Countess Palatine Maria Franziska of Sulzbach

Countess Palatine Maria Francisca of Sulzbach (Maria Franziska, Pfalzgräfin von Sulzbach; 15 June 1724 – 15 November 1794), was a Countess Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld by marriage to Frederick Michael, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld. Born in Schwetzingen, she was the fifth child of Joseph Karl, Count Palatine of Sulzbach and Countess Palatine Elizabeth Auguste Sophie of Neuburg. Of her six siblings, only she and two older sisters survive adulthood: Elisabeth Auguste and Maria Anna. Life Her father was the designated successor both of his own father Theodore Eustace, Count Palatine of Sulzbach and of his father-in-law Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine, but he never took possession of his inheritance due to his early death in 1729. Maria Franziska's older sister Elisabeth Auguste later married the next heir of the Palatinate Electorate, Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria. After the death of Charles Theodore in February 1799 without surviving legitimate offspring, the Palatinate and Bavaria were inherited by Maria Franziska's youngest son Maximilian IV Joseph (later King Maximilian I of Bavaria); thus, Maria Franziska became the ancestor of all the Bavarian Kings until 1918 and the still living royal branch of the Wittelbachs.