Stephen II, Duke of Bavaria

Stephan II, Duke of Bavaria
Seal of Stephen II
Spouse(s)	Elisabeth of Sicily Margarete of Nuremberg
Noble family	House of Wittelsbach
Father	Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Mother	Beatrix of Świdnica
Born	1319
Died	13 May 1375(1375-05-13) Landshut or Munich

Duke Stephen II of Bavaria (1319 – 13 May 1375, Landshut) (German: Stephan II mit der Hafte, Herzog von Bayern), after 1347 Duke of Bavaria. He was the second son of Emperor Louis IV the Bavarian by his first wife Beatrix of Świdnica and a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty.

During the reign of Emperor Louis IV his son Stephen served as vogt of Swabia and Alsace. The Emperor had acquired Brandenburg, Tyrol, Holland and Hainaut for his House but he had also released the Upper Palatinate for the Palatinate branch of the Wittelsbach in 1329. When his father died in 1347, Stephen succeeded him as Duke of Bavaria and Count of Holland and Hainaut together with his five brothers. Louis IV had reunited Bavaria in 1340 but in 1349 the country was divided for the emperor's sons again into Upper Bavaria, Lower Bavaria-Landshut and Bavaria-Straubing. Stephen II ruled from 1349 to 1353 together with his brothers William I and Albert I in Holland and Lower Bavaria-Landshut, since 1353 only in Lower Bavaria-Landshut.

After the temporary reconciliation of the Wittelsbach with Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, who had finally confirmed all Wittelsbach possessions, Stephen joined Charles' expedition to Italy in 1354. But soon the Golden Bull of 1356 caused a new conflict since only the Palatinate branch of the Wittelsbach and his brother Louis VI the Roman as margrave of Brandenburg were invested with the electoral dignity. Stephen II was the last son of Emperor Louis IV who was in 1362 absolved from excommunication.