Editing Palatinate (region) (section)

===Holy Roman Empire===
{{see|Palatines#Holy Roman Nationality}}
[[File:Wappen Rheinpfalz.svg|upright=.5|thumb|The [[Palatine Lion]]]]
From the Middle Ages until 1792, the Palatinate was divided into 45 secular and ecclesiastical [[territory (country subdivision)|territories]], some of which were very small. The largest and most important of these was the Electorate of the Palatinate (''Kurfürstentum Pfalz''), encompassing a number of [[Rhenish Franconia|Franconian]] territories on both sides of the Rhine formerly held by the [[Count palatine|Counts palatine]] (''Pfalzgrafen'') of [[Lotharingia]]. By the late 12th century, the Count palatine had achieved the status of a [[Prince-elector]] (''Kurfürst''), becoming one of the seven higher nobles with the privilege of electing the [[King of the Romans|Emperor]], as confirmed by the [[Golden Bull of 1356]]. In 1214, the Bavarian [[House of Wittelsbach]] was [[Feoffment|enfeoffed]] with these estates, which they ruled until 1918, together with the collateral branch of [[Palatine Zweibrücken]] from 1410. Needing stronger protection, they lost control with the reunification with [[Bavaria]] under Elector [[Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria|Charles Theodore]] in 1777.

The major ecclesiastical territory in the region was the [[Bishopric of Speyer]]. The [[Free imperial city|Imperial city]] of [[Landau]] joined the Alsatian [[Décapole]] in 1521 to preserve its status. Nevertheless, it was seized by [[Early Modern France|France]] after the [[Thirty Years' War]].

Other larger regional entities included the [[Palatine Zweibrücken|Duchy of Zweibrücken]] and the [[Prince-Bishopric of Speyer]].<ref>Adalbert Heib: ''Beamtenverzeichniß und Statistik des Königlich Bayerischen Regierungs-Bezirkes der Pfalz'', Speyer, Kranzbühler, 1863, pp.&nbsp;58&nbsp;ff ([https://books.google.com/books?id=ErpAAAAAcAAJ&dq=Kurpfalz&hl=de&pg=PR8 Online])</ref> The Prince-Bishopric held possessions on both sides of the Rhine. For centuries, the Electoral Palatinate and Bavaria maintained dynastic links because both were ruled by members of the Wittelsbach family.