Sophie of Saxe-Lauenburg
Sophie of Saxe- Lauenburg( born: before 1444; died: 9 September 1473) was a German regent, Duchess of Jülich- Berg by marriage to Gerhard VIII of Jülich- Berg, and regent of Jülich, Berg and Ravensberg for her eldest son William IV from 1456 until 1473.
Gerhard VII, Duke of Jülich-Berg
Gerhard VII, Duke of Jülich-Berg (– 19 August 1475) was the son of William VIII of Jülich, Count of Ravensberg and Adelheid of Tecklenburg.
Gerhard was the second duke of the combined Duchy of Jülich-Berg but the 7th Gerhard in the House of Jülich.
Upon his father's death in 1428, Gerhard became Count of Ravensberg.
In 1437, his uncle Adolf died without heirs and Gerhard inherited his title as Duke of Jülich-Berg.
Gerhard continued his uncle's fight for the dukedom of Guelders, supported by King Albert II of Germany.
In 1444 he won the Battle of Linnich but was unable to prevail in his fight for Guelders and ultimately sold his claim to Burgundy and acquired Blankenheim-Löwenberg and Heinsberg from Guelders.
He was increasingly unable to govern his territories after 1461.
His spouse Sophie of Saxe-Lauenburg then wielded regency for him.
William V, Duke of Jülich
William V, Duke of Jülich( – 25/26 February 1361) was a German nobleman.
Some authors call him William I, because he was the first" Duke of Jülich"; the earlier Williams had been" Count of Jülich".
Other authors call the subject of this article" William VI"; they count the son and co-ruler of William IV as William V. William V was the eldest son of Gerhard V of Jülich and Elisabeth of Brabant- Aarschot, daughter of Godfrey of Brabant.
William V was a key political figure of his time, being a brother- in- law to both Edward III of England and Emperor Ludwig IV.
He spent enormous sums of money to have his brother Walram of Jülich appointed as Archbishop of Cologne over Adolph II of the Marck.
In 1337 he was crucially involved in the German- English alliance which caused the start of the Hundred Years' War. William was an important supporter of Emperor Ludwig and for a time, he supported the Habsburgs against the House of Luxembourg in the Carinthian war of succession.
Upon the collapse of the German- English alliance and the death of his brother- in- law, William switched his allegiance to Emperor Charles IV.
In 1352 he initiated an inheritance tax on Heinsberg- Valkenburg/ Monschau.
William won important positions through his Archbishop brother and also served for a time as a field captain for Flanders in the Hundred Years' War.
His sons fought against him during an uprising of part of the Jülich knighthood which opposed inclusion in the increasing territorial state, and he was imprisoned by them in 1349, but released in 1351 due to public pressure.
Upon his father's death in 1328, William became Count of Jülich.
In 1336 William was appointed Margrave by his brother- in- law, Emperor Ludwig IV, and in 1356/ 57 he was raised to the level of Duke by Emperor Charles IV, thus becoming the first Duke of Jülich.
His skillful marriage policy, especially the marriage of his son Gerhard to Margaret of Ravensberg, heiress of Berg and Ravensberg, enabled him to add territory to the house of Jülich.
Upon William's death in 1361, the Duchy of Jülich passed to his second son, William, his eldest son having predeceased.
William and his wife are buried in Nideggen.
He seems to have held the title of Earl of Cambridge from 1340 to his death.
Maria of Jülich-Berg
Maria of Jülich- Berg
( 3 August 1491 – 29 August 1543) was born in Jülich, the daughter of Wilhelm IV, Duke of Jülich- Berg and Sibylle of Brandenburg.
Maria came from the line of German princesses that stretched back to Sybille of Brandenberg, Sophia of Saxony, and Adelaide of Teck.
Maria became heiress to her father's estates of Jülich, Berg and Ravensberg after his death in 1511.
In her marriage to John III, Duke of Cleves in 1509, Maria's estates and titles were eventually merged with the Duchy of Cleves.
John, who inherited the Duchy of Cleves- Mark in 1521, then became the first ruler of the United Duchies of Jülich- Cleves- Berg, which would exist until 1666.
She married John III, Duke of Cleves in 1509, by whom she had three daughters and a son.
Sybille( 1512–1554), William, Duke of Jülich- Cleves- Berg(" Wilhelm")( 1516–1592), Amalia( 1517– 1586), and Anne( 1515 –1557) who was Queen consort of England from 6 January 1540 to 9 July 1540 to King Henry VIII.
Maria was a strict, traditional Catholic and not a proponent of educating princesses and noble women, which by this point was the norm for the English nobility and gentry.
In" The Wives of Henry VIII", Antonia Fraser suggests that, following their marriage, one reason Henry VIII disliked her daughter
Anne so much was that, unlike his first two wives and many of the court ladies around him, Anne did not possess educational and musical accomplishments and was ill- equipped to function in the contentious English court.
Duchess Maria herself appears not to have favored sending her daughter to England.
She wrote in a later correspondence she loved her daughter so much that she was' loath to suffer her to depart her'.
Adolf, Duke of Jülich-Berg
Adolf, Duke of Jülich- Berg( c. 1370 – 14 July 1437), was the first Duke of the combined duchies of Jülich and Berg.
He was the son of William VII of Jülich, 1st Duke of Berg and Anna of the Palatinate.
In 1397, Adolf rebelled against his father along with his brother William, ravaged Düsseldorf and imprisoned his father.
He was outlawed and was subsequently subdued in 1405.
Upon his father's death in 1408, Adolf became the 2nd Duke of Berg.
Adolf fought against Lorraine and other pretenders for Bar but surrendered after his capture in 1417.
His father's cousin, Reginald, Duke of Jülich and Guelders, had no heirs and upon his death in 1423, Adolf succeeded him in three- fourths of the Duchy, the fourth quarter( called" Jülicher Quart") was inherited by John II of Loon, Lord of Heinsberg and Löwenberg, grandson of the first duke of Jülich, William V.
The dukedom of Jülich passed to Adolf, thus becoming the first duke of the combined duchies of Jülich and Berg. John II. of Loon- Heinsberg was than also called Lord of Jülich.
Adolf also began a year- long hereditary war against the House of Egmond for the dukedom of Guelders but could not win even with financial support from Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, who supported Adolf in this fight despite Adolf's opposition to Sigismund's coronation at Aachen in 1414.
Adolf supported the Roman candidate in the Council of Constance which ended the Western Schism.
He traditionally fought against the Archbishop of Cologne.
He later secured Monschau- Montjoie and in 1428 he seized Lievandal- Wevelinghoven.
Adolf had only one son who died before him so after Adolf's death in 1437, the dukedom of Jülich- Berg passed to his nephew Gerhard, son of his brother William.
Adolf died in Cologne on 14 July 1437 and is buried at Great St. Martin Church, Cologne.
Gerhard VII, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg
Gerhard VII, Count of Holstein- Rendsburg( 1404 – 24 July 1433 in Emmerich am Rhein) was Count of Holstein- Rendsburg and by claim also Duke of Schleswig, as Gerhard III.
He was the youngest son of Gerhard VI and his wife Elizabeth of Brunswick.
William IV, Duke of Jülich-Berg
William IV of Jülich- Berg( 9 January 1455 – 6 September 1511) was the last ruler of the Duchy of Jülich- Berg.
Richardis of Jülich
Richardis of Jülich( 1314–1360) was a daughter of Gerhard V of Jülich and Elisabeth of Brabant- Aarschot.
She married Otto IV, Duke of Lower Bavaria, son of Stephen I, Duke of Bavaria, with whom she had one child: Albert of Wittelsbach, who was born in 1332.
He predeceased his father.
Her husband died in 1334.
William VIII of Jülich, Count of Ravensberg
William VIII of Jülich, Count of Ravensberg (– 22 November 1428) was the youngest son of William VII of Jülich, 1st Duke of Berg and Anna of the Palatinate.
Along with his brother, Adolf, William rebelled against his father but surrendered in 1404 and received his father's title as Count of Ravensberg which he held until his death in 1428.
In 1401, William was appointed Bishop of Paderborn by Pope Boniface IX through the influence of his uncle, Rupert, King of Germany.
William's elder brother Rupert had held the same post from 1389–1394.
Like his uncle, King Rupert, William was a follower of the Roman Popes.
As Prince-Bishop, William aroused heavy unrest with his ecclesiastical reform effort and quarreled with Waldeck and Lippe, compelling acknowledgement of Paderborn's sovereignty over parts of Lippe.
Despite territorial policy successes, he faced opposition and renounced Paderborn in 1414.
He attempted to become Archbishop of Cologne but failed against Dietrich of Moers who also replaced William as Bishop of Paderborn.
William then married Dietrich's niece, Adelheid of Tecklenburg, and became the father of the new line of the Dukes of Jülich-Berg and Counts of Ravensberg, when his brother Adolf died without an heir.
William and Adelheid are buried in the Stiftskirche in Bielefeld.
William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg
William of Jülich- Cleves- Berge( William I of Cleves, William V of Jülich- Berg)( 28 July 1516 – 5 January 1592) was a Duke of Jülich- Cleves- Berg( 1539 – 1592).
William was born in and died in Düsseldorf.
He was the only son of John III, Duke of Jülich- Cleves- Berg, and Maria, Duchess of Jülich- Berg.
William took over rule of his father's estates( the Duchy of Cleves and the County of Mark) upon his death in 1539.
Despite his mother having lived until 1543, William also became the Duke of Berg and Jülich and the Count of Ravensberg.
From 1538 to 1543, William held the neighbouring Duchy of Guelders, as successor of his distant relatives, the Egmond dukes.
Emperor Charles
V claimed this duchy for himself as the dukes had sold their right of heritage, and William tried to hold on to it.
He made a treaty with the King of France and married Jeanne d'Albret, and with this backup dared to challenge the Emperor.
All too soon he learned that the French did not lift a finger to help him, and he was overwhelmed and had to surrender.
In accordance with the Treaty of Venlo( 1543) that was the result of this war, Guelders and the County of Zutphen were transferred to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, combining them with the Habsburg Netherlands.
William then tried to strengthen his inherited territories and launched an impressive development project for the most important cities.
The three duchies all got new main fortresses as major strongpoints, for the older medieval fortifications had proved to be no match against the Imperial artillery.
The cities of Jülich, Düsseldorf and Orsoy became fortresses for the duchies of Jülich, Berg and Cleves respectively, and Jülich and Düsseldorf were turned into impressive residences.
For this task, the renowned Italian architect Alessandro Pasqualini from Bologna was hired, who had already made some impressive display of his craft in the Netherlands.
He made the plans for the fortifications and palaces, of which some traces still remain, especially at Jülich where the citadel( built 1548- 1580) is a major landmark, with parts of the Renaissance palace still standing.
William's sister Anne of Cleves was, for six months, the fourth wife of King Henry VIII of England.
Through his daughter Marie Eleonore, he is ancestor of Marie Louise of Hesse- Kassel, wife of John William Friso, Prince of Orange therefore ancestor of all the current European monarchs.

Question: Who is the paternal grandfather of Gerhard Vii, Duke Of Jülich-Berg?