Still a minor when he succeeded his father in 1651, his mother became his guardian and his uncle,
Albert VI of Bavaria served as Prince
Regent of Bavaria for three years. Ferdinand Maria was crowned on 31 October 1654. His
absolutistic style of leadership became a benchmark for the rest of
Germany. Though Ferdinand Maria was allied with
France, he made no attempt to oppose the
Habsburg candidate at the
1658 imperial election after the death of his uncle
Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor to avoid conflict. Ferdinand Maria supported the Habsburgs in the
Austro-Turkish War (1663–1664) against the
Ottoman Empire, providing Bavarian contingents for the
Army of the Holy Roman Empire. Under his leadership, Bavaria was officially neutral during the
Franco-Dutch War (1672–1678). Plans for a Bavarian colony near
New York were discussed but soon abandoned. The marriage of his eldest daughter
Maria Anna Victoria and her cousin
le Grand Dauphin in 1680 was the outcome of the Bavarian alliance with France. Ferdinand Maria was the great grandfather of the future French monarch
Louis XV. Ferdinand Maria modernized the
Bavarian Army and introduced the first Bavarian local government code. The Elector did much indeed to repair the wounds caused by the
Thirty Years' War, encouraging agriculture and industries, and building or restoring numerous churches and monasteries. In 1669, moreover, he again called a meeting of the
diet, which had been suspended since 1612. At the end of his reign he left the electorate with a very wealthy treasury. He died at the
Old Schleissheim Palace and was succeeded by his son
Maximilian II Emanuel. He was buried in the crypt of the
Theatine Church, Munich. ==Cultural legacy==