From his early years Rupert took part in the government of the
Electoral Palatinate to which he succeeded on his father's death in 1398. He and the three ecclesiastical
prince-electors (of
Mainz,
Cologne and
Trier) met at
Lahneck Castle in
Oberlahnstein on 20 August 1400 and declared their
King of the Romans,
Wenceslaus, deposed. On the next day the same four electors met at
Rhens to ballot for Rupert as the next
King of the Romans, thus the majority of the college including the Elector Palatine's own vote. As the
Imperial City of Aachen refused to let him enter through its gates, Rupert was crowned by
Archbishop Frederick III of Saarwerden in
Cologne on 6 January 1401. Lacking a solid power base in the
Holy Roman Empire, his rule remained contested by Wenceslaus' family, the mighty
House of Luxembourg, though Wenceslaus himself did not take any action to regain his royal title. In the
Western Schism, Rupert backed the Roman
Pope Boniface IX who, however, was reluctant to acknowledge his rule in view of the Luxembourg claims. After the king had won some recognition in
Southern Germany, he started a campaign to
Italy, where he hoped to crush the rule of Duke
Gian Galeazzo Visconti over the thriving
Duchy of Milan and to be crowned
Holy Roman Emperor by the
Pope at the
Saint Peter's Basilica,
Rome. In the autumn of 1401 he crossed the
Alps, but was defeated at
Brescia and in April 1402 Rupert returned to
Germany. The news of this failure increased the disorder in Germany, but the king met with some success in his efforts to restore peace. The
Luxembourg resistance waned after
Wenceslaus was arrested at
Prague Castle by his younger brother
Sigismund in March 1402 and the next year his lordship was finally recognized by the Pope. Rupert also gained the support of
England by the marriage of his son
Louis with
Blanche of Lancaster, daughter of King
Henry IV on 6 July 1402. In his
Palatinate hereditary lands, Rupert turned out to be a capable ruler. It was nevertheless only the indolence of Wenceslaus that prevented his overthrow. After attempts to enlarge the king's
allodium caused conflicts with his former ally, the
Archbishop of Mainz Johan II of Nassau forging an alliance with Count
Eberhard III of Württemberg, the
Zähringen Margrave
Bernard I of Baden and several Swabian cities in 1405, Rupert was compelled to make certain concessions. The quarrel was complicated by the
Papal Schism, but the king was just beginning to make some headway when he died at his castle of Landskrone near
Oppenheim on 18 May 1410 and was buried at the
Church of the Holy Spirit in
Heidelberg. On his deathbed Rupert had decreed the division of his heritage among his four surviving sons. He was succeeded as
Elector of the Palatinate by the eldest surviving son,
Louis III. The second surviving son,
John, received the County Palatine of
Neumarkt, the third surviving son,
Stephen, Count Palatine of Simmern-Zweibrücken, and the youngest son,
Otto, the County Palatine of
Mosbach. In the following
imperial election on September 20, Louis III voted for
Sigismund of Luxembourg, who however lost to his cousin
Margrave Jobst of Moravia. ==Family and children==