeth (Isabella) (1361–17 January 1382), married to Marco Visconti, Lord of Parma.

Secondly, he was married on 2 September 1381 to Maddalena Visconti, daughter of Bernabò Visconti and Beatrice Regina della Scala. Their children were:

1. Henry XVI the Rich (1386–1450).
2. John, died young.
3. Elizabeth (1383–13 November 1442, Ansbach), married to Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg.
4. Margareta (b. 1384), died young.
5. Magdalene (1388–1410), married in 1404 to Count John Meinhard VII, Count of Gorizia.

Ancestors

Family of Frederick, Duke of Bavaria

16. Otto II, Duke of Bavaria               8. Louis II, Duke of Bavaria                       17. Agnes of the Palatinate               4. Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor                             18. Rudolph I of Germany               9. Matilda of Habsburg                       19. Gertrude of Hohenburg               2. Stephen II, Duke of Bavaria                                   20. Bolesław II Rogatka               10. Bolko I the Strict                       21. Hedwig of Anhalt               5. Beatrice of Silesia                             22. Otto V, Margrave of Brandenburg-Salzwedel               11. Beatrice of Brandenburg                       23. Judith of Henneberg               1. Frederick, Duke of Bavaria                                         24. James I of Aragon               12. Peter III of Aragon                       25. Violant of Hungary               6. Frederick III of Sicily                             26. Manfred of Sicily               13. Constance of Sicily                       27. Beatrice of Savoy               3. Elisabeth of Sicily                                   28. Charles I of Naples               14. Charles II of Naples                       29. Beatrice of Provence               7. Eleanor of Anjou                             30. Stephen V of Hungary               15. Mary of Hungary                       31. Elizabeth the Cuman

Frederick, Duke of Bavaria House of Wittelsbach Born: 1339 Died: 4 December 1393
Regnal titles
Preceded by Stephen II	Duke of Bavaria-Landshut 1375–1393	Succeeded by Henry XVI the Rich