Karl of Egmond

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Karl of Egmond

Karl von Egmond (born November 9, 1467 in Arnhem ; † June 30, 1538 ibid), from the Egmond family , was Duke of Geldern , which is why he was also called Karl von Geldern . He was the son of Duke Adolf von Egmond and Catharina von Bourbon . In 1519 he married Elisabeth von Braunschweig-Lüneburg .

Youth in Ghent

When Charles the Bold captured his father and conquered his duchy, the son was brought up in Ghent and stayed at the court of Duchess Maria of Burgundy and Archduke Maximilian , who later became emperor. Karl accompanied the ruler of his hereditary land in the war against France . He was captured at the Battle of Béthune in July 1487 and changed from Austrian to French.

Return to the Duchy of Geldern

Expansion of the Duchy of Geldern around 1350

The Geldrischen endured the Burgundian-Austrian rule only under pressure . The estates of the Duchy and the County of Zütphen collected ransom and handed it over to the French. In 1492 Karl returned from his captivity to his hereditary land. His governor , Count Adolf von Nassau, as well as many cities and nobles paid homage to him.

From then on, Karl waged war against the House of Austria almost continuously.

Wars against Maximilian I and Philip the Handsome

Maximilian I.

Charles's elevation to Duke led to war with the Roman-German King Maximilian I and his son Philip the Fair , who later became King of Castile . Karl submitted to the arbitration ruling of the electors . In 1494 he was denied the right to Geldern on the grounds that after the death of Duke Rainald IV of Jülich and Geldern (1423) , Geldern had legally reverted to the Empire and that the rule of the House of Egmond was a usurpation . Karl and the Geldrischen refused, which is why the war broke out again, which Maximilian waged together with Duke Wilhelm von Jülich and Berg and Duke Johann von Kleve , whereby he was represented in the field by Duke Albrecht of Saxony in the later course of the conflict .

The Geldrischen had grown in the war against Maximilian's troops from the Burgundian Netherlands , Brabant with the support of the French king. The war was geographically limited to Gelderland, Utrecht , Overijssel , Brabant and the neighboring countries.

The peace of 1498 between Maximilian and King Ludwig XII. of France resulted in the mediation of the king between Charles and the allied dukes of Jülich-Berg and Kleve . In June 1499 an armistice was concluded in Aachen , which was repeatedly extended for several years and in which the Roman-German king and his son were also included.

In 1503 the war broke out again. The king induced his son to wage war independently, which Karl was no longer able to cope with. There was also betrayal . The naval war on the Zuidersee against the Dutch was unsuccessful, the small towns surrendered to the king of Castile when he had conquered Arnhem after a battle. Only Zutphen remained steadfast.

Karl asked Philip for safe conduct and peace. It was granted to him on the following condition (among other things): Charles was to accompany the king to Spain . The occupiers had barely left Geldern when Karl fled Antwerp to Geldern.

A year later (1506) the war started again. It continued until 1508, when Charles was included in the Peace of Cambrai .

Although the maintenance of the status quo and the arbitration of the emperor and the kings of France , England and Scotland exceeded his expectations (which was achieved through the advice of the regent of the Netherlands , Margaret of Austria ), Charles was not satisfied. Another five year war broke out. A four year stalemate ended it.

In March 1514 he attacked Arnhem and drove out the Austrian occupation, the beginning of a new war. In the same year, the people of Groningen , whom Count Edzard of East Frisia could no longer protect, asked for help against the power of Duke George of Saxony and Emperor Karl and paid homage to him under the suzerainty of the King of France, ally Charles. The national party in Friesland also joined him. A standstill in 1515, brought about by Francis I , who had been chosen by Austria and Gelderland as mediator, did not end the war in Friesland.

Karl moved to France with 6,000 men to accompany his ally on the train to Italy. Before the battle of Marignano was delivered, he turned back and left only his mercenaries to the king.

The next year war broke out with Holland and shortly afterwards with Utrecht and the other Austrian countries. Karl now found allies in the free Landsknechts gang, the "Black Pile", and in the pirate Grote Pier . In 1522 Johan von Selbach conquered the Coevorden fortress in Drenthe on behalf of Charles , which strengthened the Geldrische power in the north-eastern Netherlands. The war lasted from 1516 to 1528, interrupted by stoppages. The defeat of the French at Pavia resulted in a turn to the detriment of the Geldrischen.

Temporary peace

Karl rarely respected the rights of his subjects, which led to impatience in their ranks. The people of Groningen only stayed with him out of hatred of the Ommelande protected by the Austrians and Saxons .

Karl gave in. In the Peace of Gorcum (October 3, 1528), if he died without a male heir, he was forced to secure the succession in his lands to the House of Kleve . He was also obliged to own Gelderland as a fiefdom from the Dukes of Brabant and Counts of Holland and to cut off all ties with France.

Wars in the Netherlands

Allegorical representation of Charles of Egmond (1846)

In 1534 he concluded a secret alliance with Francis I, to whom he handed over his lands as feudal lord. He joined a Danish party that opposed the emperor. Under the pretext of this Danish war , he wanted to gain unrestricted rule over Groningen, but did not succeed. This prompted the Groningen and Ommeländer to turn to the emperor. In the Peace of Grave (October 10, 1536) , Charles gave up the fight for possession of Groningen and surrendered all of his possessions in the north of the Netherlands to the emperor.

Since there were no male heirs with succession rights, he convened a parliament in October 1537 and proposed that the King of France should be given the inheritance. The subjects, however, were fed up with the endless wars and unanimously refused. Karl wanted to continue without the Diet and force them to pay homage to France. There was general riot. Only Arnhem and Geldern supported him.

After long negotiations he was forced to comply with the wishes of the estates and to declare the son of the Duke of Kleve-Jülich as his successor (January 27, 1538). The old duke retired to the Veluwe . On June 30, 1538, Charles died in Arnhem at the age of 71. A memorial was built on the spot where his ashes are buried.

progeny

Karl von Egmond had natural descendants from various relationships :

  • Anna van Geldern (around 1503; † 1568/69), ⚭ I. 1520 Adriaen van Bueren (1495–1527), Lord of Aldenhaag near Buren-Zoelen, bailiff in Neder-Betuwe, ⚭ II. 1530 Nicolas (Claeß) Dirksz . Vijgh (1505–1581) zu Blanckenburgh (former castle in Beuningen ), Lord von Elst , bailiff of the Lower Betuwe ,
  • Karl Bastard von Geldern "de Oude" (around 1507/08; † 1568), captain and maréchal de camp in the Geldrian, Habsburg, French and Danzig services, ⚭ I. 1545 Elisabeth van Beuningen († after 1553), ⚭ II. 1565 Maximiliana von der Marck – Arenberg († 1616),
  • Peter Bastard von Geldern or von Egmond (1513–1566), captain in the Luebisch-Oldenburg and English services, × or ⚭ before 1531 Lye zu Ray (= Venray ),
  • Karel "de Jonge" van Geldern (* around 1515; † 1576) in Spankeren , received the Gelderse Toren Castle from his father in 1538 as a gift, ⚭ 1538 Fenne von Brockhuysen († 1592/98),
  • Kathrina (Christina) van Geldern (* around 1515; † 1601), ⚭ 1532 Walrave van Arkel (Erckell) († 1556/57), Lord of Heukelum, Weerdenburg and Ammersoyen,
  • Adolf Bastard van Geldern († after 1549), sold his rights to the tithe to Groot-Driel (today Maasdriel ) in 1544 .

literature

  • Johann Isaak Pontanus : Historiae Gelricae libri XIV , Amsterdam and Harderwijk 1639.
  • Isaak Anne Nijhoff: Gedenkwaardigheden uit de Geschiedenis van Gelderland , Arnhem 1830–1875.
  • Karl Theodor Wenzelburger: History of the Netherlands , Gotha 1879–1886.
  • Pieter Lodewijk MullerKarl, Duke of Geldern . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 15, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1882, pp. 288-292.
  • Ralf G. Jahn : The genealogy, the bailiffs, counts and dukes of money. In: Johannes Stinner, Karl-Heinz Tekath (ed.): Gelre - Geldern - Gelderland. History and culture of the Duchy of Geldern (= Duchy of Geldern. Vol. 1 = Publications of the State Archives of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. Series D: Exhibition catalogs of the State Archives. Vol. 30). Verlag des Historisches Verein für Geldern and the surrounding area, Geldern 2001, ISBN 3-9805419-4-0 , pp. 29–50.

Individual evidence

  1. Lacomblet, Theodor Joseph: Document book for the history of the Lower Rhine, Volume 4, Düsseldorf 1858, No. 479.
  2. Documents of August 21, 1537, February 9, 1538 and November 30, 1554; Landesarchiv NRW, Rhineland Duisburg department (Paffendorf, documents No. 670, 672 and 780); Ralf G. Jahn: The genealogy, the bailiffs, counts and dukes of money . In: Johannes Stinner, Karl-Heinz Tekath (ed.): Gelre - Geldern - Gelderland. History and culture of the Duchy of Geldern . (Publications of the State Archives of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. Series D 30). Verlag des Historisches Verein für Geldern und Umgebung, Geldern 2001, pp. 29–50, esp. P. 39.
  3. Schöffenbuch Arnhem 1538; Gerard van Hasselt: Geldersche oudheden , Vol. I. Moeleman, Arnhem 1806, No. 84 and 85, pp. 231-233 ( Google Books ).
  4. Short form of Amelie, Amalye, Emilie o. Ä.
  5. ^ Invoice of the rent master Jacob van Dombach, issued in Brüggen in 1531; Gerard van Hasselt: Geldersche oudheden , Vol. I. Moeleman, Arnhem 1806, No. 90, p. 228.
  6. Receipt from the land rent master Thomas II. Gramaye († 1574), 1551, and receipts, Zaltbommel 1568; Gerard van Hasselt: Geldersche oudheden , Vol. I. Moeleman, Arnhem 1806, No. 88, 91 and 92, pp. 235f and 238f ( Google Books ).
  7. ^ Marriage speech of September 25, 1532; Isaak Anne Nijhoff (arr.): Gedenkwaardigheden uit de geschiedenis van Gelderland , Vol. VI / 3. Martinus Nijhoff, ´s Gravenhage 1875, No. 1698, pp. 1018-1023 ( Google Books ).
  8. Waardenburg Castle, today in the West Betuwe community .
  9. Ammersoyen Castle in Ammerzoden, today the municipality of Maasdriel.
predecessor Office successor
Philip of Habsburg Duke of Geldern,
Count of Zutphen
1492–1538
Wilhelm II.