 In 1444, Count Friedrich III, the last Count of Veldenz, died.His daughter Anna had been married to Count Palatine Stephan since 1409.He took his inherited holdings from the Electorate of the Palatinate and the County of Veldenz that Anna had just inherited and combined them to found a new County Palatine, known in the fullness of time as the Duchy of Palatinate-Zweibrücken.