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.
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.
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.
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.
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'.
William VII of Jülich, 1st Duke of Berg
William VII of Jülich, 1st Duke of Berg (– 25 June 1408) was born in Jülich, as the son of Gerhard VI of Jülich, Count of Berg and Ravensberg, and Margaret, daughter and heiress of Otto IV, Count of Ravensberg, and Margaret of Berg.
Upon his father's death in 1360, William became Count of Berg and Ravensberg, a title that his father had gained by marrying the heiress of Berg and Ravensberg.
In 1380, King Wenzel elevated him to the rank of Duke, thus becoming the first Duke of Berg.
William fought the counties of Mark and Cleves to prevent them from combining but in 1397 he was taken prisoner in the battle of Kleverhamm.
He lost Remagen, Kaiserwerth and Sinzig to his nephew Adolf IV, Count of Kleve-Mark and due to these losses, his sons turned against him and imprisoned him in 1403/04.
He ultimately forced them to submit and later supported his brother-in-law Rupert, King of Germany against Guelders-Jülich and won the county of Blankenburg.
William died on 25 June 1408 and is buried in the Abteikirche in Altenberg.
William II, Duke of Jülich
William II, Duke of Jülich( – 13 December 1393) was the second Duke of Jülich and the sixth William in the House of Jülich.
He was the second son of William I of Jülich and Joanna of Hainaut.
William was co-ruler from 1343.
He quarreled greatly with his father and imprisoned him from 1349- 1351.
He tried for many years in Holland- Zeeland to enforce claims against the House of Wittelsbach but failed.
When his father died in 1361, William became the second Duke of Jülich, his elder brother Gerhard having predeceased their father.
He led the traditional feuds of the House of Jülich and lost Kaiserswerth and Zülpich, among others.
William intervened in favor of Edward in the catastrophic war of succession between his brothers- in- law Reinald and Edward for control of the Duchy of Guelders.
He took part in the 1371 Battle of Baesweiler( in which Edward was mortally wounded) and captured Wenceslaus I, Duke of Luxembourg.
His brother- in- law Reinald died later in 1371 and as neither Reinald nor Edward left heirs, another fight for the succession of Guelders arose between William and his wife Maria( sister to Reinald and Edward) and Maria's sister Mathilde, wife of John II, Count of Blois.
In 1377, Emperor Charles IV granted Guelders to William's son William, but the title was not secured until 1379.
Among other territories, William acquired Monschau- Montjoie, Randerath and Linnich.
Reinald IV, Duke of Guelders and Jülich
Reinald IV, Duke of Guelders and Jülich aka Reginald IV( – 25 June 1423) was the son of William II, Duke of Jülich and Maria of Guelders, daughter of Reinald II, Duke of Guelders.
Reinald IV became the second Duke of Guelders and Jülich upon his brother William's death in 1402 without heirs.
Reinald, in conjunction with the Wittelsbach Counts of Holland, Hainaut and Zeeland, tried in vain to slow the emergence of Burgundy in the Netherlands area and in 1406 was unable to enforce old claims against Burgundy to Brabant- Limburg.
He allied himself with Rupert, King of Germany, supporting his coronation in Aachen and remained closely connected with the House of Orléans.
In 1407, Reinald supported his brother- in- law, John of Arkel, against the Dutch and in 1409 received the city of Gorinchem from John.
This started a new feud with Holland which ended in 1412 when Reinald ceded Gorinchem for a large sum of money.
He also conceded the city of Emmerich as a result of an earlier promise to the Duke of Cleves.
Reinald led the traditional feuds of his House, particularly those against the Bishops of Utrecht and against Holland and Friesland.
He occupied Arkel, but in 1422 he was forced to seek peace and return all of his conquests.
Reinald also stood against the House of Cleves in the Niederrhein area and maintained a lot of influence over Guelders.
On 5 May 1405, Reinald married Marie of Harcourt, daughter of John VI, Count of Harcourt.
Reinald died near Arnhem on 25 June 1423 and was buried at Kloster Monkhuizen.
As Reinald died without legitimate issue, the Duchy of Jülich descended to Adolf, Duke of Berg, son of Reinald's cousin William VII of Jülich, 1st Duke of Berg.
In 1426, Reinald's widow married Adolf's son Rupert, but he died in 1431 without heirs and the Duchy of Jülich- Berg then descended to Adolf's nephew Gerhard.
The Duchy of Guelders descended to Reinald's great- nephew, Arnold of Egmond, although the House of Jülich fought unsuccessfully against the House of Egmond for this title.
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.
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.

Question: When did Adolf, Duke Of Jülich-Berg's father die?