Charles I, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld

Charles I of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld (4 September 1560 – 16 December 1600), Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke in Bavaria, Count to Veldenz and Sponheim was the Duke of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld from 1569 until 1600.

Early life and ancestry Charles was born in Neuburg in 1560, a member of the House of Wittelsbach, as the youngest son of Wolfgang, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken by his wife, Anna of Hesse, daughter of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse.

Biography After his father's death in 1569, Charles and his brothers partitioned his territories: Charles, as the youngest son, received only the Palatine share on the Rear County of Sponheim, a small territory around Birkenfeld.

Charles I is the founder of the House of Palatinate-Birkenfeld. He was a prince of a relatively unimportant state, and his chief fame is that the Dukes and later Kings of Bavaria descended from him.

Marriage and issue Charles married Duchess Dorothea of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1 January 1570 – 15 August 1649), a member of the House of Welf and daughter of William VI, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and Princess Dorothea of Denmark, on 23 February 1590.

Together, they had four children: George William (6 August 1591 – 25 December 1669) Sophie (29 March 1593 – 16 November 1676), married to Crato VII of Hohenlohe-Neuenstein (14 November 1582 – 11 October 1641) Frederick (29 October 1594 – 20 July 1626) Christian (3 November 1598 – 6 September 1654)

Death Charles died in Birkenfeld in 1600, aged 40. He was interred, alongside his wife, in the Schlosskirche Meisenheim, Bad Kreuznach, Rhineland-Palatinate.

Ancestors