Engelbert of Kleve

Coat of arms of Engelbert von Kleve, Count of Nevers

Engelbert von Kleve ( French : Engilbert de Clèves , born September 26, 1462 ; † November 21, 1506 ) was Count of Nevers , Étampes and Eu from 1491 until his death . He was the third of five sons of Duke Johann I of Kleve and his wife Elisabeth of Burgundy († 1483).

On his father's side, Engelbert came from the German aristocratic family of those von der Mark , and on his mother's side from the Valois-Burgundy family , which was a side branch of the French royal family Valois .

Life

Engelbert belonged to the court of King Charles VIII of France and was naturalized by him in 1486. After the death of his maternal grandfather, Count Johann II von Nevers-Rethel in 1491, Engelbert inherited the counties Nevers, Étampes and Eu from him, while his older brother Johann should take over the paternal inheritance in Kleve . Engelbert then led a year-long inheritance dispute with his aunt Charlotte von Burgund-Nevers and her daughter Marie d'Albret over the county of Rethel , which was settled in 1504 through a wedding between Marie and Engelbert's son Charles.

Engelbert took part in the Italian campaign of Charles VIII. In part, of the Kingdom of Naples tried to conquer, and fought on July 6, 1495 the Battle of Fornovo , where he Swiss mercenaries led. Also for King Ludwig XII. Engelbert, his first cousin, fought in Italy , where he again commanded the Confederates when they captured Milan in 1499. He then worked as the ambassador of France in Castile . In 1505 he was given the dignity of a French pair .

Engelbert died on November 21, 1506 and was buried in the Church of the Cordeliers in Nevers .

Marriage and offspring

Engelbert married Charlotte de Bourbon, daughter of the Count of Vendôme , Jean VIII. De Bourbon , on February 23, 1489 at the royal request . After Engelbert's death, she entered Fontevrault Abbey , where she died on December 14, 1520.

The couple had seven children, three of whom reached adulthood:

• Charles († August 27, 1521 in the Louvre ), Count of Nevers and Eu
• Louis († 1545), called Count of Auxerre
• François († 1545), Prior of Saint-Éloi in Paris

literature

• Karl Leopold Strauven:  Engelbert von Cleve . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 4, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, p. 330.
• Detlev Schwennicke: European family tables. Volume I, 1975, p. 190.
• Jacques Dupont, Jacques Saillot: Cahiers de Saint Louis. Verlag Jacques Dupont, Angers 1976, p. 267.

predecessor	Office	successor
Johann II.	Count of Nevers 1491–1506	Charles de Clèves
Johann II.	Count of Eu 1491–1506	Charles de Clèves