Biography
He was the son of Philip William of Palatinate-Neuburg and Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt and was born in Düsseldorf, where he resided, rather than in Heidelberg, which had been largely destroyed by French troops during the Nine Years' War. He was educated by the Jesuits and in 1674 he made a grand tour to Italy.
He married in 1678 to Maria Anna Josepha, Archduchess of Austria. She was a daughter of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor and his third wife Eleanor of Mantua. After her death in 1689, he married Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, the daughter of Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. His brother was Franz Ludwig von Pfalz-Neuburg, his sisters were married to Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, Peter II of Portugal and Charles II of Spain.
His father ceded the duchies of Jülich and Berg to him already in 1679 before he finally succeeded him also as Elector of the Palatinate in 1690. In the Peace of Rijswijk (1697), he was restored to many of the possessions which had been taken by the French, with the provision that the Electorate of the Palatinate not revert to Protestantism. This provision did not make him popular in the Palatinate and with Protestants.
Influenced by his mistress Dorothea von Velen, Johann Wilhelm proclaimed religious toleration in 1705.
During the war of the Spanish succession Johann Wilhelm received also the Bavarian Upper Palatinate which was returned to Bavaria in 1714. He died in Düsseldorf and was buried in the St. Andreas Church. Having no son, Johann Wilhelm was succeeded by his brother Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine.
Read more about this topic: Jan Wellem
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