Johann I (Kleve-Mark)

Johann I of Kleve

Johann I (born January 14, 1419 - † September 5, 1481 ) was Duke of Kleve , Count of the Mark and Lord of Ravenstein from 1448 to 1481 . Johann was the eldest son of Adolf II of Kleve and Maria of Burgundy , daughter of Duke Johann Feart von Burgundy .

Life

He spent his childhood and youth at the Burgundian court in Brussels with his uncle Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy. In 1444 Johann was called back to Kleve by his father to support him in the Soest feud against the Archbishop of Cologne, Dietrich von Moers . In Kleve he was called dat Kint van Vlaanderen or Johanneken met de Bellen because of his Burgundian customs . At the same time, Johann was equipped with parts of the Klever domain.

After the death of Adolf II on September 23, 1448, Johann succeeded him in Kleve. In 1450 he ceded the lords of Ravenstein and Wijnendale to his younger brother Adolf von Kleve as apanage. He was only able to freely dispose of the county of Mark after the death of his uncle, Count Gerhard zur Mark in 1461. The Soest feud was settled in 1449 after the victory of the Klevian side. From 1450 to 1457 Johann was again involved in a war with the Archbishop of Cologne , again in the second Soest feud in 1462/63 and the war with Archbishop Ruprecht von der Pfalz .

Thanks to the support of his uncle Philip III. of Burgundy , Johann was able to prevail against Kurköln and assert the newly acquired cities of Xanten and Soest . However, the Duchy of Cleves came into a dangerous dependency on Burgundy , which threatened Kleve's independence.

Coat of arms of Duke Johann von Kleve-Mark with the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece

A painting based on an original by Rogier van der Weyden shows Johann in Burgundian court costume with the collar of the Burgundian Order of the Golden Fleece , in which he was accepted in 1451 after a pilgrimage to Palestine and accolade as a Knight of the Holy Sepulcher in Mons . Since then he has also had his coat of arms adorned with the prestigious chain of orders. The connection between Burgundy and Kleve was finally strengthened on April 22nd, 1455 by the marriage of Johann to Elisabeth of Burgundy , who came from a branch of the House of Valois-Burgundy.

In the battle of Straelen Johann I suffered a defeat against his nephew and adversary Adolf von Egmond / Geldern on June 23, 1468 , as a result of which the town of Wachtendonk von Kleve fell back to Geldern. It was only with luck that the Duke of Kleve escaped captivity; by placing himself under the protection of Duchess Sophia von Jülich-Berg .

In 1473 the tide turned again in favor of Klever, who supported Duke Charles the Bold of Burgundy in acquiring the Duchy of Geldern and was thus able to gain additional territories for Kleve: Weeze , Goch , Asperden , Nergena , Mook and Lobith as well as the country of Düffel and the jurisdiction about the Imperial Abbey of Elten . He also won back the city ​​of Wachtendonk, which had been lost in the Battle of Straelen , for Kleve.

After his death, his eldest son Johann II inherited the Duchy of Kleve and the County of Mark . His younger son Engelbert finally inherited the counties of Nevers and Eu from his maternal grandfather, Johann II (Burgund-Nevers) , in 1491 and founded the House of Kleve-Nevers.

progeny

Six descendants came from the marriage between Johann and Elisabeth of Burgundy:

• Johann II. (* 1458; † 1521), Duke of Kleve, married Mathilda von Hessen on November 3, 1489
• Adolf (1461–1498), canon in Liège
• Engelbert (* 1462; † 1506), Count of Nevers and Eu , married Charlotte of Bourbon on February 23, 1489
• Dietrich (* 1464; † young)
• Maria (* 1465; † 1513)
• Philipp (* 1467; † 1505), Bishop of Nevers (1500–1505), Amiens (1501–1503) and Autun (1505)

literature

• General Encyclopedia of Sciences and Arts, Counts of Herz and Cleve, 2nd Section H – N, Ed and Gruber, Hoffmann, Twenty-first Part, Leipzig, 1842, online version
• Woldemar Harleß:  Johann I (Duke of Cleves) . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 14, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1881, pp. 208-210.
• Leopold Henrichs: History of the city and the country Wachtendonk / Verlag Mayer & Kaltenmeier, Hüls-Crefeld / 1910 / p. 94-100
• Wilhelm Janssen:  Johann I, Duke of Kleve. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 10, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1974, ISBN 3-428-00191-5 , p. 492 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Heinrich Schroers: The battle near the monastery Zandt near Straelen / in: The Lower Rhine / 1878 / p. 132 following
• Raphael de Smedt (ed.): Les chevaliers de l'ordre de la Toison d'or au XVe siècle. Notices bio-bibliographiques. (Kieler Werkstücke, D 3) 2nd, improved edition, Verlag Peter Lang, Frankfurt 2000, ISBN 3-631-36017-7 , pp. 109–112.

Web links

Commons : Johann, Hz. Von Kleve  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Genealogy Middle Ages: Johann I.
• Biography in the portal Rheinische Geschichte

Individual evidence

1. ^ Heinrich Schroers: The battle near the monastery Zandt near Straelen / in: Der Niederrhein / 1878 / p. 132
2. ↑ Leopold Henrichs: History of the city and the country Wachtendonk / Verlag Mayer & Kaltenmeier, Hüls-Crefeld / 1910 / p. 94-100
3. ↑ http://genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00008453&tree=LEO

predecessor	Office	successor
Adolf II	Duke of Kleve 1448–1481	Johann II.
Adolf II	Lord of Ravenstein 1448–1450	Adolf II
Gerhard Graf zur Mark has only been regent since 1437, the title Graf von der Mark passes from Adolf IV directly to Johann II.	Graf von der Mark 1448 / 61–1481	Johann II.