Louis, Duke of Bavaria, (later to become Emperor Louis IV) was born in Munich, the son of Louis II, Duke of Upper Bavaria and Count Palatine of the Rhine, and Matilda, a daughter of King Rudolph I.

Though Louis had been partly educated in Vienna and had become co-regent of his brother Rudolf I in Upper Bavaria in 1301 with the support of his Habsburg mother and her brother, King Albert I, he has quarreled with the Habsburgs from 1307 over possessions in Lower Bavaria.

A civil war against his brother Rudolf due to new disputes on the partition of their lands had been ended on June 13, 1313, when peace was made at Munich.

While Rudolf retains the Electoral Palatinate, the treaty provides Louis with the opportunity to secure his election as German king when Henry of Luxembourg dies on August 24.