Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria

Biography

Maximilian I of Bavaria was the political brain behind the Catholic League — the defensive alliance of Catholic German princes that gave the Habsburgs their most reliable military and political support. He was a far shrewder politician than Ferdinand II, always pursuing Bavarian interests alongside Catholic ones, and his reward for raising the Catholic League army (under Tilly) was substantial: after White Mountain, he received Frederick V's confiscated electoral title, making Bavaria the leading Catholic German power. He simultaneously feared and resented Habsburg dominance, twice pressuring Ferdinand to dismiss Wallenstein when the general became too powerful, and eventually negotiated separately with France to protect Bavaria. When Gustavus Adolphus swept into Bavaria in 1632, Maximilian was forced to flee his own capital, Munich. He outlived the war by three years, one of the few major figures who survived to see its end.

Key Battles