Johann II (Kleve-Mark)

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Johann II von Kleve, depiction from the 17th century

Johann II ( April 13, 1458 - March 15, 1521 ) was Duke of Cleves and Count of the Mark from 1481 to 1521 .

Life

Johann was the eldest son of Duke Johann I von Kleve (1419–1481). Like him, he was brought up at the Burgundian court. On November 3, 1489 he married Mechthild von Hessen (July 1, 1473 - February 19, 1505), daughter of Landgrave Heinrich III. of Hessen . Because of his alleged 63 illegitimate children, Johann II is nicknamed “the child maker”.

Like his father, Johann grew up at the court of Burgundy . During this time he had accompanied Karl the Bold on his campaigns. Although his father had warned him shortly before his death to turn against Burgundy, Johann, with the cities of Utrecht and Amersfoort, turned against the bishop of Utrecht David of Burgundy . He supported his brother Engelbert , who considered himself the administrator of the Utrecht Monastery. At the same time, he sided with the Hoeks faction in the hook-and-cod war against Maximilian von Habsburg , who claimed Burgundy's inheritance.

The allies succeeded in capturing Bishop David and occupying large parts of the bishopric of Utrecht. Maximilian, however, carried out a successful counter-attack and captured Engelbert. Johann had to start negotiations. There was initially an armistice in 1483 and a short time later a peace treaty. Thereafter, Johann had to cede the cities of Arnhem and Wageningen to Maximilian, among others . In addition, he and 600 men had to make himself available to Maximilian for a month. The attempt to break away from Burgundy ended with an even stronger dependency.

Johann's situation was made even more difficult by the catastrophic financial situation of his country and the resistance of the estates who turned against him. The cities of the Duchy of Kleve formed an alliance in 1489 to protect their rights and privileges. However, these did not succeed in preventing Johann from starting new military actions. As agreed, he supported Maximilian in his fight against Karl von Egmond . He also tried after the death of Bishop David in 1496 to win the bishopric for one of his brothers. Both clashes ended without a victory for Johann.

This increased the resistance of the estates of the Duchy of Kleve and the County of Mark. This increased to an open uprising and tax refusal. This was not least due to the fact that Johann provided some of his favorites and his numerous illegitimate children with money and possessions.

Johann II's only political success is the marriage of his son Johann and the daughter of the last Duke of Jülich-Berg, Wilhelm , which led to the unification of the Duchies of Jülich-Kleve-Berg .

However, Duke Wilhelm von Jülich-Berg took the side of the estates in the struggle between Johann and his estates and openly criticized Johann's poor rule. On March 8, 1501, Johann was forced to conclude a contract with the estates. According to this treaty, a Council of States was formed from twelve councils. Eight of the councilors provided the Klever and the remaining four came from the market. Only if at least six of these councils agreed, the duke could in future issue orders for the duchy. This limitation of power was reinforced by further treaties of January 27 and March 4, 1510. The contract of January transferred the restrictions to the future union with Jülich-Berg and the contract of March concerned the fiefdom and inheritance law in Kleve-Mark. With this a constant control of his government by the estates was achieved. Without their consent, Johann could not make any significant decisions from then on. The finances were also completely under the control of the estates. As a result, the duke tried in vain to evade the co-government of the estates. Instead, they came together even more closely. Since 1510 a permanent union of the estates of Kleve and the Mark had been accomplished. At the same time, they made the collection of taxes dependent on their consent.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wilhelm Janssen, Kleve-Mark-Jülich-Berg-Ravensberg 1400-1600 , in: Land in the center of the powers. The Duchies of Jülich Kleve Berg, ed. v. Städtisches Museum Haus Koekkoek Kleve and from Stadtmuseum Düsseldorf, Kleve 1984, pp. 17–40, here p. 31.
  2. ↑ Theod. Jos. Lacomblet, Woldemar Harleß: Archive for the history of the Lower Rhine . In: The new episode, second volume / III. The Cleve-Märkischen state estates at the time of the Great Elector . 1870, Cöln, S. [183/5] 179/81. Online version
predecessor Office successor
Johann I. Duke of Kleve
Graf von der Mark
1481–1521 		Johann III.
personal data
SURNAME Johann II.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Johann von der Mark; Johann II. Count of the Mark; Johann II Duke of Cleves; Johann II of Kleve-Mark; John the Pious; the child maker
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Duke of Kleve and Count of the Mark
DATE OF BIRTH April 13, 1458
DATE OF DEATH March 15, 1521