WILLIAM V the Pious, Duke of BAVARIA. – B. on 29 Sept. 1548, son of Albert V of Wittelsbach and Anna of Austria, d. at Schleißheim on 7 Feb. 1626.
He succeeded Albert V in 1579. His energetic action in defence of Catholicism, continuing that of his father and grandfather William IV, effectively helped to stem the Lutheran expansion in western Germany. The example of an intense religious life offered by G. and his wife, Renata of Lorraine, promoted the Catholic restoration, making Munich the “Rome of Germany.” He fostered the spread of the Jesuits, founding for them churches, convents and colleges, among which the famous College of St Michael in Munich (1597) and the convents of Ingolstadt, Altötting and Regensburg. In 1583 he concluded a concordat with the Holy See, though this was published only in 1592. In 1597 he abdicated in favour of his son Maximilian, whom he had already associated with himself in the government of Bavaria since 1595, in order to devote himself more fully to a life of spiritual perfection.