Rupert I, Elector Palatine

Rupert I, called the Red (1309–1390), was Count Palatine of the Rhine and then the first Elector Palatine. A son of Rudolf I of Wittelsbach and Mechthild of Nassau, he lost his father at ten. In 1329 he and his brother Rudolf II won the Treaty of Pavia from their uncle Emperor Louis IV, which made the Palatinate a principality of its own; the brothers shared the electoral vote until Rupert became sole count in 1353.

Charles IV's Golden Bull of 1356 guaranteed the Palatinate's vote in imperial elections. In 1376 Rupert received several towns for voting Wenceslaus king.

He founded Heidelberg University in 1386, the third in the Holy Roman Empire. Neither of his two marriages produced an heir. He died at Neustadt in 1390, and his nephew Rupert II succeeded him.