Duchy of Bavaria

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Duchy of Bavaria Herzogtum Bayern (German) Ducatus Bavariae (Latin)
c. 555–1805
Flag variants of the Wittelsbach dynasty Wittelsbach arms of the dukes of Bavaria (until 1623)
Duchy of Bavaria (red, including Austria) within the Holy Roman Empire c. 1000.
Duchy of Bavaria within the Holy Roman Empire, 1618
Status	Stem duchy and vassal of the Merovingians (the so-called older stem duchy) (c. 555–788) Direct rule under the Carolingians, as Kings of Bavaria (788–843) Stem duchy of East Francia and the Kingdom of Germany (the so-called younger stem duchy) (843–962) State of the Holy Roman Empire (from 962)
Capital	Regensburg (until 1255) Munich (from 1505)
Common languages	Bavarian, Latin
Religion	Roman Catholicism (official) Lutheranism
Demonym(s)	Bavarian
Government	Feudal monarchy
Duke
• 555–591	Garibald I (first)
• 1597–1623	Maximilian I (last)
Historical era	Medieval Europe
• Garibald I as vassal of the Merovingians, first documented duke	c. 555
• Directly ruled part of the Carolingian Empire	788
• Margrave Arnulf assumed ducal title	907
• Carinthia split off	976
• Austria split off	1156
• To House of Wittelsbach	1180
• First partition	1255
• Reunification	1503
• Raised to Electorate	1623
• Treaty of Pressburg	1805
Preceded by Succeeded by East Francia Bavaria-Munich Kingdom of Bavaria Margraviate of Austria Prince-Bishopric of Brixen Prince-Bishopric of Regensburg Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg County of Tyrol Bohemian Palatinate
Today part of	Germany Austria Italy Slovenia

The Duchy of Bavaria (German: Herzogtum Bayern) was a frontier region in the southeastern part of the Merovingian kingdom from the sixth through the eighth century. It was settled by Bavarian tribes and ruled by dukes (duces) under Frankish overlordship. A new duchy was created from this area during the decline of the Carolingian Empire in the late ninth century. It became one of the stem duchies of the East Frankish realm which evolved as the Kingdom of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire.

During internal struggles of the ruling Ottonian dynasty, the Bavarian territory was considerably diminished by the separation of the newly established Duchy of Carinthia in 976. Between 1070 and 1180 the Holy Roman Emperors were again strongly opposed by Bavaria, especially by the ducal House of Welf. In the final conflict between the Welf and Hohenstaufen dynasties, Duke Henry the Lion was banned and deprived of his Bavarian and Saxon fiefs by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Frederick passed Bavaria over to the House of Wittelsbach, which held it until 1918. The Bavarian dukes were raised to prince-electors during the Thirty Years' War in 1623, and to kings by Napoleon in 1806. The duchy chaired the bench of the secular princes to the Reichstag of the Empire.