Dietrich VI./VIII. (Kleve)

Dietrich Graf von Kleve

Dietrich VI./VIII. (* around 1256/57; † October 4, 1305 ) was Count of Kleve from 1275 to 1305 and is considered the most important representative of the old Kleve count house. While he is referred to in older research as Dietrich VIII. (Sometimes also as Dietrich VII.), In more recent research based on Thomas R. Kraus he is called Dietrich VI. counted.

Life

Dietrich was born around 1256/57 as the eldest son of the later Count Dietrich V./VII. and the Aleidis von Heinsberg was born. It is first documented in 1271 and followed his late father in the count's office in 1275. In his first marriage, Dietrich was married to Margarethe von Geldern, a daughter of Count Otto II of Geldern , with whom he fathered his direct successor Otto (1305-1310). After his wife died before 1287, he married Margareta von Neu-Kyburg in Erfurt in 1290 , a relative of the kings Rudolf and Albrecht von Habsburg . The later Klever counts Dietrich VII./IX come from this marriage . (1310-1347) and Johann (1347-1368). Dietrich pursued an emphatically peaceful policy; For example, he stayed out of the Battle of Worringen in 1288. He cultivated close relationships with the Roman-German kings, from whom he was named "Council and Familiar". In terms of territorial politics, Count Dietrich was able to achieve important successes, for example the acquisition of Duisburg as a dowry in 1290 and the raising of Kranenburg to an imperial fiefdom. In 1298 he was able to acquire the land of Linn from his younger brother Dietrich Luf II . Under the government of Dietrich VI./VIII. the Klevian inland colonization was resolutely continued. After his death, Count Dietrich was buried in the Bedburg monastery church.

family

Dietrich was married twice. His first wife was Margarethe von Geldern († probably before 1287), daughter of Otto von Geldern . The following children are from the marriage:

• Otto (around 1278–1310) Count von Kleve (1305–1310)

⚭ 1308 Mechtild von Virneburg († after 1360)

• Katharina, nun in Graefenthal Monastery
• Adelheid († after November 7, 1320) ⚭ Count Heinrich IV. Von Waldeck (* 1282/90; † 1348)

His second wife was Margarethe von Neu-Kyburg in 1290 († probably 1333). He had the following children with her:

• Dietrich (* probably 1291; † July 7, 1347), Count of Kleve (1310–1347)

⚭ May 7, 1308 Margarethe von Geldern († 1333), daughter of Rainald I von Geldern

⚭ 1340 Maria von Jülich († 1353), daughter of Gerhard V. von Jülich

• Johann († November 9, 1368), Count of Kleve (1347–1368) ⚭ Mechtild von Geldern († September 21, 1384)
• Eberhard, (mentioned 1312)
• Irmgard († after 1350) ⚭ Gerhard I. von Horn , Lord of Perweys († 1330)
• Agnes († 1361) ⚭ 1312 Count Adolf VI. von Berg († 1348)
• Maria († 1347), nun in the Bedburg Marienstift
• Anna († 1378) ⚭ Count Gottfried von Arnsberg († 1371)
• Margarethe († after 1325) ⚭ Heinrich von Flanders, Count of Lodi († 1337), son of Count Guido I of Flanders

There is also evidence of an illegitimate son:

• Johann von Hiesfeld († 1350), dean of the Xanten monastery

literature

• Dieter Kastner: The territorial policy of the Counts of Kleve , Düsseldorf 1972 (= publications of the historical association for the Lower Rhine, especially the old Archdiocese of Cologne 11).

Web links

• Biography in the portal Rheinische Geschichte

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cf. Thomas R. Kraus: Studies on the early history of the Counts of Kleve and the emergence of the Klevian rule . In: Rheinische Vierteljahrsblätter . Volume 46. Bouvier, Bonn 1982, ISSN  0035-4473 , pp. 1-47.

predecessor	Office	successor
Dietrich V./VII.	Count of Kleve 1275–1305	Otto