The Electoral Palatinate was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire that existed from 1085 to 1803. From 1085 to 1690, Heidelberg served as its capital, followed by Dusseldorf from 1690 to 1720 and Mannheim from 1720 to 1803. The fragmented territory's rulers were Imperial vicars and Counts Palatine, and Elector Palatine Frederick V of the Palatinate briefly became King of Bohemia during the Thirty Years' War. The Palatinate was ravaged during the Thirty Years' War and during Louis XIV of France's wars with the Holy Roman Empire, and it would be ruled in personal union with Bavaria from 1777 until it was split between Baden and the First French Empire in 1803.
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