Third War of the Geldrian Succession

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Wilhelm von Jülich-Kleve-Berg falls on his knees before Emperor Charles V , historical allegory on the Treaty of Venlo

The Third War of the Geldrian Succession , also known as the Klevischer War , Geldrische Feud and Jülich Feud , was a military conflict over the Duchy of Geldern between the United Duchies of Jülich-Kleve-Berg and Emperor Charles V in 1543. The conflict ended in the same year with the Venlo Treaty . It is considered a milestone in the history of the Dutch - Lower Rhine area, in which the regional interests of Duke Wilhelm V of Jülich and the emperor's universal claim to rule clashed. The war lasted almost three months and devastated large parts of the United Duchies.

The United Duchies between 1538 and 1543 including the disputed Duchy of Geldern and the associated county of Zutphen

Initial political situation

Geldern was pledged in 1472 by Duke Arnold von Geldern to Charles the Bold of Burgundy . This conquered the duchy the following year, with some parts, including Goch , ceded to the duchy of Cleves . The Geldrian people suffered greatly from the change of power, but could not oppose the Burgundian-Austrian rule.

In 1477 the situation changed after the death of Charles the Bold. For the next 60 years, the Duchy of Geldern became independent again, as the French appointed the last living heir from the Egmond family, Karl von Egmond , as ruler for strategic reasons . They took advantage of his hatred of the Habsburg dynasty to position him as a permanent troublemaker in the neighborhood of Habsburg territories.

On October 3, 1528, Karl von Egmond had promised in the Treaty of Gorkum that funds would go to Charles V if he died without male heirs. However, a short time later, Charles V learned of a secret treaty that granted the French King Francis I the area for an annual sum of 50,000 pounds Tournois . For this reason Karl von Egmond had to sign a second document with the Treaty of Grave , which again confirmed the rights of Charles V.

In 1538 Karl von Egmond died without a successor. This created a power vacuum from which many powers wanted to take advantage. The sister of the deceased, Philippa von Geldern , derived a claim to rule Lorraine from her family connections . Her son, Duke Anton II of Lorraine , demanded money for himself.

In addition, the Jülich-Kleve-Berg family made inheritance claims. These resulted from the marriage of Duke Wilhelm II of Jülich, who died in 1393, to Maria von Geldern . In addition, the Geldrian estates had decided in January 1538 that the Hereditary Prince Wilhelm von Jülich-Kleve-Berg would rule . Although Karl von Egmond actually did not agree with this solution, on January 27, 1538, Duke Karl signed a contract with Duke Johann von Jülich-Kleve-Berg . In accordance with this contract, the Hereditary Prince Wilhelm took over the Duchy of Geldern under the patronage of Karl von Egmond. After the death of Karl von Egmond, Wilhelm was to become the hereditary successor in Geldern. The rulers of the United Duchies of Jülich-Kleve-Berg considered the takeover of funds to be binding.

A gain in funds by Jülich-Kleve-Berg would have made this mass of states rise to a supra-regionally important power in the empire. A gain in Geldern would have created an uninterrupted territorial axis from Jülich via Kleve or from Mark via Berg and Kleve to the coast of the Zuidersee . The resulting territorial network would have included large parts of Westphalia (Mark, parts of Berg, Lippstadt and Ravensberg ), the Rhineland (Kleve, Berg and Jülich) and the Netherlands (Geldern, Zutphen and Ravenstein ). Furthermore, such a development could have had denominational effects on the Rhineland , since the dukes of Jülich-Kleve-Berg were open to Protestant ideas.

On February 6, 1539, Johann II von Jülich-Kleve-Berg died , followed by Wilhelm V. However, his claim to funds was not recognized. In order to have a stronger position vis-à-vis Charles V, Wilhelm V married the only 13-year-old niece of the French king, Jeanne d'Albret , in 1541 for purely tactical considerations . In this way he hoped for French support in the event of a dispute and for the crown of Navarre , which would have strengthened his reputation at the courts of Europe. However, the marriage was not consummated and was annulled after five years . In 1555 Jeanne d'Albret was named Johanna III. Queen of Navarre and worked to eradicate Catholic doctrine in her kingdom.

In return, Charles V had tried to reinforce his claim by establishing family relationships. In 1540 he had married his niece Christina of Denmark to Franz , the Hereditary Prince of Lorraine, and thus persuaded the Duke of Lorraine to forego money.

Acts of war and peace treaty

Maarten van Rossum , historical illustration

On July 16, 1542, Marshal Duke Wilhelm V, Maarten van Rossum , invaded the imperial Netherlands. He did so as an ally of the King of France. He had declared war on Charles V on July 12, 1542. Maria of Hungary , general governor of the Netherlands , began a counter-offensive on October 1, 1542. On Easter Sunday in 1543 she was defeated by the troops of the United Duchies in the Battle of Sittard .

Emperor Charles V could not rush to the general governor's aid immediately, as he was prevented by the Italian wars with King Francis I of France . At the Reichstag in Nuremberg in 1543, at the request of the representatives of the German imperial princes and in the name of Charles V, an armistice was agreed with the representatives of Wilhelm V for two months. This armistice came into effect on May 12, 1543. Wilhelm V hoped for French help because of his marriage to Jeanne d'Albret and a chance to be accepted into the Schmalkaldic League . However, it was unsuccessful.

After the emperor's arrival with new troops on the Lower Rhine, the war began again. The town of Düren , considered impregnable , whose defenses had been considerably modernized in previous years, was conquered and devastated by Charles V. Nideggen Castle , which belongs to the Duchy of Jülich-Kleve-Berg, shared the same fate . During the battles for Düren, up to 61,000 imperial soldiers besieged the city, which was home to only 3,000 residents and troops from the United Duchies. 16,000 people died in two days of fighting, including 2,500 defenders. It is reported that on the day before the attack, Charles V visited a chapel in Düren, the little holy house , and asked for God's blessing there to storm the city.

After the end of the battle, the city was in ruins, for which not only the bombardment was responsible, but also a major fire that had wreaked havoc.

After the complete defeat of Jülich-Kleve-Berg, the Treaty of Venlo came about , which was signed on September 7, 1543. In it, Wilhelm V renounced his claims to the Duchy of Geldern with its four parts Nijmegen (Betuwe), Arnhem (Veluwe), Zutphen and Roermond . Due to the division of the Habsburg estates after the abdication of Charles V, these fell to the Spanish line and eventually became part of the Spanish Netherlands . In addition, Wilhelm V had to commit himself to remain Catholic and to fight the Reformation .

See also

Web links

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ G. von Büren, J. Maaßen: Der Geldrische Krieg von 1543 , p. 21.
  2. ↑ G. von Büren, J. Maaßen: Der Geldrische Krieg von 1543 , p. 23.
  3. ^ Theodor Joseph Lacomblet, in: Document book for the history of the Lower Rhine or the Archbishopric of Cöln, 1401–1609, document 537 . Volume 4, 1858, pp. [684] 658. Online version
  4. ↑ G. von Büren, J. Maaßen: Der Geldrische Krieg von 1543 , pp. 23-24.
  5. ^ Theodor Joseph Lacomblet, in: Document book for the history of the Lower Rhine or the Archbishopric of Cöln, 1401–1609, document 543 . Volume 4, 1858, pp. [701] 675. Online version
  6. ↑ a b c Manfred Mende: The Düren Mother Gods House  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , P. 2.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.st-josef-mgh-dn.de