Charles Theodore, Elector Palatine was created Duke of Bavaria in 1777 and was the Grand Master of the Order of Saint George, an ancient Bavarian order of Knighthood. The Order of the Golden Fleece was conferred upon him in 1778. He was driven off his lands in 1792 by the French Revolutionary Army and died in 1799, succeeded by his nephew Maximilian Joseph of Deux-Ponts, who became the first King of Bavaria in 1805