Elizabeth Charlotte of Bavaria

Elizabeth Charlotte of Bavaria,

1652–1722, German princess, called the Princess Palatine and also known as Charlotte Elizabeth; wife of Philippe I d'OrléansOrléans
, family name of two branches of the French royal line.

The house of Valois-Orléans was founded by Louis, duc d'Orléans (see separate article), whose assassination (1407) caused the civil war between Armagnacs and Burgundians.
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, brother of King Louis XIV. She abjured the Protestant faith before her marriage (1671). The death of her brother, Elector Charles, provided Louis XIV with an opportunity to use her tenuous claims to part of the Palatinate as a pretext to expand French influence in that area, eventually contributing to the outbreak (1689) of the War of the Grand Alliance. Her frank and vigorous letters are a valuable source for the social history of her time. She was a friend and patron of Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz and mother of Philippe II d'Orléans, regent to King Louis XVLouis XV,
1710–74, king of France (1715–74), great-grandson and successor of King Louis XIV, son of Louis, titular duke of Burgundy, and Marie Adelaide of Savoy.
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Bibliography

See her letters ed. by M. Kroll (tr. 1970).