Christian III, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken

Christian III, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld (Strassburg, 7 November 1674 – Zweibrücken, 3 February 1735) was a German nobleman. He was a member of the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld, a cadet branch of the House of Wittelsbach. He was the son of Christian II of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld and Katharina Agathe, Countess of Rappoltstein. He was Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld from 1717 to 1731. In 1731, he inherited the sovereign duchy of Palatine Zweibrücken and thus became Count Palatine and Duke of Zweibrücken. He was also Count of Rappoltstein from 1699 until his death.

Christian III
Count Palatine of Zweibrücken
Born7 November 1674
Strassburg
Died3 February 1735
Zweibrücken
Burial
Alexander Church in Zweibrücken
Spouse
(m. 1719)
Issue
Detail
HouseWittelsbach
FatherChristian II of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld
MotherKatharina Agathe, Countess of Rappoltstein
Another portrait of Christian III

Life

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Christian was born in Strasbourg in 1674. He was the only son of Christian II, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld to survive into adulthood.

He began his career in the French military in 1697 and took over the Alsatian regiment. In 1699, he inherited the County of Rappoltstein from his mother. In 1702 he became Field marshal and in 1704 he was promoted to lieutenant general. He excelled militarily at the Battle of Oudenaarde in 1708.

In 1717, his father died. He left the army and took up administration of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld, which was a small part of the County of Sponheim. In 1731, Count Palatine Gustavus Samuel Leopold of Zweibrücken died childless and Christian III inherited his territory. His relatives objected, but in a treaty with Elector Palatine Charles III Philip concluded in Mannheim on 24 December 1733, it was agreed that Christian would receive Palatine Zweibrücken.

He died in Zweibrücken in 1735 and is buried alongside other counts/dukes of the house's line, in the crypt of Alexander's Church (Alexanderskirche [de]) in Zweibrücken, built in 1493 by his ancestor Alexander, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken.[1]

Marriage and issue

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In 1719, at Château de Lorentzen, he married Caroline of Nassau-Saarbrücken (1704–1774) and had four children.

Name Portrait Birth Death Notes
Caroline Henriette Christine
Landgravine of Hesse-Darmstadt
  9 March 1721 30 March 1774 Married in 1741 Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, had issue
Christian IV
Count Palatine of Zweibrücken
  6 September 1722 5 November 1775 Married morganatically in 1751 Maria Johanna Camasse, had issue
Frederick Michael
Count Palatine of Zweibrücken
  27 February 1724 15 August 1767 Married in 1746 Countess Palatine Maria Franziska of Sulzbach, had issue
Christiane Henriette
Princess of Waldeck and Pyrmont
  16 November 1725 11 February 1816 Married in 1741 Karl August, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, had issue

Ancestry

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References

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  1. ^ Hudlet, Richard B. (1993). 500 Jahre Alexanderskirche Zweibrücken, 1493-1993 : Betrachtungen zur Geschichte einer Kirche und einer Stadt [500 years of Alexander's Church Zweibrücken, 1493-1993: Reflections on the history of a church and a city] (in German). Zweibrücken: Protestantische Kirchengemeinde Zweibrücken-Mitte [Protestant parish of Zweibrücken-Mitte]. ISBN 9783924171186. OCLC 34658300.
  • Maximilian V. Sattler: Lehrbuch der bayerischen Geschichte, Lindauer, 1868, p. 411
  • Johann Georg Lehmann: Vollständige Geschichte des Herzogtums Zweibrücken und seiner Fürsten, Kaiser, 1867, p. 485 ff.
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Christian III, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken
Born: 7 November 1674 Died: 3 February 1735
Preceded by
Katharina Agathe
Count of Rappoltstein
1699-1735
Succeeded by
Preceded by Count at Sponheim
1717–1735
Preceded by Duke of Zweibrücken
1731–1735